When the US Transportation Department released its latest numbers, the good news was that no one had to wait on a parked lane for more than four hours.
The bad news: a lot of passengers were waiting more than three hours.
But perhaps even worse: The number of airline complaints was way up.
The department received 896 complaints about airline service from consumers, up 42.4 percent from the 629 complaints filed in October 2008 and 48.3 percent more than the total of 604 received in September 2009.
The increase in the number of October complaints is attributed primarily to British Airways’ erroneous offer of $40 fares between the United States and India, according to some news reports.
The carrier has agreed to compensate consumers for cancellation penalties and other expenses incurred due to the mistake.
What’s the worse tarmac delay story?
Passengers on Delta flight 229 from New York to Salt Lake City had the longest wait — 229 minutes — on Oct. 3.
By David Wilkening
