More Bad Press for JetBlue

[BLUE BAYOU]

There was a time a while back when DFW closed for weather and diverted a bunch of planes into everywhere TX, including Abilene-- which back then, did not have 1 jetway. So, where do you put the pax in that case, that's right, nowhere. They sat on the planes. IROP is just that, IROP and unfortunately, this stuff happens. And by the way, that incident with the 7.5 hour wait on a jetblue aircraft was a year or two ago, old news!!!

 

[8vATE]

It was a matter of time before this happened to Jetblue.
Most crews are pretty proactive and avoid holding people hostage.

But the story here will be how effective Jetblue communicates with the affected customers.

That last AA debacle in Austin, it sounded like there was very little communication with the affected passengers.

All the airlines are going to have to really watch this issue as it is really a safety, medical and hot media topic. (ie... LAWSUITS/GOV'T REGULATIONS)

 

[CTflyer]

Just heard on ABC nightly news that a JetBlue crew in NY pushed back from the gate in a snow storm and sat with a full AC on the ramp for 7.5 hours before releasing the "hostages."

Sound more like AA, but it was JetBlue. Maybe they will learn some customer service tips after this SNAFU. The news had digital photos from pissed off customers who said they shut the engines off and they were suffocating in the plane. Keep them comfortable or return to the gate. Use busses if you have too, but let them off if you can't keep them comfortable.

I'd be pissed too.

Let them off if you can't keep them comfortable...what a concept.......OK then lets see......crew pushed back from gate to deice...had a small window to depart before the ice pellets started falling...missed the window and waited to come back to the gate......all gates occupied and planes not going anywhere and there was even planes behind the ones at the gate....absolutely no where to go...crew tried to park at IAB...not happening... filled up....and much of the equipment was frozen to the tarmac....

So just let them off I guess.....

 

[CTflyer]

It was a matter of time before this happened to Jetblue.
Most crews are pretty proactive and avoid holding people hostage.

But the story here will be how effective Jetblue communicates with the affected customers.

That last AA debacle in Austin, it sounded like there was very little communication with the affected passengers.

All the airlines are going to have to really watch this issue as it is really a safety, medical and hot media topic. (ie... LAWSUITS/GOV'T REGULATIONS)

All passengers given a full refund and still going to get them to CUN and also giving them a free RT to use in the future.....

 

[27 driver]

I would have let them walk back on the freezing rain and ice too. But only after I got outta that 4 plus hour deice line and only if my airplane didn't freeze to the tarmac. The minute an airplane sticks its tongue to the tarmac, it freezes.

That funny, I don't care who you are, thats funny right there.

 

[XShipRider]

From the pax perspective

Us non-pilot types in the back need info. The problem with many delays, at least the ones I've experienced, is the lack of info and regular updates from those in the know up front. Believe it or not I like knowing when we're XX in line for takeoff, XX in line for de-ice, XX in line for departure, etc. I also like to know when we are delayed due to mechanical (it's nice to know they caught the problem while on the ground).

The second part is to keep the whiners, like me, in the back happy while we wait. I do understand there are rules regarding seat belts once the plane is ready to push back. But once those engines get shutdown allow use of the heads and keep the pax hydrated. It makes all the difference when you're delayed to have water at your disposal - something one frequently traveled airline I used to patronize consistently failed to do. Free munchies would help too.

The problem with this particular airline was they never seemed to listen to pax complaints. Rather, they went by their little corporate rule book which either; a) didn't allow flexibility with regard to customer satisfaction, or b) didn't address customer satisfaction.

I do understand the aircrew is just as frustrated as the pax in most cases.

Just $.02 from a pax perspective.

 

[CatfishVT9]

Boy those lavs must have been overflowing since those dadgum yankees just can't stay out of them.

Is it just me or does it appear that New Yawkers don't use the bathrooms at the airport and would rather go on the plane? It seems like the majority of the time I'm at LGA the FAs call and tell us someone is in the lav when we are taxiing out.

Whizz in the terminal people!!!!

 

[Caveman]

I was part of the deice fiasco in JFK yesterday. From pushback to wheelsup was.....wait for it........7:20. The problem was the ATIS kept changing every 15 minutes. First it was legal then it wasn't, then it was, then it wasn't. It went on like that for 7 hours. We configured for deice 4 or 5 different times. We started one or both engines multiple times. There were planes in front of us, planes behind us, every gate was occupied and there were a/c waiting on taxiways trying to find somewhere to drop the pax. The only thing anybody could do was to try and keeping moving forward. Twice when we tried to move forward we were frozen to the tarmac. We were one of the lucky ones and finally took off. Thank god for LiveTV. Our customers were unbelievably patient. We kept them informed and took care of them the best we could. We got an applause when we landed at our destination 11+ hours after pushback. Everybody thanked us as they deplaned. I guess that won't make it on to the cable news.

