Daylife/AP Photo by Akira Suemori

A federal task force that spent nearly a year wrestling with ways to assist people delayed for hours aboard planes parked on tarmacs has finalized its recommendations — none of which requires airlines and airports to do anything.

The tarmac task force, as it is informally known, is expected to vote on guidelines for airlines and airports on how to craft their own contingency plans for dealing with lengthy tarmac delays.

Kate Hanni, a task force member and passenger rights advocate, said Tuesday there is nothing in the draft document that requires airlines or airports to provide additional services for passengers stranded aboard airplanes going nowhere…

“We were hoping at a bare minimum to come out of this task force with a definition of what is an extensive on-ground delay,” Hanni said, but that didn’t happened because the airline industry “doesn’t want anything that is remotely enforceable.”

Perish the thought that our government might come up with a solution to problems that might inconvenience corporate America. So – one more time – the essential message from Washington is Screw the Consumer!