The FAA is going to fine American Eagle airlines a negotiated amount of $900,000 for tarmac delays during a day of storms in Chicago on May 29th.  The storms moved through the area more slowly than anticipated and several America Eagle flights bumped into the 3-Hour window.

This is the first announced fine for breaking the 3-Hour rule and it has some implications in that it sets precedent for other airlines going forward in the future.  My first impression is that this fine was a touch heavy on American Eagle.   It certainly is a non-trivial sum and when you consider the thin margins of a regional airline, it certainly makes an impact.  If every regional flight earned $500 in net profit (and they don’t come close to that in the real world), it would take 1,800 flights to earn that fine back.  Consider that for a moment.

On the other hand, American Eagle is by far the worse violator so far.  It has twice as many of these delays as the 2nd place leader, Delta.  

I think this fine has  huge implications for JetBlue and its violations during the October snow storm.  You can bet that JetBlue will be scrambling to defend itself over those delays.  Sadly, there is quite a bit of public perception already going against JetBlue in that instance and perception can often be a great influence in such fines.

Filed under: Airline News, Airports by ajax