Order 2012-9-21

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

On the Nineteenth day of September, 2012

Pakistan International Airlines Corporation 

 Docket OST-2012-0002

Violations of 49 U.S.C. § 41712

and 14 CFR Part 259 Served September 19, 2012

CONSENT ORDER

This consent order concerns violations of 14 CFR Part 259 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712

involving the failure of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIA) to adhere to the 

assurances in its contingency plan for lengthy tarmac delays that the carrier would not 

permit an international flight to remain on the tarmac for more than four hours without 

providing passengers an opportunity to deplane. This order directs PIA to cease and 

desist from future similar violations of Part 259 and section 41712 and assesses the 

carrier $150,000 in civil penalties.

Applicable Law

Pursuant to section 259.4 of the Department’s rules (14 CFR 259.4), foreign air carriers 

that operate scheduled passenger service or public charter service to and from the U.S.

using any aircraft with a design capacity of 30 or more passenger seats are required to 

adopt, implement, and adhere to contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays at each 

large, medium, small, and non hub U.S. airport at which they operate scheduled or public 

charter air service.1 For an international flight, which is at issue here, the rule requires 

covered carriers to provide assurance that they will not permit an aircraft to remain on the 

 

1 According to 14 CFR 259.2, Part 259 does not apply to foreign carrier charters that operate to and 

from the United States if no new passengers are picked up in the United States.
2

tarmac for more than four hours without providing passengers an opportunity to deplane, 

with the following exceptions: (1) where the pilot-in-command determines that an 

aircraft cannot leave its position on the tarmac to deplane passengers due to a safetyrelated or security-related reason (e.g. weather, a directive from an appropriate 

government agency, etc.); and (2) where Air Traffic Control (ATC) advises the pilot-incommand that returning to the gate or another disembarkation point elsewhere in order to 

deplane passengers would significantly disrupt airport operations. For all covered flights

delayed on the tarmac, carriers must provide adequate food and water no later than two 

hours after the aircraft leaves the gate (in the case of a departure) or touches down (in the 

case of an arrival), unless the pilot-in-command determines that safety or security 

requirements preclude such service. Carriers must ensure that lavatory facilities are 

operable and medical attention is provided if needed while the aircraft remains on the 

tarmac. Carriers must also ensure that they have sufficient resources to carry out their 

contingency plans, and that their plans have been coordinated with airport authorities 

(including termainal facility operators), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and 

the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at each U.S. large hub airport, medium 

hub airport, small hub airport and non-hub airport that the carriers serve, as well as their 

regular U.S. diversion airports.

An air carrier’s failure to comply with assurances required by Part 259 and as contained 

in its contingency plan for lengthy tarmac delays is considered to be an unfair and 

deceptive practice within the meaning of 49 U.S.C. § 41712. Because the purpose of 

section 259.4 is to protect individual passengers from being forced to remain on aircraft 

for more than four hours in the case of international flights without the opportunity to

deplane, a separate violation is considered to have occurred for each passenger who is 

forced to remain on board an aircraft for longer than the set amount of time without the 

opportunity to deplane. Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 46301, violations of 14 CFR Part 259 or 

49 U.S.C. § 41712 subject a carrier to civil penalties of up to $27,500 per violation.

Facts and Conclusions

PIA is a foreign air carrier as defined by 49 U.S.C. § 40102(a)(21)2 that operates 

scheduled service into John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), a large hub airport, 

using at least one aircraft having a design seating capacity of more than 30 passenger 

seats. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), a large hub airport, serves as a 

regular diversion airport for PIA. PIA has adopted a contingency plan for lengthy tarmac 

delays covering its diversion operations into IAD. PIA provided a copy of its tarmac 

delay plan to the CBP, TSA and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials at 

IAD on August 23, 2011, in an effort to coordinate the carrier’s plan with those entities. 

