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Delta Takes The Cake For Ridiculous Tarmac Waits

Have you ever been in an airplane traffic jam? We imagine that it looks something like the picture above, and judging from the latest numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a healthy number of Delta passengers have been enjoying this view lately.

In terms of airlines whose flights have had more than two hours of Taxi-Out time, or "the time elapsed between departure from the origin airport gate and wheels off," Delta ranks first with a hefty amount of their 105,430 flights suffering such a delay in just the first three months of 2009. For 31 of those flights, the planes sat on the tarmac for over 180 minutes, awaiting their turn at their skies.

Knowing about this now, we can better prepare for future Delta flights, especially the one we've got tomorrow. Just remember the major rule of pre-flight comfort: fully charge iPods, Kindles, cell phones, and electronic handheld Sudokus. Perhaps bring a bag lunch just for the plane; it's a shame pizza can't be delivered to the airport tarmac.

Related Stories:
· Taxi-Out and Other Tarmac Times [BTS]
· Airline Delays Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: matt.hintsa]