In February 2007, nine JetBlue flights with a total of some 1,000 people on board were stranded on the tarmac for several hours 11 at the worst amid a snow- and ice storm in New York City. Outrage from travelers and the public alike sparked cries for a passenger bill of rights that would include, among other things, a right to deplane during excessive delays. It took more than two years and another egregious incident, in which 47 passengers were kept on board in Rochester, Minn., for nine hours, before a passenger bill of rights was passed in December 2009.