I think that the reason that the FAA acted is to send a message. Similar situations have happened several times in the past few years, and two years ago the FAA threatened to create procedures that would HAVE to be followed. The airlines swore up and down that they would create a voluntary system to handle such situations and get people off the planes and into a building, and the FAA and Congress very grudgingly accepted that promise. Still the strandings happen. OK, so you made the promise, but it looks like you really did not set up those contingency procedures, did you, because you got caught with your pants down -- again.
I believe that what the FAA is trying to do here is to tell airlines that either they pay up when they fail to have procedures in place, or they step back and let the FAA create and enforce the process; promises are not going to cut it anymore.
I agree with Bicker to an extent, because I do think that the FAA needs to put this responsibility on the airport, not the airlines, except that all airlines will pay to share this expense at any station they use, and if they do not normally use that station, there should also be an FAA fund for emergency services reimbursements that they ALL (including foreign carriers) contribute to.
I think that every airport must have someone on call (with at least 2 backups, including the GM if it's a small facility) who is empowered to make these decisions and who is trained and certified to be able to at least get a stairway out to the plane if he/she can't get the plane into the gate alone. The union rules about what a flight crew can and cannot do on the ground need to flex in emergencies -- the FA's should be able to grab a wheel chock and help secure the plane at the gate, etc. At larger airports, there should be teams that rotate the on-call duty; I really doubt that they wouldn't be able to find plenty of ground crew folks willing to do it for overtime.
Each airport facility should be required to set aside at least one gate that can be fenced in with rolling security fences and used by ANY airline after hours if such a situation arises, and which has stairway access to the tarmac. If it is leased, then the airline that has it can get a bit of a rent break to compensate for possible delays if it has to be cleared in the morning. The area should have a full set of accessible restrooms inside the barrier, and water fountains, but should not have to include food service. (If the situation warrants it, food can be delivered.)
