JetBlue explains storm delays to US officials

JetBlue Airways logo is displayed on a monitor in Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport during a terminal test in New York August 23, 2008.

(Reuters) - JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) met with U.S. transportation officials this week over why five of its flights were diverted to Hartford, Connecticut and 550 passengers were stuck on the ground for hours during October's freak Northeast snowstorm.

JetBlue could face millions of dollars in fines if regulators find that it violated a rule aimed at curbing the worst types of ground delays -- those longer than three hours where passengers are not given the chance to disembark.

"Nothing was resolved - and we didn't expect anything to be resolved. The DOT will continue their investigation on their own pace and we will participate as requested and needed," JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said.

The U.S. Transportation Department declined to discuss Tuesday's meeting with JetBlue operations personnel.

A similar incident involving a JetBlue aircraft in New York on a stormy Valentine's Day in 2007 played a role in prompting the current regulation.

Regulators came under pressure on Thursday to enforce the tarmac rule. Sens Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood this week saying "it is troubling" that no fines have been imposed even though there have been several cases of extended delays.

The number of flights diverted to one airport by a single airline was unusual, but the recent October 29 incident also involved Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control decisions and problems at Hartford's Bradley International Airport, factors that may help JetBlue during the investigation.

The fierce autumn storm caught the region off guard. Up to two feet of snow fell on parts of New England, causing widespread power outages. Electricity in the hardest-hit areas of Connecticut was only restored in recent days.

JetBlue said five flights exceeded the limits set out in the 2010 tarmac rule that calls for fines of up to $27,500 per passenger if violated. One of those aircraft, Flight 504 from Ft Lauderdale to Newark, New Jersey, did not move for seven hours, the carrier said.

Air traffic control recordings (posted at LiveATC.net ) captured the pilot pleading for help from ground personnel in Hartford to have the Airbus jet with 123 people aboard towed from a remote location to an airport gate.

"Take us anywhere," he said. "I just got to get some help."

Bradley airport officials said they were overrun with passengers from 23 diverted planes, and JetBlue said power outages at the airport disrupted refueling.

Ten of those flights, including the five at JetBlue, exceeded the three-hour maximum.

One was a diverted American Airlines AMR.N flight from Paris, which spent more than seven hours on the ground trying to arrange permission for passengers to clear U.S. Customs.

American had 27 weather-related diversions that day, but only one at Hartford. Potential tarmac penalties for overseas flights are weighed after delays exceed four hours.

"We believe there were significant mitigating factors that were far beyond our control and much different than the situations of some other airlines at Hartford that night," American said in a statement. "We will fully explain this to DOT."

American said it has been asked for information about the incident from regulators but a meeting with them is not anticipated. (Reporting by John Crawley in Washington; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)