Reporting Lengthy Tarmac Delay Incidents
Written reports of lengthy tarmac delay incidents that occur on or after April 1, 2026, are to be reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) through a new reporting module in the Aviation Complaint, Enforcement, and Reporting System (ACERS).
For incidents occurring on or before March 31, 2026, carriers should continue to submit reports via email to reporttarmacdelay@dot.gov. All submissions must contain the standard required incident information.
Top Questions
- Which carriers are subject to the Department’s tarmac delay reporting requirement?
- What information must be included in the tarmac delay incidents reports?
- What is the deadline for reporting a tarmac delay incident to OACP?
- How should covered carriers report tarmac delay incidents that occur on or after April 1, 2026?
Which carriers are subject to the Department’s tarmac delay reporting requirement?
49 U.S.C. § 42301 and 14 CFR Part 259 require U.S. air carriers and foreign carriers operating scheduled passenger service or public charter service to, from, or within the United States with at least one aircraft that has 30 or more seats to submit to OACP a written description of each flight it operates that experiences a tarmac delay of more than three hours (on domestic flights) and more than four hours (on international flights) at a U.S. airport.
The requirement in 49 U.S.C. § 42301 and 14 CFR Part 259 to submit written descriptions of tarmac delay incidents to OACP is separate from the requirement in 14 CFR Part 244 to report tarmac delay data to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Additional information regarding the Part 244 reporting requirement is located here.
What information must be included in the tarmac delay incidents reports?
Covered U.S. and foreign carriers must submit a written description containing, at a minimum, the following information:
- Flight Identification: The name of the operating carrier, the name of the marketing carrier if the operating carrier is not the marketing carrier, and the flight number;
- Route Details: The originally scheduled origin and destination airports of the flight;
- Delay Specifics: The airport and date where the tarmac delay occurred and the length of the delay; and
- Incident Explanation: An explanation of the incident, including the precise cause of the tarmac delay, the actions taken to minimize hardships for passengers (including the provision of food and water, the maintenance and servicing of lavatories, and medical assistance), and the resolution of the incident.
Certification Requirement: The written description must be accompanied by a signed certification statement that reads as follows:
I, (Name) and (Title), of (Carrier Name), certify that the enclosed report has been prepared under my direction, and affirm that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the report is true and correct, based on information available at the time of this report's submission.
Date:
Signature:
Email address and phone number:
What is the deadline for reporting a tarmac delay incident to OACP?
Written descriptions of lengthy tarmac delay incidents must be submitted to OACP no later than 30 days after the tarmac delay occurs.
How should covered carriers report tarmac delay incidents that occur on or after April 1, 2026?
Detailed instructions on how to access and submit tarmac delay incidents reports can be found in this Industry User Guide.
If you need assistance with ACERS, please email us at oacp@dot.gov.