Pretzels, Water and Airline Delays

Airlines are gearing up to implement new federal rules this summer providing relief to passengers trapped on flights that don't take off hours on end, Scott McCartney reports in the Wall Street Journal today.

After two hours of waiting on the tarmac, passengers must be offered beverages and snacks. "That's when we start mobilizing pretzels and water," says Holden Shannon, a senior vice president at Continental Airlines.

After three hours, in most instances airlines must give passengers the option of getting off the plane. To do that, Continental actually is setting up areas at its hub airports where passengers can be offloaded without aircraft returning to gates. Those who opt to get off will be ferried back to the terminal in vans. But they can forget about getting their checked baggage.