Jaunted

· Domestic flights can't have a tarmac delay of over 3 hours. Airlines must return the passengers to the terminal if it is safe to do so, where they can wait out the rest of the delay off the plane.

· International flights can;t have an unreasonable tarmac delay. They didn't set a specific number of hours on these, leaving it up to the airline to decide how long is long. Still, if another incident goes down with a crazy long delay and the DOT gets wind of it, there will be a swift punishment.

· Passengers on delayed flights must have access to food, water and bathrooms. Even if a plane hasn't taken off after two hours, food must made available and bathrooms cannot be closed.

· Airline must have employees designated to better monitor delays and their affect on passengers. Hopefully this will help the airline decide which flights are easier to delay with minimal passenger stress.

· The airline's complaints and customer service department phone number will be printed on your tickets and at airline gates. The airlines must acknowledge each complaint within 30 days and provide a response within 60.

· Airline who deceptively schedule flights earlier to attract passengers, even though they know the flight will be late, will have to end this practice or be subject to DOT enforcement. We can think of a few flights already that might fall into this bunch, so shape up airlines!

Related Stories:
· DOT issues three-hour tarmac delay rule [SmarterTravel]
· Airlines forced to pay up over delayed Continental flight stuck on tarmac {Jaunted]
· Senators seek to ban long waits on the tarmac [Jaunted]
· Airplane Hell [Jaunted]

[Photo: Brian Daniel Eisenberg]