Latest FAA statistics confirm that air travel has reached a new low. In the first third of 2007, over one-quarter of flights within the U.S. were late on arrival, and almost 70,000 flights were canceled. And this despite many airlines padding their arrival times to give them a generous cushion against delays.

Nearly half of the delays were weather-related, including the Denver snowstorm debacle that sent JetBlue's (NASDAQ: JBLU) reputation for customer service plummeting. Even in April, after the weather improved, JetBlue was second only to US Airways in lowest on-time arrivals, at 64.8%. Comair joined the tardy trio with 67.9% on-time arrivals.

US Airways (NYSE: LCC), which I've nicknamed "Air Mañana," operated four of the six most frequently delayed flights in April. These six flights you most want to avoid:

Ever been delayed on an airport tarmac, sitting in a stuffy plane with a few hundred others, twiddling your thumbs and mentally pulling your hair out while receiving absolutely no communication from the airline and very little in the way of communications from the captain?

To those hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) who have faced this highly annoying situation before, some rather disgusted airline passengers in Austin, Texas have decided that they will not take it anymore. They have suggested an airline passenger "bill of rights" that seeks to get the major airlines into compliance regarding the care of its bread-n-butter: paying passengers.

The "bill of rights" proposal would require airlines to return passengers to terminal gates after three hours on the tarmac. I'd like to see that at two hours personally, but three is better than ten. The proposal would also impose penalties on airlines for losing baggage and bumping passengers. Hooray! Although I've only lost my bags a few times when flying, the process to get my belongings back was one of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced. Additionally, the proposal would create a consumer committee to review and investigate complaints.

Gone are the days of setting high expectations for consumers and passengers of the airline industry (or so it seems), but maybe this proposal will shed some new light on the situation millions of us have faced.