nytraveler

Had never flown them before and just did a NYC - San Diego RT for business (pays only for coach in the US). Trip was last minute so Jet Blue had only open flights and I'm obviously not a member - and then don;t have upgrades anyway. I was really dreading it.

But it was fantastic (for flying). Planes seem new. Take offs were on time and landings were early. People are not allowed to take body bags on board (they were appropriately gate checked). FAs are pleasant and helpful (not zombies or worse as on American). There is actually enough leg room for a person taller than 5'3". The person in front can;t lean their chair back on your knees. They provide free beverage and snack (rather than charge you for totally inedible "meals").

And when we landed in SD there was a driver with motor cart offering rides to anyone who looked like they might want it (not some poor soul looking for a scheduled wheelchair which is half broken when it finally does arrive).

And I was actually able to sleep on the way back (until we hit some rough air). Really helpful since I had 2 hours sleep the night before getting a new business pitch ready.

Granted I had only 4 hours sleep in 2 nights (but did nap this am and have been working from home since) - but they still seem a wonder versus any of the other American airlines I have flown in the last year.

(I'm sure not all flights are perfect, but they do seem to be well thought out and functional.)

cat111719

Me, too!!!

yk

Tell that to the passengers who were supposed to be on the JetBlue flight flying out of Boston today:

JetBlue Pilot Threatens To Crash Plane

A JetBlue pilot threatened to crash the plane he was set to fly out of Logan Airport Thursday afternoon [...] The pilot, who has not been identified, was taken into custody at Logan for allegedly sending an email to his girlfriend in which he said if they did not reconcile their relationship, he was going to crash the plane.

http://wbztv.com/local/pilot.crash.plane.2.1706861.html

MP07950

I had my first Jet Blue experience in February (just from Newark to Florida) and am sold! Very pleasant flight and it was so nice to not have to pay to check luggage....

LoveItaly

As I read and understand the article, yk, a source said that the pilot threaten to crash the plane where in fact he did not say that although he did email his girlfriend that he was going to take his life in a spectacular fashion. His girlfriend whom he was having problems with is a FA and notified the appropriate authorities. So from the article the source gave incorrect information. But it certainly sounds like the pilot was not mentally fit to fly the plane.

Nytraveler, I have not flown with JetBlue but everyone I know that has have commented how happy they are with them including friends from Italy who were in the US and flew from NYC to Las Vegas to the SF Bay Area.

Dayenu

Is this the same Jet Blue that held people on plane before take-off for 9 hours? Good to know they are improving!

november_moon

One of our friends flies JFK to the SF Bay Area a lot and she always flies Jet Blue. She likes it, except for the last trip.

Because of weather, JFK was closed and flights cancelled - the process of getting rebooked was very tough and her checked luggage ended up flying without her - Jet Blue wouldn't move any of the checked luggage from its original plane, regardless of whether the passengers were ultimately on that flight. Her luggage arrived 2 days before she did, at a different airport than she ended up flying into. I went to get her luggage, which was a royal pain because it is hard to even find Jet Blue people unless a flight is preparing to depart or land - and they have no baggage office. There were also people who had checked car seats, but couldn't get them back once the flights were cancelled, so they couldn't leave the airport with their children.

Anyway - it seems to me that Jet Blue is great except when things go wrong, then they have a really hard time dealing with abnormal circumstances.

nytraveler

Well I've flown almost every airline you can think of - and I;ve found when there are problems most of them are useless.

Once a storm prevented a Delta flight from arriving and my Thu afternoon flight was cancelled. I was scheduled to fly out Thu PM and back Sun (when the convention ended). While I was on the phone with my travel office to fix it Delta unilaterally rescheduled me - on a flight to Cincy on Monday - AFTER my meeting was over. When I got to the front of the line with the info from the travel office they actually argued that I had to take the Monday fllight - since it was already booked - but by them, not me.

When stuck i n Chi due to storms AA lied and said their flight was leaving on schedule - but when I got to the airport every flight was cancelled. They refused to even help me call a hotel - so I got in a cab back to town and found myself a hotel on the way. (And I was flying first class - and their response was - we don;t deal with hotels - didn;t even offer a list or phone numbers - and there were literally hundreds of people on the coach line trying to reschedule flights - again my travel office had to do it.

I could go on and on with stories about incompetence and rudeness in situations that were not my fault - with every airline.