Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to provide air travelers with certain protections whenever they are grounded on a plane for an extended period of time.
The airline would be required to give passengers an opportunity to leave the plane after they have sat on the ground for three hours. This option would continue to be offered every three hours the plane sits.
The airline would be required to provide food, potable water, comfortable cabin temperature and ventilation, and working restrooms as long as the plane sits on the ground.
Passengers could call a Department of Transportation's (DOT) consumer hot line to notify the agency about the delay and report on conditions on board the plane.
Airports and airlines would be required to develop contingency plans for handling such delays, subject to DOT approval, and face fines if they don't submit a plan or fail to comply with the plan they implement.
The idea of a passenger bill of rights was born after JetBlue Airways stranded thousands of passengers in planes on runways at JFK International Airport for as long as 10 hours on Feb. 14, 2007.
