rm_mn

Assuming that the reason they couldn't disembark was that every gate was full, why couldn't they have backed one plane away from it's gate since it wasn't going anywhere anyway? 11 hours on an airplane is crazy.

AmySabato

Forgive my ignorance please.

Did the plane finally take off after 11 hours and arrive at its destination and THAT is where the travelers were interviewed? Or did the plane have to ultimately remain at the same airport after the 11 hours? Thanks!

rkkwan

Most of the stranded flights went back to the terminal.

Some actually came in from other airports, and waited hours for a gate.

skatedancer

They never left the departure airport. I just read an Associated Press article in our local paper, which says that "the airline acknowledged yesterday that it hesitated nearly five hours before calling in shuttle buses to unload 10 jets that spent the day sitting on runways." It says they called the Port Authority at 3 p.m. "to ask for staircases and buses to get people back to the terminal." "We should have called them sooner," said ceo Neeleman.

Bobmrg

fun2travel, the rules regarding duty time are byzantine. There is a file of legal interpretations that pilots refer to when trying to make sense out of them...I won't put your sanity at risk by providing a link. Suffice it to say that there are people whose whole working lives are devoted to making sure that crews are "legal," and crews have had to walk off of planes full of passengers because their duty time would have expired in mid-flight. So the answer to your question is "yes, there are rules," and it is very possible that the crew in this instance might not have been legal to fly if the weather had suddenly turned to blue skies and zephyrs.

Gekko

The NY Post listed 6 specific JFK JetBlue flights that waited 8 hours or more ... 3 flew in from elsewhere and did not have a gate, so passengers waited.

Three other flights boarded, pulled away from the gates, but could not take off or return to their gates, so passengers waited.

starrsville

yes, in a heartbeat

sunny16

LittleSalty, you might want to check in with JetBlue about your flight out of JFK on Sunday. My husband was booked on their nightly flight to Houston for Sunday night, but he found out (via email maybe? I was asleep when this happened) that his flight has been cancelled. When he went to their website, the website said to call the airline, but when he called, there was a message saying that due to high call volume, they weren't answering the phone and you should check the website. He ended up booking a 2pm flight with Continental for tomorrow, but they told him to get to the airport very early because it will be a zoo tomorrow.

Anyway, good luck with your flight...

rkkwan

They've extended the complete shutdown of operation to this cities till Monday:

Austin, TX
Bermuda
Charlotte, NC
Columbus, OH
Houston, TX
Jacksonville, FL
Nashville, TN
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, ME
Raleigh/Durham, NC
Richmond, VA

biz.yahoo.com/pz/070217/113957.html

Pretty incredible, considering that the storm happened last Wednesday, and Wednesday only. They were so messed up that the best they can return to normal operation is next Tuesday.

rkkwan

Re: sunny16's post...

I'm just now reading that Jetblue has no interline agreement with any other carrier. So, those people whose flights get cancelled last week and this weekend, will not be put on any carrier. Basically, they need to find a way to get there, and then get a refund from Jetblue (presumably after they start answering phone call, sometime in the future).

So, people should realize this difference between them and other carriers. On most other carriers, they'll put you on a different carrier if a flight is cancelled.

mowmow

American cancelled all their evening flights from JFK to LAX on Thursday too, and every flight that left was hours late. Planes and crews are in the wrong places, passengers are stranded, and it's all a huge mess. They're trying hard to fix it, and we'll have to be patient. It was a huge storm.

That said, I don't think passengers should ever have to sit on an airplane for hours and go nowhere. After a delay of 2-3 hours, passengers should be deplaned until the situation is resolved. Stop making excuses for this behavior, it's unacceptable. From any airline.

Last year I was flying LGB to JFK on JetBlue and we were delayed 2 hours due to "air traffic control issues." We were allowed to get off the airplane and wait in the terminal until they re-called us. I was going to arrive too late to check in for my connecting flight to Istanbul, so one of the check-in agents let me use his computer behind the desk to get online and check-in with Turkish Air and print my boarding pass.

You think one of the legacy airlines would have done that? Without that kindness I would have arrived too late to check in and stood helpless as my flight left without me, even though I was there in time to physically get on the plane.

JetBlue's lack of interline agreements is a big downside. I discovered that it's not a good idea to use them to connect to another flight on a different itinerary. You can't check in the whole way, and have to pick up & re-check your luggage. If there's any delay, you are just SOL.

It's unfortunate. Not just for the money saved. Flying out of LGB was delightful. I'd choose it over LAX anyday. I've enjoyed all my flights on JetBlue. The passengers seemed in a good mood, the attendants were friendly and helpful, the planes comfortable.

But...I'm on AA34 to connect to my flight to Egypt...and hoping it won't be more than an hour late next Sunday

rkkwan

Hypothetical situation:

I live in Houston and flew Jeblue to JFK a week ago in sunny weather. Now, they've cancelled flights all weekend through Monday to Houston, I can't get home.

The phone lines are jammed and can't get any information.

At JFK, they have thrown out news reporters and have sent in security guards to protect their staff from any customers. I certainly won't get help there.

