Legislation introduced to Congress last Thursday would create a passengers' bill of rights to avoid airline issues such as passengers waiting on planes during long delays, a congressman's spokeswoman said.

In February, hundreds of JetBlue passengers were left stuck on the tarmac at JFK airport in New York for up to 11 hours, according to the Associated Press.

A similar incident occurred Dec. 30 involving 121 American Airlines flights that were diverted to other cities as a result of weather, leaving many passengers left sitting in planes for up to eight hours, according to the Associated Press.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Cali., and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Cali., are sponsoring two bills concerning the issue.

According to a press release issued by Thompson's office, his bill would require airlines to provide passengers stuck aboard grounded airplanes with food, safe drinking water, sanitary bathroom facilities, adequate ventilation and a reasonable temperature while the plane is delayed.

"He thinks consistency across the industry will help the passengers and the airlines," Anne Warden, spokeswoman for Thompson, said. "It will help the airlines to have a standard to fall back on."

Thompson's bill further requires airlines to provide passengers with information on the causes of delays and to inform passengers of chronically delayed and cancelled flights at the time of purchase.

Todd Taylor, president of the College Republicans, said he does not agree with the cost of the bill.

"The airlines are already strapped right now from increasing oil prices and they can't really afford the bill," he said.

College Democrats spokesman Eliot Schmidt said he took issue with the lack of responsibility shown by airline JetBlue concerning the February incident.

"JetBlue has done a pitiful job with handling the situation," Schmidt said. "I don't understand how an industry can be that callous to its customers."

JetBlue has released its own version of a passengers' bill of rights, according to a press release.

The bill includes provisions to address wait time as well as a list of operational changes, including training additional staff to handle similar emergencies and increasing its command and control capabilities.

A representative from JetBlue could not be reached for comment.

Charles Welch, director of the Centre County Airport Authority, said while there are sometimes problems at University Park Airport, the facility's smaller size prevents the airport from seeing the types of problems such as the ones that occured at JFK or Houston airports.

University Park Airport generally receives between 250 and 300 outgoing passengers a day, he said.

"If there is a long wait, we bring the passengers back to the terminal," Welch said.

In the meantime, Negar Davis, director of international student services, said she wants all international students to inform her department of any problems when flying.

"If students bring any type of problem to our attention, we will do whatever we can to assist them," Davis said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.