Passengers to Detroit Stranded for Nearly 8 Hours Before Flight Cancellation

I feel a panic attack coming on just thinking about being stuck on a tarmac for eight hours, only to have the flight eventually canceled. Well, that’s exactly what happened to passengers recently flying from Newark to Detroit.

Monday, while sitting on a United Airlines flight stuck on the tarmac, passengers faced a brutal eight-hour delay. According to WXYZ, United Airlines attributed the lengthy delay to severe weather impacting operations at Newark Liberty, which led to a ground stop to manage volume and prevent congestion.

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Eight hours on a plane when you’re actually in the air traveling to your destination is one thing; it’s another when you’re just sitting there waiting for answers.

How in the world are airlines still not prepared for situations like this? If it’s going to be more than a couple of hours, they should have to return to the gate and let people off the plane until they actually know when they’re taking off.

The whole situation is insane to me. I mean, they could only offer snacks like pretzels and cookies, and they were running out of water. Can’t someone just pick up a phone and say, “Hey, send some freaking food and drinks up here”?

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Those passengers literally sat on the tarmac for nearly eight hours before United Airlines finally said, “Sorry, everyone, this flight has been canceled.”

Honestly, I don’t understand how they can legally hold people for that long. I was under the impression that airlines aren’t allowed to keep passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours without giving them the option to get off the plane. Wait, that’s literally a federal rule, unless there’s a safety, security, or air traffic control reason, they have to let you off. So what happened here?