PIA’s contingency plan stipulates that for the carrier’s international flights to and from 

the U.S., PIA will not permit an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than four hours 

before allowing passengers to deplane unless: (1) The pilot-in-command determines 

there is a safety-related or security-related reason why the aircraft cannot leave its 

 

2 49 U.S.C. §40102(a)(21) defines a foreign air carrier as “a person, not a citizen of the United 

States, undertaking by any means, directly or indirectly, to provide foreign air transportation.”
3

position on the tarmac to deplane passengers; or (2) Air Traffic Control advises the pilotin-command that returning to the gate or another disembarkation point elsewhere in order 

to deplane passengers would significantly disrupt airport operations.

An investigation by Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement 

Office) revealed that on October 29, 2011, 233 passengers were delayed on the tarmac for 

four hours and forty-seven minutes in violation of 14 CFR 259.4(b)(2), when PIA flight 

711, traveling from Manchester Airport (MAN) in England to JFK, diverted to IAD.

On October 29, 2011, an early winter weather event occurred in the Northeast causing

significant equipment outages at JFK and Newark International Airport (EWR) and major

Air Traffic Control issues throughout the Northeast United States. PIA flight 711 was 

scheduled to arrive at JFK at 3:27 pm on October 29. However, flight 711 was unable to 

land at JFK as planned due to interruptions in JFK’s Instrument Landing System (ILS) 

equipment. Consequently, Air Traffic Control instructed flight 711 to remain in a 

holding pattern for 20 minutes and then extended the holding pattern for an additional 20 

minutes. The captain of flight 711 attempted to divert to PIA’s principal diversion 

airport, Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS); however, BOS was unable to 

accommodate the flight, as it was already handling a large volume of international 

diversions from JFK. 

At approximately 3:55 pm, the captain of flight 711 decided to divert to IAD due to the 

limited amount of fuel remaining onboard the aircraft, and landed at IAD at 4:28 pm.

After landing at IAD, flight 711 was instructed to park at a remote aircraft bay/de-icing 

pad. According to PIA, the diversion to IAD was intended for refueling purposes only; 

however, the carrier notes that refueling was delayed due to increased demand for fuel by 

other diverted traffic from JFK and flight 711’s remote parking location, which 

necessitated the use of fuel trucks that had to cross active taxiways in order to reach the 

aircraft to deliver the fuel.

Although the captain and first officer were able to safely deplane the aircraft via air stairs 

in order to conduct external safety inspections of the aircraft, PIA indicated that it 

believed that deplaning passengers via air stairs may have been unsuitable due to the 

inclement weather, as well as the number of passengers requiring wheelchairs and the 

number of small children on board. However, PIA made no other attempts to deplane 

passengers on flight 711 by any other means (e.g., via a gate or mobile airport lounge) or 

to solicit assistance from the airport operator in deplaning because, according to PIA, the 

passengers did not indicate a desire to deplane during the tarmac delay. PIA also never 

contacted CBP at IAD to inquire about deplaning passengers.

In summary, the Enforcement Office found that PIA did not adhere to the terms of its 

contingency plan and failed to provide passengers an opportunity to deplane before the 

tarmac delay exceeded four hours. This failure by PIA to adhere to the terms of its 

contingency plan by failing to offer each passenger the opportunity to deplane within four

hours of arrival violates 14 CFR 295.4 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712.
4

Mitigation

In mitigation, PIA states that the tarmac delay at issue was exacerbated by several regrettable 

events outside the airline’s direct control, including, but not limited to, an unusually early 

winter storm in the Northeast, instrument landing system disruptions at JFK, the inability of 

BOS to accommodate flight 711’s diversion, a sudden and unexpected diversion to IAD (an 

airport that is not a PIA principal diversion airport, much less an airport where PIA operates 

or markets scheduled service), and delays in ground services at IAD, significantly hampering 

the prompt refueling of flight 711.

Nevertheless, PIA believes it acted in the best interests of its passengers during the tarmac 

delay, seeking to minimize inconvenience and ensure passengers arrived at their scheduled 

destination at the earliest opportunity. PIA maintains that the flight crew endeavored to 

ensure that passengers were kept comfortable and updated throughout the tarmac delay. In 

this regard, PIA notes that food and beverage services were provided, passengers were free to 

move about the cabin, flight crew made regular announcements regarding the reasons for the 

delay as well as efforts to depart, all lavatories remained operable and no passengers required 

medical assistance during the delay. PIA further submits that it has not received a single 

consumer complaint regarding the tarmac delay at issue and is unaware of any such 

complaints filed with the Department.

