Harkening back to Senator William Proxmire’s Golden Fleece Awards for wasteful government spending, a guaranteed attention getter are report cards and awards, whether they are posted on a refrigerator or the subject of a press conference such as this morning’s gig in Washington called by FlyersRights.org announcing worst offenders for tarmac delays and plugging the passenger bill of rights opposed by the industry.

Delta topped the list with the longest (10+) hours on the tarmac for Flight 1201 from Atlanta to Orlando on January 16 as well as for the most number of tarmac delays while Southwest earned top ratings for “putting passengers first” and incorporating into their contract an actionable strategy to let customers off planes stuck on the tarmac, as well as a commitment to providing food, potable water, trash cleaning, toilet cleaning and temperature control to protect passengers.

“Passengers were subjected to no food, no water, no temperature control, multiple trips through deicing and totally disingenuous messages from the cockpit about their ability to take off,” said the organization in presenting its annual Airline Stranding Report Card. Passengers were subject to 1,232 tarmac delays lasting over three hours last year, earning the industry Ds and Fs

The press conference was in the Cannon House Office Building and included airline passengers who have sustained blood clots, diabetic shock and other complications as the result of tarmac delays as long as 12 hours. FlyersRights.org’s quest is gaining headway since such a bill is part of the FAA reauthorization legislation now working its way through the House. Efforts have also included action by Senators Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe as well as Representative Mike Thompson.

Recently, Continental rolled out its own plan for this and other customer service issues. Continental is pegging the three-hour mark as its limit despite the fact that the rest of the industry is fighting such mandatory rules. "We want people to have the opportunity to deplane the aircraft, provided we can get them off safely. We have to balance this with the vast majority of our customers who have told us that they would rather arrive at their destination late than have the flight canceled," Spokesperson Julie King told the Houston Chronicle. The airline already had such a policy for its Newark hub, where it organizes air stairs and buses to get passengers back to the terminal. However, a December storm in Houston prompted a system-wide expansion. Continental Express ExpressJet had the longest delays in December at seven hours and nine minutes for a Houston-Monroe, La. Flight. Houston-Newark’s Flight 1010 was next at six hours and 49 minutes.

Similar legislation has been working its way through legislative houses elsewhere, including a recently tabled bill in the Canadian House of Commons proposing significant financial penalties to airlines for delayed or cancelled flights. The bill includes weather as a reason to pay out compensation to passengers owing to weather delays in Canada during the Christmas holidays.

Passenger rights in Europe received a boost recently when the European Court of Justice tightened a loophole used by airlines to avoid paying compensation. Passengers sued charging that British Airways used the loophole covered by “extraordinary circumstances” too broadly. Airlines in the European Union must pay compensation unless they are able to re-accommodate passengers or in extraordinary circumstances.

The court ruled that mechanical problems could not be used as extraordinary circumstances since it was the airline’s responsibility to ensure its aircraft are ready to fly. The suit also cited the use of extraordinary circumstances for staff shortages, something cited in a mounting number of delays as crews go beyond their duty day in the U.S.

“Too many Americans have been locked inside sealed airplanes, trapped in tubes on the tarmac, for three hours or more,” said FlyersRights.org Executive Director Kate Hanni. “It’s time for Congress to give airline passengers the legal right to get off planes stuck on the ground for three hours or more, because neither the airlines nor the Bush Department of Transportation have helped.” Hanni, a citizen-consumer activist, has lobbied for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights since being stranded on the tarmac on an American Airlines flight in Austin, Texas for over 9 hours in December 2006.

The flyersrights.org report card was based on a combination of media accounts, government statistics and verified eyewitness accounts sent in to its website.

This year’s Special Award winners included:

• Delta took home the "When you are on the ground they treat you like dirt" Award, for having the most strandings, the longest strandings and the most callous disregard for passengers.

• American Airlines won the “Flying Fickle Finger of Fate” Award, for diverting Flight154 from Norita, Japan to Chicago’s O’Hare on December 16, 2008 to Detroit, where it sat on the tarmac for 7.5 hours (after a 13 hour flight), forcing passengers to spend 20.5 hours on board the aircraft. Vomit was in the sink and toilets, and the toilets themselves were inoperable.

• US Airways won the “Golden Plunger” Award for having the worst overflowing toilets, photos of which may be viewed on the FlyersRights.org website.

• Southwest Airlines won the "My Heavens" award for best airline overall, since Southwest maintains a “contract of carriage” that protects passengers against strandings.

Hanni’s organization was joined in November by a second passenger rights organization – The Association of Airline Passenger Rights, which, as with FlyersRights.org is pushing legislation to protect consumers from airline excesses. AAPR is also pushing for greater accessibility standards.

“Various legislation attempting to address these concerns have been stalled in committee for years without seeing the light of day even as the problems and expenses of airline travel have increased exponentially,” it says on its web site. “With the rise in fees, surcharges and trip delays, there have been corresponding cuts in the customary services and comforts air travelers have known for decades. It's no wonder that public opinion toward the airline industry is at an all-time low.

AAPR is calling for national representation on airline passenger rights in the executive and legislative branches of government as well as the development of clearer transparency on the pricing of airline tickets and related fees & surcharges. It, too, wants an airline scorecard program and the opportunity to submit feedback on any new standardized customer service ranking system.