We had been trapped in our plane for three hours on the runway at Chicago O’Hare International Airport when the woman next to me told a story about being marooned on a runway in Dallas. The passengers around her were loudly complaining, but the woman drifted into a deep sleep. When she woke up an hour later, everyone on the plane was also asleep.

“I think they gassed us to shut us up,” she said.

By hour four, I was praying for sleep gas, hoping I’d wake up in New York. We never got to New York that day, because thunderstorms thundered the East Coast.

My greatest travel fear — getting trapped in a plane on a runway — came true May 16. I did OK, and emerged from the nearly five-hour delay with some survival tips. If you’re one of the estimated 207 million people traveling by plane this summer, you might need them, especially if you’re flying to the New York area. USA Today recently reported that only 55 percent of flights arrive on time to New York.

“ Carry food and water with you, no matter how short the flight. There was no food on board our Chicago-New York flight, because it was only supposed to take just a little over two hours.

“ Carry with you the phone numbers for local TV stations and newspapers. Airlines and airports give various explanations why planes can’t just taxi back to a gate and let you out when a delay stretches for hours. Gate space is limited, for instance. But mostly, it’s expensive for airlines when planes return to gates.

Journalists love runway-stranding stories. They also have access to airline public relations people and airport officials. The threat of bad publicity can make an open gate magically appear.

“ Use the bathroom early in the delay. The minute the delay is announced, and the seat-belt sign is turned off, head to the head. By the end of hour four of our delay, the bathroom was littered with paper towels. It was nose-plugging stinky, and the floor was sticky.

“ Call your congressional delegation. In December 2006, hundreds of passengers languished on several planes, some for as long as nine hours, at Austin International Airport. The passengers later formed the Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights. The group lobbied for a law that would limit runway stranding and require that airlines serve food and water to stranded passengers. Legislation is pending in Congress.

Call the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202)225-3121. Ask for your representatives. You’ll be connected to their staffers. Explain that you are sitting on a runway. This will get their attention. Ask them to convey the message that you want your representatives to pass the passengers’ rights legislation.

“ Have handy your airline’s 800 number. When we finally exited the plane, the lines to rebook to New York stretched forever. As we waited, I called United’s 800 number. I got India, of course. But the kind gentleman rebooked us on a noon flight the next day. We might have been stuck in Chicago 48 hours, rather than 24, had we waited in line rather than called.

“ Plug into your best self. During a protracted runway delay, the only control you have is over your attitude. You can yell at the flight attendants and the pilots (who have little control over the situation) or you can offer to share your food with foodless passengers.

During the ordeal, I remembered the friend who kept a daily gratitude journal as her husband died of cancer. And so I focused on things to be grateful for in that plane. The pilot stepped out of the cockpit every 15 minutes or so and briefed us. My seatmates — both my husband and the gas-theory lady — had great senses of humor. There were no babies on board to worry about. No one freaked out. I got some material for this column.

Happy summer travels. Hope this helps.