American Airlines Group Inc. was fined $4.1 million for keeping thousands of passengers on the tarmac for hours without giving them a chance to deplane.
American’s stock
AAL,
rose 0.4% in midday trading Monday, a mixed day for shares of U.S. airlines. The U.S. Global JETS exchange-traded fund
JETS
rose 0.8%.
The Department of Transportation said it was the largest fine levied against an airline for violating its tarmac-delay rule, which requires airlines to give fliers an opportunity to deplane in case of delays of three or more hours on domestic flights.
The DOT said that American kept “dozens of flights” stuck on the tarmac for long periods of time without letting passengers off between 2018 and 2021.
American Airlines said Monday that the delays were “the result of exceptional weather events,” and the flights represented “a very small number of the 7.7 million flights” during the time period in question.
“We have since apologized to the impacted customers and regret any inconvenience caused,” the airline said in statement. “American has committed substantial time and resources to improve its performance on tarmac delays.”
Shares of American Airlines have gained 15% so far this year, matching the S&P 500 index’s
SPX
advance in the same period.
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