In 1999, the airlines beat back a proposal to give passengers more protection against their worst unfair practices, including canceled flights without compensation, senseless fare rules, lost/destroyed baggage and their growing trend of leaving passengers sitting on the runway for hours in too-hot or too-cold tin tubes with no food, no water and no working bathrooms. Now, after the latest trapped-on-the-runway incident, passenger Kate Hanni has launched a new campaign (Strandedpassengers weblink) for an enforceable Airline Passengers Bill of Rights. Here's the story After 8 Hours on the Taxiway, You Might Want a Bill of Rights from New York Times travel columnist Joe Sharkey. In the past, this important issue has been beaten down by airline campaign contributions to the Congress but this time, it may gain greater traction. Believe it or not, your federal government even has a passenger rights page. Go there to learn about your weak and largely unenforceable rights.