American Airlines planes are proven parked at Pittsburgh International Airport on March 31, 2020, in Imperial, Pa.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

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Gene J. Puskar/AP

American Airlines planes are proven parked at Pittsburgh International Airport on March 31, 2020, in Imperial, Pa.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

DALLAS — The federal authorities is fining American Airlines $4.1 million for dozens of cases by which passengers had been stored on board planes with no probability to exit throughout lengthy floor delays.

The U.S. Department of Transportation stated Monday it’s the largest such nice towards an airline since rules covering long ground delays took impact a couple of decade in the past.

American owes half the nice within the subsequent 30 days, whereas the division gave the airline credit score for the opposite half, simply over $2 million, for compensation it paid to delayed passengers, in accordance with a consent order that settled the case.

The division stated its investigation revealed that from 2018 by way of 2021, American stored 43 home flights caught on the bottom for no less than three hours with out giving passengers — 5,821 in all — the prospect to deplane. There are exceptions by which airways are allowed to bend the foundations, together with for security and safety causes, however the division stated none of these had been components within the flights it recognized.

“This is the latest action in our continued drive to enforce the rights of airline passengers,” stated Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who vowed to carry airways accountable beneath consumer-protection legal guidelines.

According to the consent order, American stated it seeks to keep away from any prolonged floor delays, however the 43 flights represented a tiny fraction of 1% of the roughly 7.7 million flights that American and American Eagle operated between 2018 and 2021. The airline stated it supplied “substantial compensation” to delayed passengers,” and has since devoted extra administration consideration to avoiding delays.

Most of the delays occurred at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the place American is the dominant airline, and others occurred in San Antonio and Houston when flights heading to DFW had been diverted there. Many occurred throughout thunderstorms, and American was unable to handle its airport gates to let passengers deplane.

The airline took explicit situation with delays at Reagan Washington National Airport throughout a winter storm in January 2019, however accepted the settlement define within the consent order.