Whoa. The Dept. of Transportation means business when it comes to folks being trapped-on-the-tarmac, as demonstrated by a record-breaking fine slapped on Continental and its partner ExpressJet.

The airlines were fined a total of $100,000 for an appalling event that took place in Rochester, Minnesota back in August of this year. A Continental flight, operated by ExpressJet flying from Houston to Minneapolis was diverted to Rochester due to storms. The plane arrived a little after midnight and passengers had to sit there until morning.

Also fined – to the tune of $75,000 – was Mesaba Airlines, the only carrier staffing the airport at that time. A Mesaba employee told ExpressJet it couldn’t let its passengers in the terminal because there were no TSA employees on duty – which made no sense.

I like this comment, from DOT Secretary Ray LaHood: “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.”