 

[clickclickboom]

Us non-pilot types in the back need info. The problem with many delays, at least the ones I've experienced, is the lack of info and regular updates from those in the know up front. Believe it or not I like knowing when we're XX in line for takeoff, XX in line for de-ice, XX in line for departure, etc. I also like to know when we are delayed due to mechanical (it's nice to know they caught the problem while on the ground).

The second part is to keep the whiners, like me, in the back happy while we wait. I do understand there are rules regarding seat belts once the plane is ready to push back. But once those engines get shutdown allow use of the heads and keep the pax hydrated. It makes all the difference when you're delayed to have water at your disposal - something one frequently traveled airline I used to patronize consistently failed to do. Free munchies would help too.

The problem with this particular airline was they never seemed to listen to pax complaints. Rather, they went by their little corporate rule book which either; a) didn't allow flexibility with regard to customer satisfaction, or b) didn't address customer satisfaction.

I do understand the aircrew is just as frustrated as the pax in most cases.

Just $.02 from a pax perspective.

You may have mistaken JB for the OTHER legacy airline you flew previously

 

[Fins Up]

Our customers were unbelievably patient. We kept them informed and took care of them the best we could. We got an applause when we landed at our destination 11+ hours after pushback. Everybody thanked us as they deplaned. I guess that won't make it on to the cable news.

Nobody wants to hear that sort of thing. It's not enraging.

 

[Occam's Razor]

Those JetBlue customers today who were delayed for more than 3 hours were given a refund on their tickets plus a free round trip voucher.

So what'd that set you back?

$100?

 

[Tejas-Jet]

Most crews are pretty proactive and avoid holding people hostage.

That last AA debacle in Austin, it sounded like there was very little communication with the affected passengers.

All the airlines are going to have to really watch this issue as it is really a safety, medical and hot media topic. (ie... LAWSUITS/GOV'T REGULATIONS)

Most crews are indeed pro-active....but communication is a 2 way street...if the other party ( the station in question) doesn't have the facilities or the room to accomodate your folks....it's gonna create a problem.

This is not really a safety issue unless you start getting lavs overflowing as was alleged in the AA incident in AUS. Medical? Well, if someone on board has a heart attack/insulin issue, they will/can call the EMS and they will come out to the aircraft.

Lawsuits? I got news for you...in the airline business, lawsuits get filed all the time...over the smallest of things...thats why most airlines have a legal staff. The overwhelming majority of those lawsuits never see a day in court.

 

[clickclickboom]

Nobody wants to hear that sort of thing. It's not enraging.

Why even post you know that this is just an opportunity for some on this board to bash jb afterall they work for airlines that never had or never will have any extended weather delays..

 

[Fins Up]

Why even post you know that this is just an opportunity for some on this board to bash jb afterall they work for airlines that never had or never will have any extended weather delays..

Because I'm in a hotel room in Orlando and have nothing better to do.

 

[zkmayo]

I am in the corporate realm and I hear from a lot of you about the mighty authority you have as a 121 captain. Why then can't you excercise this mighty power to let people off airplanes facing long ground stops or delays. The AA incident comes to mind and there have been many more before that. Since you have the authority to throw people off planes who look like al qaida, why aren't you able to taxi back to the gate or order some busses after an extended delay to get people off planes. I was on a NWA flight coming out of LGA to Det and the captain advised there was a ground stop, people started making noise about not wanting to sit indefinitely in the penalty box. When enough people complained, he said he would taxi back to the gate and those people who wanted off could get off and they were not allowed to change their minds. I admired the captain for showing some balls, unlike is compatriots at AA, JB or wherever in the 121 world.

You can use captain's authority all day long and command people to do things til your blue in the face, but when your airplane's frozen to the tarmac, or no one will bring a bus to you bc it puts the driver and others in danger, or all the other gates are occupied with airplanes frozen to the ground, guess what? NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE YOUR PREDICAMENT. Ive been there and done that.

99% of other airlines wouldve cancelled the flights in question with zero explanation. As usual, JB went out of the way to try to get its customers to their destination. When the ATIS kept changing from -FZRA to IP every 10 min, its extremely difficult to dispatch these flights. Yes, they prob should have just cancelled these flights. You cant explain this stuff to your typical NY ahole. They dont want to hear that you have their safety in mind bc they dont believe you. what they should do is shut up and deal with it. Again, any other airline would have said 'so sorry, so sad, so long.' JB said ' we are extremely sorry, this is unacceptable, here's your money back and two free roundtrips and were are going to rebook you at the time of your choosing.'

the press just needs a story since anna nicole has gone to the back burner.