Continental Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek says his airline and others will be quick to cancel flights whenever bad weather or air-traffic congestion threaten to trigger multimillion-dollar fines for extended on-ground flight delays.

But, he warns, such defensive flight cancellations mean more travelers will experience difficulty in reaching their destinations than when airlines were willing to let their planes -- and the people aboard them -- ride out long ground delays.

"The government is inconveniencing more passengers by passing what is a very stupid rule," Smisek said Tuesday at a New York investors' conference.

Beginning April 29, the Transportation Department says it will fine carriers up to $27,500 per passenger for commercial flights stuck on taxiways for more than three hours. For a Continental Boeing 737 with 150 passengers, a fine could exceed $4.1 million. For one of its big Boeing 777s with a full load of 285 passengers, the fine could be more than $7.8 million.

That dwarfs the potential revenue from those flights. At an average fare of around $350, those planes would produce only about $52,500 and $99,750 in revenue per flight, respectively.

Smisek's comments followed requests Monday by Delta and JetBlue to have their flights at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport exempted from the new rule on lengthy ground delays while that airport's longest runway is closed for reconstruction. The runway normally is used for about half of the airport's departures.