When Congress passes a law or a bureaucrat makes a regulation, there are almost always unintended consequences. Often the law or regulation will make things worse than the problem it was supposed to solve.
Case in point: the Department of Transportation made a regulation penalizing airlines if they leave passengers sitting in a plane on the tarmac for more than three hours. Sounds reasonable (although the fine of $27,500 per passenger seems excessive since that would be millions per plane).
And what's the unintended consequence? Canceled flights and not being able to reach your destination.
Continental Airlines plans to cancel flights rather than risk stiff fines under new federal rules designed to punish carriers for delaying passengers.
CEO Jeff Smisek said Tuesday the result will be that passengers will have more trouble getting to their destinations . . .
Smisek said many passengers on delayed flights "really want to go to LA or Mumbai, but the government by God says, 'We're going to fine you $27,500.' Here's what we're going to do: We're going to cancel the flight."
Because airlines have cut flights, leaving the remaining ones more crowded, passengers will have fewer chances to rebook on another flight. Passengers, he said, won't get to their destinations "for maybe days."
Oh, and the cause of those delays: often the antiquated air-traffic control system the government has refused to update.
So, which would you rather deal with: a delay of 3 hours sitting in an airplane, or spending days in an airport trying to get home? Well, a bureaucrat has made that decision for you.
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