When the New York airports re-opened following the recent blizzard, there was a backlog of flights, and short-staffed airline terminal support personnel couldn’t process them as fast as they arrived. Which planes do you think got serviced, and which delayed on the tarmac for hour after hour?

It’s no surprise if you know that the rule put into effect after repeated and persistent multi-hour tarmac delays by the airlines applies only to domestic flights. Miraculously, just enough personnel were found to keep the domestic flights coming to the gates without hitting the delay lengths which would trigger fines — but not enough to service the international flights, for which there are no tarmac delay penalties.

And that’s why the flight from Vancouver, BC to Kennedy Airport sat on the tarmac for over 12 hours. Airlines had no incentive to service it, but did have an incentive to prioritize domestic flights over it. Corporations don’t feel shame or guilt for bad behavior, but they do feel the sting of fines and act to avoid them. We need to choose our incentives carefully.