Decision

We view seriously PIA’s failure, in violation of 14 CFR Part 259 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712, 

to adhere to the assurances in its contingency plan for lengthy tarmac delays that the 

carrier would not permit an international flight to remain on the tarmac for more than four

hours without providing each passenger an opportunity to deplane. Accordingly, after 

carefully considering all the facts in this case, including those set forth above, the 

Enforcement Office believes that enforcement action is warranted. By this order, the 

Department finds that PIA failed to adhere to the assurances in its contingency plan for 

lengthy tarmac delays that the carrier would not permit an international flight to remain 

on the tarmac for more than four hours without providing passengers an opportunity to 

deplane. By its actions, the carrier forced a total of 233 passengers on flight 711 to 

remain on the tarmac for more than four hours without the opportunity to deplane in 

violation of 14 CFR Part 259 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712.

In order to avoid litigation, PIA, without admitting or denying the violations described 

above, has agreed to settle this matter with the Enforcement Office and enter into this 

consent order directing PIA to cease and desist from future similar violations of Part 259

and section 41712, and assessing $150,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties 

otherwise due and payable. We believe that this assessment is appropriate and serves the 

public interest. It represents an adequate deterrent to future noncompliance with 14 CFR 

Part 259 and 49 U.S.C. § 41712 by PIA, as well as by other carriers.

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR Part 1.
5

ACCORDINGLY,

1. Based on the above discussion, we approve this settlement and the provisions of this 

order as being in the public interest;

2. We find that Pakistan International Airlines Corporation has violated 14 CFR 259.4

by failing to adhere to the assurances in its contingency plan for lengthy tarmac 

delays that the carrier would not permit an international flight to remain on the 

tarmac for more than four hours without providing passengers an opportunity to 

deplane. By its actions, the carrier forced a total of 233 passengers on flight 711 to 

remain on the tarmac at Washington Dulles International Airport on October 29, 

2011, for more than four hours without the opportunity to deplane;

3. We find that by engaging in the conduct and violations described in ordering 

paragraph 2, Pakistan International Airlines Corporation has engaged in unfair and 

deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. 

§ 41712;

4. Pakistan International Airlines Corporation and all other entities owned or 

controlled by Pakistan International Airlines Corporation its successors and 

assignees are ordered to cease and desist from further violations of 14 CFR 259.4

and 49 U.S.C. § 41712;

5. We assess Pakistan International Airlines Corporation a compromise civil penalty of 

$150,000 in lieu of civil penalties that might otherwise be assessed for the 

violations found in ordering paragraphs 2 and 3 above. Of this total penalty amount, 

$75,000 shall be due and payable in 24 equal installments of $3,125 each, on the 

first day of each month beginning with November 2012, and ending with October

2014. The remaining portion of the civil penalty amount, $75,000, shall become 

due and payable immediately if Pakistan International Airlines Corporation violates 

this order’s cease and desist provision before November 1, 2014, or fails to comply 

with this order’s payment provisions; and 

6. We order Pakistan International Airlines Corporation to pay the compromise civil 

penalty assessed in ordering paragraph 5, above, in accordance with the payment 

schedule. Payments shall be made through Pay.gov to the account of the U.S. 

Treasury. Payments shall be made in accordance with the instructions contained in 

the Attachment to this order. Failure to pay the penalty as ordered shall subject 

Pakistan International Airlines Corporation to the assessment of interest, penalty, 

and collection charges under the Debt Collection Act and to further enforcement 

action for failing to comply with this order.
6

This order will become a final order of the Department 10 days after its service date 

unless a timely petition for review is filed or the Department takes review on its own 

motion. 

BY:

SAMUEL PODBERESKY

Assistant General Counsel for 

 Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available at 

www.regulations.gov