Stranded passengers may not be able to sue, attorney says

JetBlue Airways and the parent company for American Airlines could face stiff fines for stranding hundreds of passengers in planes on an airport tarmac for seven hours during a snowstorm last month. But a lawyer who specializes in business litigation says the passengers probably can’t sue over the ordeal.

JetBlue has apologized and offered to refund the airfares and pay for round-trip tickets for future travel for passengers on six JetBlue flights that were stranded on the tarmac at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., during a heavy storm that disrupted thousands of flights.

Under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, airlines that keep passengers in a grounded plane for three hours or more for domestic flights or four hours or more for international flights can be fined up to $27,000 per passenger.

The agency is investigating both airlines, but a spokesman said the rules exempt airlines that keep passengers on the tarmac because trying to return them to the terminal disrupts airport operations or creates a safety or security problem.

Since the new rule took effect in April 2010, the agency has yet to impose a fine on any airline.

It’s possible that the once-stranded passengers will get nothing more from the airline than the apology, the refunds and the extra airline tickets, said Hugh Totten, a Chicago attorney who has represented airlines in business litigation matters.

“While the new federal regulation limits tarmac delays to three hours, there are several exceptions to the rule,” he said. “Exceptions such as ‘disruption to airport operations’ or ‘passenger safety’ have been put in place, leaving passengers with no leverage for filing suit.”

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Photo: Some passengers at Bradley International Airport were able to get off a stranded plane. Credit: Erika Pesantes / South Florida Sun Sentinel

TSA chief says airport screening tactics are changing

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole told a congressional panel last week that his agency is overhauling the airport screening process that treats everyone the same, including infants and the elderly.

Pistole said the TSA is moving in a new direction to rely more on intelligence-gathering and targeting those travelers the TSA knows least about.

“Since I became TSA administrator, I have listened to ideas from people all over this country,” he told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on Wednesday.

Pistole said the agency is moving in the new direction by expanding several pilot security programs and changing the way children are searched.

But don’t expect the changes to cut down on the long airport security lines during the upcoming holiday travel season. TSA’s revised security tactics probably won’t be expanded nationwide for several months, a TSA spokesman said.

A pilot program that was launched last month and tested at four airports -- Miami, Dallas, Detroit and Atlanta -- lets passengers who volunteer personal information zip through a special screening lane without having to remove their shoes or jackets. Pistole told lawmakers that it has worked so well that he wants to expand it to more airports.

“We are working closely with other airlines and airports to determine when they may be operationally ready to join,” he said, without offering more details.

Another pilot program that was tested in Boston Logan International Airport deploys special “behavior detection officers” who chat with passengers in the terminal to detect suspicious behavior. Pistole said the program was recently expanded to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Pistole also said the agency has changed its policy for searching children under 12. TSA agents now have the discretion whether or not to perform a pat-down search on youngsters or require that they remove their shoes.

“By streamlining procedures for these lower-risk passengers through programs like these, TSA is better able to focus its finite resources on those who pose higher risks to transportation,” he said.

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Scam watch: Credit cards, weight-loss supplement, chimney sweeps

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for.

Stolen credit cards -– A Costa Mesa man has been convicted of identity theft and other federal crimes related to the theft of credit cards from Vietnamese immigrants living in Southern California. A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Hung Van Tieu, 62, of conspiracy, credit card fraud and identity theft. The charges carry a sentence of two to 32 years in federal prison. Tieu was part of a team of con men who called credit card companies in 2010 and 2011, impersonated customers and asked for new cards to be mailed to the address on file. The team intercepted the cards from the mail and used them to run up more than $100,000 in purchases of luxury goods, including Rolex watches, and to withdraw thousands of dollars in Las Vegas casinos, including the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand hotels.

Weight-loss supplement -- As part of a crackdown on companies promoting bogus health claims, the Federal Trade Commission settled charges brought against three people and two companies for deceptively advertising a supposed weight-loss supplement ingredient. One defendant was banned from making any weight-loss claims related to foods, drugs or dietary supplements and was ordered to turn over a vacation home and other assets to the FTC. The marketers were part of a scheme that supplied manufacturers of weight-loss supplements with a substance they claimed was a derivative of a plant native to southern Africa commonly referred to as hoodia.

Chimney sweeps -– With winter approaching, the Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be careful about who they hire to clean their chimneys. So far this year, the group has received more than 380 complaints from consumers who say they were scammed by chimney cleaners who did poor work or no work at all. That’s an increase from 342 complaints in all of 2010. “Chimney sweeping is not something that homeowners deal with often, so we may lack knowledge of the cleaning process,” said Katherine Hutt, spokesperson for the Council of Better Business Bureaus. “Many scammers take advantage of this.” The group suggests that consumers research chimney sweep companies on the Internet to find out how long they’ve been in business, whether they have liability insurance and whether employees were certified by the nonprofit Chimney Safety Institute of America.

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-- Stuart Pfeifer

Photo: The Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. Credit: Jim Laurie / Associated Press