Mar 10 (Pen Men at Work): JetBlue and Delta yearn for impermanent exemptions from a new government rule that will restrict the time the travelers can be held on the tarmac. They elucidate that the stoppages caused by the shutting down of the foremost airstrip at New York’s JFK airport could cost them exceedingly, close to almost millions in fines.

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) latest rule, which will go into operation from April 29, commands the airlines to allow the passengers off the planes postponed by three hours. Otherwise, the airlines will have to face bulky monetary penalties. In December, there were 22 flights nationally that were deferred by more than three hours from gate to departure. The new DOT decree could strike an airline with an economic punishment of $27,500 per passenger for that kind of delay. For a typical Boeing 737 with a full load of customers, the financial penalization could be around $3.5 million. JetBlue and Delta are the principal operators at JFK, an airport that was regarded as among the worst in the country for rescheduling last year.

May is the first complete month in which the fresh DOT rule will be in force. It also is the commencement of the peak season of travel. The airlines have already sliced their timetable by about 10 percent in order to help alleviate delays until the runway recommences in July. About one-third of JFK’s passage and half of its departures have now been shifted to the three less important runways.

The airline pronounced in its appeal to the DOT that though JetBlue has by now taken more than a few steps to diminish the brunt of this closure on its JFK operations, this exemption is needed to ensure that JetBlue is not reprimanded if JFK becomes gridlocked at peak working times.

The Federal Aviation Administration anticipates that the postponement at JFK will average about 50 minutes during peak times and 29 minutes at other times during the four-month shutdown. That is about the same as deferments on hectic summer days.