47 people scheduled to fly with Continental Airlines were stuck for 6 hours on the plane in Rochester, Minneapolis because staff’s confusion over TSA rules.

Continental Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines were fined $100,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for keeping passengers stranded on August 8.

The Department of Transportation also fined Mesaba Airlines with $75,000 for their role in ground handling Continental Express Flight 2816. A total of $175,000 fines were received for just one flight.

The 47 passengers stuck on the flight, having to endure crying babies and the smell of toilets, were issued a refund and offered compensation for their time and effort.

“I hope that this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will also use what we have learned from this investigation to strengthen protections for airline passengers subjected to long tarmac delays.”

We can only hope that similar measures will be taken for budget airline flights such as WizzAir’s record delay.