Court rejects passenger bill of rights

ALBANY, N.Y., March 25 (UPI) -- An appeals court Tuesday struck down a New York law requiring airlines to provide basic necessities to passengers stuck on the ground for more than three hours.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law was pre-empted by federal authority, RTT News reported.

The sponsor of the legislation, state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, told the news service he and other officials are considering whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This is by no means the end of the story," the Democrat was quoted as saying. "The question is: What's the right thing to do, but there will be a next step -- that's for sure."

He said airlines are out to protect their profit and not their passengers, pointing to an incident at Kennedy International Airport last year when passengers on a JetBlue plane were delayed on the tarmac for 10 hours with no food or water while toilets overflowed.

"Prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention have more rights right now than airline passengers in this country, and that is completely unacceptable," Gianaris said.