Airlines to provide flight delay info

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Airline passengers in the United States will be provided with information regarding flight delays to avoid lengthy tarmac waits, travel advocates say.

Travel advocate Kate Hanni said airlines are taking steps to ensure passengers are kept informed regarding any changes in their travel plans after complaints about allegedly misleading Transportation Department flight delay figures, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Sunday.

"We think the (Transportation Department) was capturing just a tiny fraction of the flights that actually sit out on the tarmac," she said.

Among the more notable tarmac holdups at U.S. airports last year was a delay for hours at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport due to storms and lengthy JetBlue Airways flight delays in the northeastern United States due to a snowstorm in February 2007.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the upcoming changes by airlines should help keep passengers better informed, the Star-Telegram said.

"Passengers should know whether it will take as long for their flight to get to the runway as it will to land at their destination," the federal official said in a statement.