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An airport's worst waiting area: The Penalty Box
Ever been looking out the window of your taxiing airplane as you pull up to the runway? The captain announces that you're X in the queue for landing, asks the flight attendants to prepare for departure and you slowly creep your way up to the runway. But just as you're about to make it to the top, the plane takes a hard turn away, makes a few quick maneuvers and comes to a dead stop perpendicular to the runway where you, the lonely passenger, get to watch all of the planes depart out of your side window.That, my friends, is what we frequent flyers call the Penalty Box. In about ten seconds the captain is going to come over the intercom and say something to the effect of "Well, we just got a call from New York air traffic control and they've put us on a ground stop because of congestion in the area. We're monitoring the situation and we'll give you an update in ninety minutes."
It's like when you're in line for Space Mountain at Disneyworld, you've been waiting for 7 hours, are almost up to the front of the queue, come around the last bend and see another room full of people looking disgustedly back at you.
My only solution for this problem? Go to sleep before you push back from the gate. If ever you wake up during the wait in the box you have no idea how long you've been there and just assume that it hasn't been too long. There's nothing worse than being awake, bored and idle in an airplane with a whole flight to look forward to.
Filed under: Airlines, Transportation, Airports
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Robobagins Jan 23rd 2008 12:18PM
They don't know all the time. It depends how congested the flight path and arrival airport are. And usually the flight crew notifies you if you can use cellphones in the Penalty Box. If they say you can, that means you're in for a LONG wait.
Rebecca Jan 23rd 2008 12:30PM
Don't forget that the airlines, even if this situation already exists prior to boarding, may close the door and push back from the gate to score an "on time" departure for your flight... "hoping" that it will be resolved before your flight gets to that number one spot to take off. From what I understand, an "on time" departure applies only to the time the flight leaves the gate, and is not affected by any delay that happens out on the tarmac.
Kathryn Jan 28th 2009 5:03PM
How often does something like this happen? I must say that I have never been in a situation like that. Literally 90 minutes?? That's unbelievable. Yea, it seems like there should be enough technology from when they create the departure times to the scheduling of planes taking off from the runway. It's situations like these that you hope you charged your portable dvd player or iPhone - but that probably doesn't matter because they make you turn off all those devices before you take off right? Hmm...I think I'd rather be waiting in the airport waiting area. At least that way I have access to food, internet, and magazine stands.
Bruce King Jan 23rd 2008 9:30AM
Would it kill them to let you know before you even board the aircraft? Why can't they know this before push back so passengers would have access to the airport's amenities. Oh, and is pulling out your cellphone allowed when you're in the Penalty Box?