DoT: Airline passengers' 'bill of rights' reducing airport delays

There were no delays on airport tarmacs longer than three hours in the month of February, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday, touting the statistics as proof that new rules fining airlines for long waits have been successful.

Last February, there were 60 delays longer than three hours at airports across the country, the DoT Bureau of Transportation Statistics said Tuesday. In the 10 months since the so-called "Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights" became law last April, there have only be 16 three-hour delays, the department said.

In the same period from 2009 to 2010, there were 664 three-hour delays, DoT reported.

The aviation industry had argued when the rules were being considered by Congress that airlines would cancel more flights they might have eventually sent to their destinations in order to avoid the fines.

The full DoT report is available here