My Jet Blue adventure ( long)

[TDC Nala]

Weather excuse the day of the storm, okay. Weather excuse the day after the storm, well, I could sort of get it. Weather excuse 5 days later, WTH?? Unless it's Hurricane Katrina or something. New York has had ice storms before.

 

[CarolA]

Jet Blue has admitted it screwed up and is not well run....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/business/19jetblue.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

The CEO admits his management team failed.... Gee that's a surprise!

 

[snowbunny]

I have flown Jet Blue. We don't have a large number of carriers at our little airport (PWM), and I was thrilled when they came up here. When it goes right, it's great. Maybe they've just been extraordinarily lucky up until now. It's gone right and JetBlue has received all the hosannas from the business magazines and customer service side, and the company has been used to demonstrate literally everything the legacy carriers do wrong...from bare bones staffing levels (oops I mean streamlined) to "just in time" delivery or whatever the MBA flavor of the month trend is.

Now after one disastrous week - you'd think drunk pilots put a planeload of passengers nose first into the Meadowlands or something - all the talk is what a terrible bunch of liars and incompetents comprise JetBlue. I don't feel sorry for corporations very often, but I'm getting there!

 

[Bichon Barb]

I have flown Jet Blue. We don't have a large number of carriers at our little airport (PWM), and I was thrilled when they came up here. When it goes right, it's great. Maybe they've just been extraordinarily lucky up until now. It's gone right and JetBlue has received all the hosannas from the business magazines and customer service side, and the company has been used to demonstrate literally everything the legacy carriers do wrong...from bare bones staffing levels (oops I mean streamlined) to "just in time" delivery or whatever the MBA flavor of the month trend is.

Now after one disastrous week - you'd think drunk pilots put a planeload of passengers nose first into the Meadowlands or something - all the talk is what a terrible bunch of liars and incompetents comprise JetBlue. I don't feel sorry for corporations very often, but I'm getting there!

Well said. JB is the only low cost carrier at SYR right now. And SYR is a very expensive airport to fly out of. My family has flown JB many times now, and (knock on wood), we've never experienced any problems. If JB should leave SYR, you can bet your fanny that United, USAirways, Delta and the rest of the clan will double their ticket prices to those places that JB flies.

 

[SaraMc]

Can I just say Kudos to you. You took your situation into your own hands and got yourself home. I know many can't afford to just re-book their flights, but if they added up the cost of staying in an airport for a week, it may just be worth it.

Gate agents often can't tell you anything because they have no clue themselves. They have the most thankless job. They take such abuse when things go wrong.

DG

Oh we totally couldnt afford the flight home, but luckily we had help from our friend who went online for us. Who is also DS godfather We just have to move some things around and pay him back asap.
Im so glad we are home, DS got really sick on monday with a stomach virus I couldnt imagine trying to get him to stop throwing up in a airport

 

[bicker]

In future, you may want to be a little more proactive at the first sign of trouble. Some of the tips you may find helpful next time around include

• book a hotel room at the first sign of trouble - they go fast! I book one on spec if the weather is bad, or if I see lots of cancellations
• call the airline from the gate to see if they have any other information, or if they can get you on another flight. If you have elite status, use the elite reservations lines. If you belong to a club like Red Carpet Club, use the services of the agents inside the lounge
• call other airlines if you really need to get home, just like you did

This is great advice. We did exactly as you suggested in your first bullet, though with the standard rates at the MCO Hyatt, I'm not sure they actually sold-out that night (though they might have, which would have been a big problem, eh?) We did try to call the airline from the gate, but the line was busy straight through.

 

[bicker]

Sounds to me like Jet Blue was flat out LYING to thier customers.

This is a baseless accusation. I was there, and believe that the folks at JetBlue were honest and up-front, to the extent that was practical.

JetBlue is trying to "blame" this on the weather so they don't have to pay.

For most of what you're referring to, they don't have to pay, regardless.

JetBlue should be providing food (chips and soda don't count) and lodging to thier stranded guests. Also, JetBlue should have been paying other airlines to get their customers home.

This is completely unreasonable. Their obligations are clearly outlined in their terms and conditions. If passengers don't like the terms and conditions, don't fly. The reality is that passengers were offered chips and soda, and that did count. We were also granted free round-trips, without even asking for it. Passengers are owed and should therefore expect nothing else, and indeed, even under the new JetBlue Passenger Bill of Rights, would get nothing else.

They are TOO cheap to have an internline agreement so now they have to pay the price!

No. If JetBlue (and Southwest) customers are too cheap to fly an airline with an interline agreement then they, the customers, have to pay the price.

The OP should not have had to endure this and JetBlue has NO excuse except incompetence.

The OP and I endured what we endured. Bravado and pointing fingers doesn't obviate that. JetBlue gains no additional obligations because we want them to. They only obligations they have are the ones that they had originally (which don't include what you're alluding to) and the ones they voluntarily choose to take on (which also don't include what you're alluding to).

I am not a fan of the "I will never fly XYZ again posts" but I would think LONG and hard before booking JetBlue if there is ANY risk of weather so that would rule out winter and hurricane season! TV's in the seats don't do me any good if I can't get on the plane or I am trapped on the plane for 8 hours waiting....

I would say the same about Southwest and AirTran.

 

[bicker]

JetBlue's CEO has said that their problem boils down to having cut costs too much, i.e., have too few people in specific positions. That is all he's said about his company's lack of managerial strength. They need to increase their costs to have more staff to cover specific positions. We can chalk this whole episode up to the push for lower fares. To support lower fares, airlines need to have lower costs. Lower costs leads to lower service levels.