Any one else stranded due to Jetblue

[snowbunny]

At PWM (Portland, Maine) we are not even going to get any snow and about half of our flights have been canceled on USAirways, Delta, Continental, and AirTran. Your problem is not JetBlue.
http://www.portlandjetport.org/arrivals_departures

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

They have been predicting this storm since at least Wednesday. I would have called JB back then to see if I could fly out Friday night instead. Of course not everyone is at liberty to change their time off work/school etc but I would have done all I could to call them 1st and not wait for them to notify a million passengers.
The whole thing is such a huge, slow process for airlines so I try to be one step ahead and make my own arrangements if possible.

 

[twinklebug]

They have been predicting this storm since at least Wednesday. I would have called JB back then to see if I could fly out Friday night instead. Of course not everyone is at liberty to change their time off work/school etc but I would have done all I could to call them 1st and not wait for them to notify a million passengers.
The whole thing is such a huge, slow process for airlines so I try to be one step ahead and make my own arrangements if possible.

I LOVE the pro-active approach! Thank you for posting this.

I do empathize with the OP, however when the white $^!+ falls on our lives instead of taking the "I'm the victim" approach, we need to turn it around into "Here's how we'll avoid the issue before it comes", or if after the fact take a "Here's how we'll FIX the issue" stand.

I think the Airports are justified in closing down early. I'd far rather have my family safe at home than stranded in a crowded airport. (a little info: "direct flights" are only direct if the weather is flyable/landable over the flight path and on the landing end. I've had ours re-directed to MI from Boston with a 17 hr wait for a possible connection, small children in tote.) They'll do what's safest.

 

[Tina]

I doubt very much that JetBlue has a fleet of planes sitting idle on the tarmac in Newark. Much of their fleet is likely grounded at other airports in the Northeast that are under heavy snow.

 

[katallo]

For anyone connecting through Baltimore, BWI is closed.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I really hope whoever decided to cancel every flight today without even thinking

I guess I would be less upset if they would have maybe decided to cancel the flight less than 16 hours in advance. It especially stings when other carriers are flying so it's not so much a safety thing.

Right. It's a "having planes available in the needed place at the needed time" thing. But it sounds like you would rather have them cancel the flight at/close to departure time? How is that better? Sixteen hours in advance gives passengers the opportunity to at least try to fly out earlier.

I agree with this to the most part. However I also feel like the weather people are sensationalizing it for the most part

Well, we'll see after it ends whether or not meteorologists 'sensationalized' the predicted blizzard. But since JetBlue isn't in the weather business, why blame the airline? Why not blame the weather service???

have been living here for almost 6 years and constantly fly out during the winter time. I have yet to have a canceled flight until today.

Well, now you're one of the tens of thousands of passengers each year whose flights are cancelled for a variety of reasons.

It just seems I will most likely look for another carrier

Good. But Midway once stranded me in Raleigh-Durham - and I don't believe there is an airline that hasn't cancelled flights/stranded passengers, anywhere.

Jet Blue made national news when they left planes full of passengers stranded for up to 12 hrs on the runway a few years ago. Out of food, drink and restroom capacities. Maybe they are being extra conservative since then.

Since the OP wasn't on any of those planes, I'm willing to bet the possibility of being stranded on a plane on the runway doesn't concern her.

 

[hockeygirl]

To the OP--I understand where you are coming from because there was no snow here in Northern NJ, but as the others have said it all depends on the planes coming in. I had a similar incident happen to me last year flying out of Newark on Jet Blue...now I will only take Continental out of Newark. Jet Blue only has 2 gates at Newark and if they get backed up it is a nightmare! Sure it may be a little bit of a downer on your trip but you will get there eventually! Hope you have a nice trip!

 

[crashbb]

Where's Bubba Airlines when you need them?

 

[DebbieB]

To the OP--I understand where you are coming from because there was no snow here in Northern NJ, but as the others have said it all depends on the planes coming in. I had a similar incident happen to me last year flying out of Newark on Jet Blue...now I will only take Continental out of Newark. Jet Blue only has 2 gates at Newark and if they get backed up it is a nightmare! Sure it may be a little bit of a downer on your trip but you will get there eventually! Hope you have a nice trip!

I think that's the key. Jet Blue's NY hub is at JFK, they are probably concentrating on getting those flights out. CO's hub is Newark, looks like all their flights got out today except for the last one which was cancelled.

 

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another forum)

If you are thinking of flying out earlier to beat a storm, report to the airport anyway even if you did not get a reservation by phoning.

You might succeed in standing by.

Open question, if a guest is delayed in arriving due to a storm, would Disney remake the resort reservation to start later (with reduced price due to the shorter overall stay)?

 

[dburg30]

I'm sure if they COULD they would, but I would have to guess with the upcoming week being xmas, I highly doubt they will be able to.