I don't even know how I can get rebooked on a later flight if I don't have to go home right away.

They are not paying for my hotel room in NYC for extended stay either.

They won't pay another airline to put me on, so how am I going to get home? Lowest fare on Continental flying out tomorrow is $299 from EWR or $399 from JKF; so I'm definitely going to lose money. Jetblue will only refund the canceled ticket, and won't put me on to other airlines voluntarily.

Annabel

My husband and I are regular JetBlue customers and always fly out of JFK. We were in a very similar situation on a JB flight from JFK to Vegas last July. There was dangerous lightning in the area. They boarded us on the plane and we sat for nearly 5 hours on the plane going no where. The thing about JB is that when this was happening, we all noticed the attendants are no where to be found for at least 1 hour or so. There is no water handed out and no information given to the passengers - apparently to prohibit the overuse of the bathrooms. The plane was hot and there was no air. The "big comfy" seats are not so big and comfy. They certainly do "control" you. They don't want you back at the gate and they don't know what to do with you on the plane. I think they are lacking in this department. Unless you are in this kind of situation it's hard to understand. The lack of communication on JB's part is completely wrong. There are a few issues I have with JB - that just being one of them. My DH and I hadd another problem with them on another flight due to an enormous woman sitting in the aisle seat. We were in the middle and window seats. She was seated first and we could not get to our seats. she was crammed into 1 seat....well 1 and 3/4 and we could not move. We literally had to climb over her to get in and out of our seats. I don;t know why JB let her get on the plane with buying only 1 seat. This woman was huge she needed 2 extensions and her breasts were nearly toughing the seat in front of her. I called JB and asked them about this and they said they cannot "force" someone to buy 2 seats due to size -- HUH??? This was a serious safety hazard and also took up 3/4 of my full fare seat.
Being in the NY metro area, we don't have much of a choice but fly JB to most destinations...not because of price but flight availability. It would be nice to have a choice again.

NeoPatrick

If that is true about their not having agreements with other airlines and therefore not being able to put you on another airline, then that would deter me from booking from them -- particularly if there were limited flights to and from my departure and destination.

I suspect that is true about the lack of agreements with other airlines. When I had an American Airlines flight cancelled and they were going to put me on another flight, the next flight was Jet Blue, but American said they couldn't put me on that except as a very last resort as they don't have a "connection" with them.

Bobmrg

Hypothetical for you, Annabel. Your flight stays at the gate instead of moving out to make room for an incoming flight...the passengers on the incoming flight go crazy because the toilets are overflowing, there is no food or water, etc etc etc. In this situation, who is right and who is wrong?

rkkwan

"Being in the NY metro area, we don't have much of a choice but fly JB to most destinations...not because of price but flight availability. It would be nice to have a choice again."

Really? AA and DL have decent-sized operation at JFK; and Continental (and its regional partners) serves about 155 destinations non-stop.

That includes almost every Jetblue destination except Houston Hobby (CO uses IAH); Longbeach, Ontario and Burbank (CO serves LAX and SNA); and Oakland and Sacramento (CO serves SFO and SJC).

Unless you don't like to cross the Hudson.

Annabel

Hypothecital??? I would have like to have had a choice. My last choice would be to sit an a hot crowded smelly filthy airplane with no info and no water handed out and have the attendants hide for 5 hours. Since we had show tickets for that night in LV that was shot as well. Once you are on that plane....that is it. They do not tell you that you are going to be delayed, possibly for hours. You are boarded and buckeled up preparing for take off. They should give you a choice or tell you the truth so if you can make your own decision. Personally I would have gone home in a comfy limo and returned at a later time.....I would have liked to have had a choice. Even sitting in the terminal is better than sitting on a plane. People in the terminal knew what was going on, but we did not.

I have learned a lot from air travel. What we now do is watch the weather. If we are at our vacation destination, we extend our stay. We book the earliest flights possible (within reason). When we are not flying first class we always buy 3 seats for the 2 of us because we have learned that people that should buy 2 seats do not. And last but not least .... we always FedEx express our luggage to our destination.

rkkwan

CO has 5-6 daily EWR-LAS non-stops, compared to about 4 on B6. I don't understand why you say you don't have a choice.

rkkwan

Oh, I guess you mean you don't have a choice after being stranded.

But my point is that from NYC, there are lots of non-stop flights everywhere. Besides CO, DL has 3 daily JFK-LAS, for example. US/America West flies 4x JFK-LAS and 2x EWR-LAS.

Bobmrg

Annabel, they can't give you a choice because none is available. The ground controller has a finite amount of ramp area to utilize. Airliners are big (duh) and difficult to maneuver on the ground compared to in the air. Two cannot occupy the same space at the same time, and new flights are landing on a regular basis ("We won't be able to land at O'Hare, folks, there aren't any gates available." "Oh yeah? Well, my time is valuable and I'm going to sue your socks off!")

Once a flight has been cleared to push back (an air traffic control instruction that must be complied with) and is away from the gate, someone else will be moving in. There ain't no free lunch (a particularly inapt comment in this discussion).