The horrendous examples come quickly to mind, like the JetBlue passengers stranded on an airport tarmac in 2007 for 11 hours.

But the problem is more widespread than any of us probably realize. About 1,500 flights per year sit on a runway more than three hours, affecting more than 100,000 passengers.

In too many cases, ventilation systems do not work properly, toilets fail and water runs out, turning a regular passenger flight into a very unpleasant short-term prison sentence.

President Barack Obama has now laid down the law. Airlines must provide snacks and drinks after two hours, and they must return passengers to a terminal if the wait is likely to be more than three hours. Airlines that violate the rules can be subject to fines of $27,500 per passenger, which seems a bit excessive in our book.

We would have preferred the system in place in Europe, where the passengers themselves are compensated for waiting.

Even under the best of circumstances, airline travel has become an ordeal of long lines, security checkpoints, lost luggage and delays. The new rules should help keep it from becoming an out-and-out nightmare.