JetBlue Airways Debacle Blog
Thoughts on Jet Blue flight delays, and what the company is doing to make amends.
Every winter, it's as if airlines never expected serious storms. American, and now Jet Blue, trapped passengers in planes on airport tarmacs for hours. A change is due.
By now, everyone who follows the news knows: There's a problem with airlines not letting passengers off airplanes, that have been delayed on runways for ridiculously long times. American Airlines made news for stranding passengers in the Dallas airport over Christmas 2006. And now Jet Blue has entered the somewhat ignominious fray as well. Valentines Day of 2007 may well be entered into Jet Blue's history as the Day its Reputation Went South: Thousands of passengers were stuck on the tarmac at JFK for up to 10 or 11 hours. Both situations were due in part to bad weather. However, winter storms should be expected in winter, right? At least David Neeleman, the CEO of JetBlue Airways, has offered a genuine and heartfelt apology - along with vouchers redeemable with future JetBlue Airways travel, if those passengers want to ever fly Jet Blue again.
I really do appreciate what JetBlue Airways usually has to offer, in terms of friendly service and cheap seats. But if hiring more staff and making the company a larger one leads to increased air fare, so be it. No one deserves to be stuck on a plane for a day (that is, without the plane actually getting anywhere).
Jet Blue is also putting forth a Passenger's Bill of Rights, so to speak, which should go a long way towards recouping some of the airline's lost customer loyalty. I'd like to see other airline companies follow suit. Feeling trapped on a plane, with the gate in sight, is antithetical to a luxury travel experience. Whether travel is for business or leisure, nothing ruins the fun of travel like being treated like cattle during serious delays. It's good to know that Jet Blue is doing what it can, to remedy the situation.
