DONELSON, Tenn. (WTVF) — Like the snow, problems piled up for passengers landing and leaving Nashville International Airport this week.
A group of friends said they sat for roughly six hours on their plane after they landed from New York on Monday.
"I looked at the transfer market I watched "Black Swan" with Natalie Portman, tried to keep my sanity, my composure," said Maddox Gates about the long wait.
BNA is responsible for keeping runways, ramps and taxiways clear of snow and debris. According to the airport, it's up to each airline to contract or hire a team to handle flight operations such as de-icing and moving air-stairs.
Gates and his friend flew on an American Airlines plane. The airline sent a statement to NewsChannel 5 but did not answer our questions. The airline also participated in around a 45-minute ground stop in Nashville on Tuesday.
"Yesterday’s severe winter weather at Nashville International Airport (BNA) significantly impacted airport operations throughout the day and resulted in a two-hour ground stop for all airlines operating there," a spokesperson from American Airlines said in a statement. "These challenging conditions produced unsafe operating conditions, causing cancellations and delays, along with ramp and gate congestion that made it very difficult to safely gate our aircraft. We are deeply sorry to our customers who were affected. Our team is reaching out to them to apologize and provide compensation for their experience."
In 2021, a Frontier plane was about to take-off at BNA when a flight attendant noticed the wings were not de-iced. Both wings had about a foot of snow and ice still covering them. It turns out the vendor was running low on fluid. After that, the company was terminated.
Meanwhile, federal statutes prohibit airlines from keeping passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours. Last summer, American was fined $4.1 million for keeping passengers stuck in planes on the tarmac for lengthy periods of time.
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