If you receive my daily travel tip newsletter (you can sign up for free here), then you know I’ve been ragging on a few airlines for the way they mishandled their operations this past weekend. Specifically JetBlue, since my sister has been in the middle of the debacle since Friday and still hasn’t been able to get home so I have firsthand knowledge of that experience.
First, JetBlue sent her an update stating that her nonstop flight from West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) to Westchester, NY (HPN) was going to be 19 hours in duration (they did it again today, saying flight time was 24 hours). Then they delayed her flight by two hours, moved it up by an hour, delayed it again and then canceled it.
My sister said there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people in line with only three agents working at PBI. No one had answers and it took over three hours to get her checked bag back and another three plus hours to get a hold of a representative on the phone to change the flight the system had automatically rebooked her on for two days after to a different airport. That flight then canceled, too.
I understand that thanks to the pandemic, the airlines cut capacity and flights are full so if one flight gets canceled, it can throw a massive wrench into operations. But come on. At least offer a call back like American Airlines does so you don’t have to sit on hold for hours or have an app like United, where you can make an edit to the rebooked flight or speak to an agent via chat. But most of all, hire more agents at the airport and call centers to speed things up. It’s ridiculous.
To add insult to injury, yesterday, JetBlue announced they’re expanding their international flights to London and they made international headlines when it was leaked that they had just put in a bid to buy Spirit Airlines throwing a wrench in Spirit’s merger with Frontier. If you’re going to spend $3.6 billion, how about investing in your own operations first before expanding?
I think JetBlue customers would be excited about the news if it wasn’t for the mishandling of their operations. JetBlue has always been a fan favorite but when you strand customers for days and refuse to reimburse them for hotels or transportation and then make a $3.6 billion offer, it stings.
The bigger story is he took the train instead of flying JetBlue https://t.co/tRasIqOqhT
— JohnnyJet (@JohnnyJet) April 6, 2022
Also in the news: JetBlue’s CEO took the train from New York to Boston when the news leaked. Which begs the question: Why would the CEO of an airline that operates a flight between New York and Boston take the train instead? That says a lot about how reliable JetBlue has been lately.
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Will not ever travel on Jet Blue again! Outbound flight 4/1, Nashville to Boston was an hour late. Scheduled to depart on 4/4 on return to Nashville. We received a text at 11:15pm, 4/3 prior to our next 9:00am flight the next day. Immediately called Jet Blue at 11:30pm, to check other flights, placed on hold until 6:30am, the following morning when we were conveniently disconnected. As we were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston, with rates starting at $338/night, celebrating our 49th anniversary, we were placed in a stranded situation which forced us to pay for another night’s stay until we could problem solve. Called Jet Blue again, placed on hold for over 4 hours. While on hold, we received an automated new flight schedule for departing 2 days later 4/6, flying from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale, a 5 hr. layover in order to return to Nashville. As Hotel, parking and meals were adding up, we contacted Delta airlines and booked one way tickets back. What started out as a nice anniversary getaway, ended in disaster! We are seniors and we saved to take this trip. This was just wrong! And to learn that they were trying to buy another airline…and, no mention of any reimbursements? Just wrong!
Seems like people don’t understand the causes regarding cancelations and delays. Flight Attendants, captains, and first officers have a little something called a union, and on top of that there’s another little administration called Federal Aviation Administration. And companies like JetBlue, spirit, Frontier, United, delta and just about every airline you can imagine have to operate withing the rules and regulations of the FAA and the contracts between the crew members union and the companies. With this being said there’s also something unfortunately uncontrollable that’s called weather and as I’m sure people reading this can understand the dangers of flying an aircraft through hazardous conditions. The reroute of a Flight to avoid bad weather can lead to delays, with those delays things snowball, and as a result it happens ALL the time that crew members reach flight and duty limitations set forth by the unions and the faa, and legally there has to be specific crewmembers on the aircraft in order for that aircraft to be able to move. If there are no crew members available there are literally no other options than to cancel. This is completely outside of the control of the companies.
As for the lack of customer service, yes they need to hire more people, possibly, however that does not solve the issue, getting on a call with a customer service will get you as far as operational legalities will allow.
