The measure would include all carriers flying in or out of the country, including non-U.S.-based airlines.
It's the third time Thompson has introduced this legislation. The previous two bills failed to get off the ground.
The first measure was inspired by the incident four years ago today in which a JetBlue flight bound for Cancun, Mexico, sat on the tarmac at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport for hours. Passengers received little to no information about the situation, they said.
"One of the pilots should get out here and have a mini-press conference," passenger Sarah Greenberg said in a phone call to CNN on February 15, 2007, as the plane sat on the tarmac. "The longer they wait, the more people are going to get upset. It's Psychology 101."
The plane was like a "sound-proofed coffin" when the windows were iced over, Carolyn Faucher, another stranded passenger, said at the time.
Even though Thompson's bill failed, many of the regulations in it were included in the Department of Transportation's "Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections" policy that went into effect in April 2010.
The major difference is that the Department of Transportation's policy only applies to U.S. domestic airlines flying within the United States. International flights by U.S.-based airlines can set their own rules and non-U.S. carriers are exempt.
The current policy mandates that the air carrier "provide adequate food and potable water no later than 2 hours after the aircraft leaves the gate...or touches down."
