Just as we said on Monday morning, last weekend's debacle in Rochester, Minn., where passengers were trapped on a regional jet overnight, is going to make it easier for Congress to pass legislation requiring higher standards from airlines on long tarmac delays. The Inquirer's Editorial Board weighed in with its thoughts this morning. Read the editorial here. The background can be found in the UPDATED: Passenger-rights legislation posting below.

The deal between US Airways and Delta to swap slots at New York LaGuardia and Washington National airports has been extensively covered and analyzed since it was announced yesterday. Here is this morning's Inquirer article on the agreement. which includes one observation that it will help both carriers strengthen what are markets where they already have a lot of pricing power.

Another take, including a skeptical look from the Business Travel Coaltiion at how consumers could be adversely affected, was published at the examiner.com Web site. Read that one here.

Here's one more thought: If Southwest gains control of Frontier Airlines, as it's trying to do through a bankruptcy court auction, it could include Frontier's slots at slot-controlled National. Hmmm ... Southwest already is in LaGuardia and starts Sunday at Boston Logan. Does anyone see a Southwest Shuttle in the future?

We know JetBlue doesn't fly to PHL but with this offer, you may wish it did (Newark and Baltimore are the closest airports it serves). The airline is selling a $599 (plus tax) "All You Can Jet Pass" that will allow you to take an unlimited number of flights between Sept. 8 and Oct. 8. The airline serves the West, parts of the South and Southwest and the Caribbean. This is similar to some tourist air passes that some countries and groups of airlines overseas sell that provide an unlimited amount of travel within a particular time period. But we haven't heard of something similar in this country in a long time.

We predict here and now that we will see stories during September and October about the JetBlue customers who have used the pass dozens of times, either making lots of business trips or flying off for fun -- just because they can. Find more information at www.jetblue.com.

US Airways got more access to Washington's Reagan National Airport and Delta got more slots at New York LaGuardia in a swap of takeoff-and-landing slots the two airlines announced today. The most interesting aspect of US Airways' announcement, however, was what else comes with the deal: The potential to start flights to Tokyo and Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the airline doesn't have service now.

The Toyko flights, flying from the Phoenix hub, would not take off until at least 2012, and require some regulatory approval, the airline said. Tokyo from PHL? Perhaps that will come later. US Airways said it will use the Sao Paulo rights next year from Charlotte, where it starts service to Rio de Janiero this December.

Read the basics of what we know in an AP story found here. 

Southwest made a formal bid today, valued at $170 million to acquire the assets of Frontier Airlines, the Denver-based carrier in Chapter 11. Here's more detail.

The Inquirer had a good story Wednesday morning with more information. Find it here.

Morning .... this post from Monday now has a longer article at the first link .. and as predicted, has a quote from a member of Congress. 

We suppose the only thing worse than being trapped overnight in one of those skinny, 50-passenger regional jets at a Minnesota airport in the summer would be imprisonment in the winter. Or maybe not. Whatever, I suspect the chances of Congress actually adopting federal rules for treatment of airline customers during long tarmac delays just got a lot better with a tale from a flight this weekend.

A Continental Express flight from Houston to Minneapolis/St. Paul was diverted Friday night by thunderstorms to Rochester, Minn. (home of the Mayo Clinic, although that didn't seem to help.) For a variety of reasons, passengers weren't allowed off the plane. Read more about their nine-hour nightmare here.

Last week's Winging It column looked at some of the past efforts to legislate better airline customer service, and predicted that Congress would act to force the industry to do better. If a member of Congress doesn't bring up this weekend's flight in debate, I will be surprised.

The midair collison of a helicopter and a small plane over the Hudson River yesterday has revived a safety issue, one of the many involving transportation that can be overlooked until tragedy strikes. A month ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for lax enforcement of safety rules for so-called "for-hire" flying, or flights in private planes hired by the hour or day. The AP in Washington quickly produced a good story on what had been lightly reported a month ago. Find it here.

UPDATE: The Inquirer has a detailed story today about the local ties of victims of Saturday's accident. Read that one here.