Myer

I have flown jetBlue several times and have nothing but the best experiences.

I guess a low-cost airline has to do everything it can to get their planes off the ground. In this case they were expecting a temporary break and wanted to take advantage of it.

Of course, as things turned out it went bad and then downhill from there.

I believe they did their best at damage control by issuing a refund and free ticket.

Like i said, my expiriences with them have been positive.

April

I'm somewhat lost in all this bobmrg, but are you saying the pilot doesn't have the right to refuse to fly because of the weather? Granted they hadn't actually gone anywhere in this case but can the pilot decide whether or not to load the plane and move from the gate? What's the point of METARs and TAFs if the plan is to sit and wait for a possible break in the weather that might never happen? I'm wondering the same thing fun2travel is. What kind of hours are you required to work? Does the plane fly with the same crew that has been sitting around on the job for 11 hours? Are the engines idling for all or part of this?

Communication makes a world of difference (although maybe not for 11 hours!). I won't fly with one airline because they had us sit in the plane for an hour while people wandered aimlessly in and out looking for vacant seats and the crew looked completely baffled. It didn't inspire confidence.

Annabel

I live on Long Island....EWR is definately not an option for us. Not long ago you had a choice of airlines to fly from JFK. JB seems to have gobbled them all up. We loved sitting in the VIP lounges, which JB has none of. I loved the first class security line..JB has none of that either. Actually they have the reverse of that...my husband's Rolex was almost stolen by a TSA at the JB terminal. Delta used to have a route to Vegas. It was nice to fly first class. It was also nice to ba able to fly first to Florida....that no longer exists. Direct flights from JFK to many destinations have been bought by JB.

We will never ever ever use LGA - that airport is out of the question.

When I was stuck on the plane for 5 hours, we later found out all flights were grounded in the 3 airports..JFK, EWR and LGA. Then after it was cleared they only allowed aircraft heading north or south....no west bound flights permitted for take off. Why would they board???? That is my question. If all area airports were closed due to lightning, why board passengers in the first place.

lippincottfarm

A couple of years ago I was sitting in the Pittsburgh airport waiting to board a US Air flight. The plane was having mechanical problems. The pilot was standing within a few feet of me. They announced that the plane would board, but the pilot said no, wait until they were sure the problem was fixed, and the plane could take off. The pilot was asked to pick up the phone and I could hear him say no - let the passengers stay in the terminal where they could go to the bathroom, get a drink and walk around. Then I heard him raise his voice and say - I am not boarding these people, I don't care what you threaten me with. I will tell these people who you are and what you are insisting I do. I'm near retirement, I don't care. We got to stay in the terminal until the problem was fixed. I still think of him and wish I had thanked him. Obviously, the pilots are under great pressure to get the people on board and ready to go whether the plane is ready to go or not.

nytraveler

After the recent fisco - never. They're still not flying at all out of a bunch of cities - and say it may be Thurs or Fri before they're back on schedule.

Don;t know whey this happened - but no other airline had this kind of problem. All the others were back on schedule in a day or so.

Why risk it?

LittleSalty

Happy to report that both of my flights this past week from JFK to Orlando and back on JetBlue were on time, smooth, and satisfying!

ParrotMom

After the snow storms on the East Coast these past few days and cancelling AGAIN--although I have never used Jet Blue I don't intend to.. and I think by the end of the year you may see the end of them. It has been a public relations nightmare,,,

GoTravel

ParrottMom, people have been saying the same thing about US Airways, Delta, NW, Continental, etc.

I doubt they'll go out of business. And put 100,000 out of work?

rkkwan

Question: There's a winter storm, the media is breathing behind your back, your passengers say they don't want to be sitting on the tarmac. You produced a "Passenger Bill of Rights" that will pay out large sums of money if they do. What do you you do?

Answer: Cancel flights. That's exactly what Jetblue did this weekend. There's no alternative.

Don

I have and I would again. They've always been reliable in my experience.

Also, I subscribe to the concept that the best time to patronize a business is immediately after a big, publicized problem. They've probably done a lot of work to deal with the issue, and they'll bend over backwards to please the customer to prevent more bad publicity.

rkkwan

I disagree with Don, as this is an unusual case. Valentine's Day and the aftermath is not just a mistake that can be easily corrected. It shows there's systemically problem with Jetblue's operation and backup systems. Those things take time to fix.

Also, right now it isn't clear if Jetblue will change their philosophy about cancellations. For the past many years, Jetblue and Continental will delay flights but not cancel them unless there's absolutely no alternative. AA, DL, UA are more ready to cancel flights, even if that means some passengers may not get to their destination in days, rather than hours.

Now, there's no indication which way Jetblue will do. Yesterday, they canceled more flights than they usually do. Is that because of a change of philosophy, because of the media spotlight, or just a knee-jerk reaction? I don't know and you don't know. I'd assume many Jetblue workers don't know either.

Gekko

Now we clearly see the Catch-22 that all airlines face.

Anticipation of bad weather -- cancel flights and you're a genius if you're right and hated if your wrong -- like today -- JetBlue passengers are complaining that flights should not have been cancelled - the runways are fine!!

Don't cancel flights & the same result.