 

[twinklebug]

Open question, if a guest is delayed in arriving due to a storm, would Disney remake the resort reservation to start later (with reduced price due to the shorter overall stay)?

In case of a weather related emergency, your answer is yes, disney does work with the guests to take care of the situation. BUT - I believe you must call them and alert them to it as soon as possible, otherwise they have the right to charge you and/or cancel your reservation as a no-show.

For DVC folk, I'm not sure how this works. I should find out so I'm prepared.

 

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I had non-stop. I usually try not to do layovers if I can avoid it. I guess I would be less upset if they would have maybe decided to cancel the flight less than 16 hours in advance. It especially stings when other carriers are flying so it's not so much a safety thing.



Uh yeah I do realize that a snowstorm is on the way. However other airports in the area that actually DO have snow have been flying out. Granted delays but I would rather have a delay in the day than missing 2 days out of our trip.



I agree with this to the most part. However I also feel like the weather people are sensationalizing it for the most part and it's not like we don't deal with snow in general.

I know things happen that cause the flights to be delayed and whatnot. However it almost seems they could have gotten at least 4 or so flights out before it even started snowing. Again I just feel that maybe the call should have just been made closer to the actual flight time.

On December 9th we were scheduled to fly out to of PHL to Miami at 6pm.

At 1pm we got a call telling us our flight was cancelled. It was about 52 degrees in Philly but there were storms in the midwest and the planes couldn't get in here.

Bill

 

[MFLetou]

In addition to NYC metro, B6 (JetBlue) has a large operation at IAD. All day today, IAD was struggling to keep one runway open for incoming international flights...and that was it. While your aircraft may have been doing a MCO-EWR-MCO run, you just don't know where else it was heading. It isn't doing that roundtrip all day...if it was scheduled to pass through IAD, which there is a decent chance it was...then that is your problem. For instance, if it was a scheduled LGB-IAD-MCO-EWR-MCO-LGB (which would be a typical utilization for B6), then...everybody on the MCO-EWR, EWR-MCO and MCO-LGB lets are out of luck. In the case of that last leg, we're talking about two totally unaffected airports--but still a cancelled flight because it never left LGB or IAD.

 

[DebbieB]

From what I heard on the news the last couple days, the airlines strategy was to keep planes out of affected airports so that they would not have planes stuck on the ground. So they proactively cancelled flights for Saturday on Friday to give people time to make other arrangements. That is what probably happened to the OP. Hopefully she got out today.

 

[msmayor]

From what I heard on the news the last couple days, the airlines strategy was to keep planes out of affected airports so that they would not have planes stuck on the ground. So they proactively cancelled flights for Saturday on Friday to give people time to make other arrangements. That is what probably happened to the OP. Hopefully she got out today.

Which is a standard strategy employed by many airlines. It also keeps tarmac space clear, giving crews a better chance of clearing snow out.

 

[disfan07]

Southwest cancelled all flights from the DC area before it started snowing. Virgina America cancelled all flights from dulles before it started snowing(both cancelled flights on friday)

Its easier for the airlines to get back on schedule and restart all of their operations if they just cancel everythign at once form an airport rather than just do a wait and see approach.

The airlines dont WANT to cancel their flight operations. They dont WANT to strand passengers. But if they waited to cancel flights, someone else would be complaining that they should have canceled earlier.

I would think that with the amount of snow that was in teh forecast, most people would be prepared to not be able to get out this weekend.
We lived in northern virginia for 20 years....anytime there was a forecast of a significant amount of snow and we were supposed to be travelling, we would assume the worst adn hope for the best

I would rather have 16 hours notice than get to the airport just to sit and wait for them to cancel the flight.

 

[NJFireman22]

Mother Nature is so cruel !!! I'd rather have my flight canceled due to the weather, than to die on the end of the runway, because the plane couldnt take off, because of the BAD weather !
I think the airlines/Faa/airports should be commmened for siding on saftey.

 

[DebbieB]

Mother Nature is so cruel !!! I'd rather have my flight canceled due to the weather, than to die on the end of the runway, because the plane couldnt take off, because of the BAD weather !
I think the airlines/Faa/airports should be commmened for siding on saftey.

I don't know that it was totally safety related. Of course, they would not take off it if wasn't safe. But these proactive cancellations were more to keep the airline operating at best efficiency, to make advance preparation to have their planes away from the affected airports before the snow even began.

 

[snowbunny]

The best thing to do if there is snow in the forecast is to check the airline website the day before. If JetBlue has posted that travel waivers are available for X dates for anyone flying to/from X cities, it's a good bet that you are either not going to get out on your scheduled date or will be affected by delays and/or missed connections.

If you see that notice and do nothing, you're simply rolling the dice and really shouldn't complain if your flight ends up canceled or massively delayed.