DOT to investigate JetBlue and AA over storm delays

The US Transportation Department will investigate JetBlue and American Airlines after passengers were stranded for as long as seven-and-a-half hours when their flights were diverted to Connecticut during a snowstorm over the weekend. Some 23 flights were diverted to Bradley airport, near Hartford, due to the storm and infrastructure problems at John F Kennedy airport. The DOT’s investigation will decide whether the airlines violated a federal rule requiring that passengers be allowed to leave stopped planes after three hours or face fines as high as $27,500 a customer. As many as 1,500 passengers were stranded at the airport overnight.