More fliers stranded on airport tarmacs in October

— -- Passengers on 18 flights were stuck on airport tarmacs in October longer than what the government says is permisable, the Transportation Department reported Monday.

Seven domestic flights sat on tarmacs for more than three hours, which is the maximum allowed before planes are supposed to return to the gate to let passengers off. And 11 international flights were delayed more than four hours, the new limit for flights leaving the country.

The incidents are more than passengers have experienced in most months over the past year and leave the involved airlines —JetBlue Airways, Continental Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Swiss International Air Lines, and Pakistan International Air Lines — open to possible fines of up to $27,500 per passenger.

All the delayed flights were bound for New York's JFK or Newark airports on Oct. 29, when a rare fall snowstorm barreled up the East Coast, forcing many flights to be diverted to other airports.

The government has required airlines to return planes on domestic flights to gates after three hours since April 2010. A new rule that took effect Aug. 23 requires all U.S. and international airlines flying out of the country to let passengers off planes after four hours or face fines.

So far, however, only one airline has been fined for exceeding the time limits. Last month, the Transportation Department ordered American Eagle to pay $900,000 for keeping 600 passengers on board 15 separate flights for more than three hours at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in May.

The Oct. 29 incidents are now under investigation, the department says.

Despite those delays, airlines fared better in getting passengers to their destinations on time in October. The 16 largest carriers had an on-time arrival rate of 85.5% in October, according to the report from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That's up from 83.9% the previous month and 83.8% in October 2010.

The airlines with the best on-time performance in October were Hawaiian Airlines, which benefits from favorable weather, Alaska Airlines, and AirTran Airways, which is merging with Southwest.

The airlines with the worst performance: JetBlue Airways, Express Jet Airlines and Continental.

Also in October, airlines canceled .77% of domestic flights, down slightly from September's .82% and .97% in October 2010.

Consumer complaints about the airlines also were down in October from the previous month. But the 862 complaints received about airline service still represented a 15.1% increase from the number logged in October 2010.