I travel quite frequently for business (1 week a month + 2 international trips a year). I have done the long wait in the plane twice. Once for 3 hours in 95 degree heat, without the air conditioning running on the plane. We had to depend on open doors to provide any ventilation and the crew handed out water for awhile but ran out.
The second time was in the cold at Chicago, but heat was on and plane was semi-comfortable. In reality, that day it was probably better being on the plane then in the airport, since there were no seats in the airport.
I do believe that congress needs to do something. The airlines are not going to regulate themselves because they have proven lately that they do not care about the opinions or treatment of their passengers. Most planes are so full right now, you have limited choices about which airline you will use.
The recent bill of rights that New York passed is being challenged in appeals court and the bill will probably get struck down because it limits interstate commerce, which the constitution does not allow a state to do.
Without something in writing, the airlines will continue to do whatever they want. It is appalling to me to for the airline to think that just because I boarded a plane, they have the right to hold me on the plane against my will. I understand and fully respect the power of the pilot to control the plane on all the people on board. But I challange trying to extend that power to a plane stuck on the ground because of weather, ATC, mechanical, or any other reason. In my book, its equivalent to kidnapping.
