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Zero Tarmac Delays, Cancellations Aplenty in February

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Despite a seemingly endless series of major winter storms, the Department of Transportation (DOT) says there were no three-hour tarmac delays in February.

There have been only 16 since May, when the DOT implemented rules penalizing airlines for tarmac delays three hours or longer, compared to 664 during the same period a year earlier.

Of course, this doesn’t mean flying was necessarily a pleasant experience during the month of February. Airlines canceled 4.9 percent of flights, which was actually down from February 2010’s 5.4 percent. The DOT reported 22,179 canceled flights in February, compared to 26,300 last February.

One stat worth watching counts the number of flights canceled after a two-hour tarmac delay. There were 19 in February, on par with last February’s 21, and there have been 331 between May 2010 and February 2011, up a bit from 289 during the same period a year earlier.

Readers, were you affected by February’s cancellations?

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