I guess you can write a letter to the unions that represent these crew members with your complaints, and also one to the FAA, maybe then they can keep crew members working more! But before you do consider the safety implications of having crew members without enough rest. Before these regulations were in place you were more than Likley to be on an aircraft with crew members that were unbelievably exhausted and unable to perform their duties in case of emergencies. This led to more than one crash that left hundreds dead due to pilot fatigue.
I know it’s easy to point fingers but do some further research as to the root cause of the issue and evaluate the consequences of getting things done.
No I do not work for JetBlue and no I do not have any connection to them, I’m just a person who reads and understands issues before complaining.
And remember, saftey first, better have your sister home late than to recieve her in bits and pieces. Cheers
So why don’t you criticize Spirit for wanting to merge with Frontier after the troubles they in August of 2021? Isn’t sort of the same? Or is ok if 7 months are in between the problems and the merger announcement?
Doesn’t really matter to me if they merge, just wondering why it’s bad for JetBlue. I would guess it’s a while different operational thing, and we’ll in the planning before this happened.
Also Johnny, the CEO lives in CT. Why drive to LGA, when you can go a half mile and get on Amtrak?
So desperate…
I’m sure he works in NYC so it’s not a good look to take the train instead of your own airline. Seems like he knows which one is more reliable and that’s embarrassing.
Oooh, my sister got stuck in a ground stop that shut down the Northeast on Friday, and an all state ground stop at Jax Center that shut down all air travel into and out of Florida on Saturday, so I’ll use my “influence” to complain for her!
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN LINE AT PBI!!!
Laughable. I flew into PBI on Friday, laid over, and flew out Saturday and there were not hundreds or thousands of people in line. At any counter.
Johnny Jet proving once again why he’s a joke. What’s the matter Johnny, bitter they didn’t give you a free Mint Suite to London?
Sounds like you work for JetBlue. Just sticking up for the little people and calling it the way it is like I always do. I hope your airline doesn’t continue to go downhill because it was always one of my favorites.
I had my jet blue flight canceled at about 1130 pm for a 920 am flight. My trip was April 4 to the 7th. They wanted to change me to April 6th for my flight. When I declined ( why would I go the 6th and come home the 7th ) because I was declining they said I wouldn’t get a refund. So after talking with I don’t know how many from jet blue they say I’ll get a refund . But I’m still trying to get a refund for my hotel and return trip. I wasn’t there for my hotel and since I didn’t cancel my reservation 2 days before checking in they say I won’t get a refund. So because of jet blue I lost my whole trip I saved for . I understand flight cancellations but we the customers should be reimbursed for hotel and return flights
Like the author’s sister, I was another customer negatively affected by JetBlue this weekend. Thousands of passengers were indeed stranded. It was impossible to reach any customer assistance . Their app and the website were not functioning properly. Airports were understaffed (PBI and HPN) with under-trained staff and seemingly no leadership. Communication from JetBlue about flight times was inaccurate and seemingly misleading and sometimes had the appearance of being intentionally misleading. I was one of hundreds who spent ~12 hours in the airport only to be sent home. It is nuts that JetBlue wishes to purchase another airline when it can’t even function on its own.
Hundreds, if not thousands of people in line to talk to agents? Ok, first off Jetblue doesn’t even operate enough flights out of Palm Beach to accommodate thousands of people. Even if every single Jetblue flight out of Palm Beach was canceled. Secondly, the decision to purchase Spirit is a business decision not an operational decision. The people who make business decisions are not the same who run the operation. I do agree that there are some major improvements needed to help the airline run smoother when things go badly. I wonder if this rant would have ever been published if your sister wasn’t involved.
JetBlue flies dozens of flights out of PBI https://www.pbia.org/airservice/departing/
I’m surprised that your sister who has a brother with so much knowledge, insight and connections would be stuck. Let alone travel Jet Blue.
Jet Blue is living in a greedy precovid world of filthy riches galore!
Jet Blue lives a a precovid world of delusional $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ of their coffers overflowing with more filthy riches than they can imagine!
Jet Blue has pie in the sky delusions of precovid Kachina! Kachink! Kachina! With its coffers overflowing with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!