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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Seriously the Amtrak comments are too much. You are a corporate CEO of a major airline. You don’t think Jetblue provides a corporate plane? Sorry but a flight from Logan to HPN is about 30 min if that. To say of course he took the train is laughable. Maybe the only thing worse than flying Jetblue now is the Amtrak from Boston to NY. That northeast line has constant problems! Had a family member get stuck in FLL this weekend. Cancelled flight 45 min before planned departure, was put on another flight 4 days later to another airport! Lines at FLL were ridiculous, kept getting disconnected on the phone so they drove home to CT from FL. It is absolutely ridiculous if you think that’s normal. Jetblue needs to shore up their domestic operations before expanding to Europe and its looking like the merger with Spirit just means they deserve each other. Way to ruin a brand.
This is why it’s so important to purchase travel insurance which would have paid for hotels, meals, alternate flights, and any monies for hotels etc that were not refunded. It’s inexpensive and worth it just to avoid the aggravation.
My best advice for anyone traveling on ANY airline during Spring Break and Summer, ESPECIALLY in and out of Florida, is to be prepared for the worst. Everybody knows that Florida is home of daily severe storms once Spring and Summer hit. It’s always been that way. Don’t act surprised!!! Also you may want to read your Contract of Carriage. Airlines are not required to provide you with hotels or food vouchers when delays and cancelations are due to circumstances out of their control (i.e. WEATHER).
Lala: When you say it has nothing to do with the FAA, you are WRONG!!! EVERYTHING airlines do is dictated by the FAA. The FAA is the one that issues GDPs (ground delay programs) due to weather. The FAA is the one that dictates the maximum duty hours Pilots and Flight Attedants can work. The FAA also dictates the minimum rest Flight Attedants and Pilots must have between duty periods. Bad weather wrecks havoc at ALL airlines. Crews (FAs and Pilots) get stuck out of position, Crewmembers that commute to base can’t get there because of full or canceled flights, the list goes on. Bad weather causes delays, which then causes Crews to not be legal to work flights due to duty day limitations, which then leads to all the reserve Crews to be used up.
Kip: JetBlue does not operate flights to Guayquil every day, which is why there were gaps between the next available flights. When the rebook customers on flights, they book you on the next flight that has open seats. MOST of JetBlues flights are full right now due to Spring Break, so the next flight with open seats could be days away.
Andrea: The JETS plane is NOT a corporate jet. JetBlue is the official sponsor of the Jets, so they have a plane with the livery. They also have planes with Boston Red Sox, N.E. Patriots, Boston Bruins, and Brooklyn Nets (they are the official airline sponsors of all those teams).
Johnny, come on. You’re being RIDICULOUS! If you lived 5 minutes away from a train station and were planning to do an event in Boston for the day, why would you travel an hour to the airport for a flight? Of course you’d take the train. You’re grasping at straws here and really trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. If I owned an airline and lived close to Amtrak and needed to be in Boston – you know my ass would be on Amtrak. And YOU would be too. Get off your high horse.
It’s not a jets corporate jet, it’s a special livery aircraft. Do people just like to make crap up?
Today, April 7th there was a ground management program for the JAX center for ALL flights on ALL airlines entering florida with an average delay or 2 hours. When I got to MCO tonight around 5pm, over 90% of the flights were delayed or cancelled on ALL AIRLINES. Do your research people.
Yup. And Spirit and southwest were affected even worse than jetblue during this, also didn’t offer hotels or compensation because it was weather. But he’s not writing about them.
He lives in Connecticut near HPN, and took the train since he could go home. Which makes sense since no airlines fly from HPN-BOS. Are you really trying to draw a connection? Stop pulling at straws.
Lala, im sure the line of storms going across central florida, the 65 minute GDP in South Florida, the 2 hour GDP in Orlando, the 90 minute GDP in EWR, the 2 hour 12 minute GDP in LGA, and the 60 minute GDP in JFK (all put in place by the FAA due to weather) have NOTHING to do with it.
Johnny will get over it when JetBlue gives him another freebie. I know my airline has done it in the past. It’s the way he makes money.