jetBlue's Current Situation

[ajsbear 11]

I don't know how all you guys rave about Jet Blue. Last night my wife flew back from Tampa on Jet Blue with her mother and Aunt and out 9 1/2 month old son. They lost one suitcase and the baby's car seat. Now you all know you cannot put the kid in the car without one. Jet Blue scrounged up an old beat up seat that when new cost about $50 to replace our $300 Britax and said it would take 3 to 4 weeks to process our claim. I don't know about anyone else but I have a problem with putting my son in this cheap seat which got a very poor consumers rating. I deam it unsafe and really got no place with Jet Blue Customer service. I will never fly with them again and with the recent problems they are having urge others. Check the AirTrans rates. I'm flying to Florida in March on business and they are cheaper out of either Westchester or Stewart.

Thanks for letting me rant.

[NJMedic 96]

I Check the AirTrans rates. I'm flying to Florida in March on business and they are cheaper out of either Westchester or Stewart.

Thanks for letting me rant.

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Never flew JetBlue. Flew AirTran in November from Newark in Orlando for the first time. Impressed. Clean aircraft, on time going down but hit with weather delays departing out of Orlando. Decent prices.

[Guest]

How 2 pilots put silver lining in jetBlue clouds

Sunday, February 18th, 2007

As jetBlue was preparing to cancel 23% of its weekend flights, a pilot and co-pilot hopped a taxi from New York to upstate Newburgh, where one of the company's airliners was sitting unused.

With the spirit that until last week seemed to make jetBlue unique, the pair flew to Kennedy Airport and continued on to Sarasota, Fla., with a load of passengers who otherwise would have been stranded. The passengers came off the plane cursing the airline but marveling at the flight crew.

"I've never experienced a pilot and a co-pilot getting in a taxi cab and finding a plane," said passenger Joanne Golden.

The senior flight attendant confirmed the Newburgh adventure and called aloud the taxi fare.

"$360!"

The special jetBlue airfare between Sarasota and New York was about a fifth of that, but such discounts were only part of what had caused so many of us to fall in love with an airline that treated us like actual people and never like cattle.

The love affair ended after an ice storm on Valentine's Day, when a high-level miscall caused people to be trapped on the tarmac at Kennedy Airport for about 10 hours. The whole airline was still suffering a kind of meltdown on Friday, when yours truly called to check if Flight 346 from Sarasota to New York would be departing as scheduled at 1:15 p.m.

"We are experiencing extremely high call volume," said a recorded voice. "We are unable to take your call."

Callers were directed to check the jetBlue Web site, which reported that the flight was on time. Ma and Pa Daly along with their 13-year-old, Bronagh, and her friend, Anna, thereupon departed from the waterfront paradise where they had stayed three days thanks to a gracious grandparent and jetBlue's low fare.

Only at the airport did we learn Flight 346 was now scheduled to depart at 6:30 p.m. despite the online assurances. A jetBlue counter clerk shrugged.

"That's online," he said. "This is here."

The new departure time was more than seven hours away on a day of near record cold in Sarasota. We joked about stopping into a local tattoo parlor.

"'I hate jetBlue' in script on my butt!" Anna said.

That brought a big laugh, though there was nothing funny about having a small but precious part of your life robbed from you. The departure time had been put off to 7:20 p.m. when we arrived at the gate.

"We're trying to get out for two days!" another passenger exclaimed.

Nobody took an easy breath until the plane from New York landed, ready to make the return flight. The arriving passengers brought word of the taxi ride that prevented both flights from being canceled altogether.

In an announcement, a flight attendant identified the pilot and co-pilot as Stephan Charles and Nancy Fine. The passengers cheered when Charles came on to announce the imminent departure.

All seemed well until the plane was forced to circle Kennedy for a half hour. "Unfortunately, all our gates are full," the pilot announced. "We're told it'll be about 30 minutes."

At 10:40 p.m., the plane finally reached the gate, almost seven hours after the company's Web site projected it would arrive. The passengers were tired and angry, but those who knew about the taxi ride managed a bleary smile for the pilot and co-pilot.

"Did you really take a cab to Newburgh?" a passenger asked.

"We did," the pilot replied.

"Thank you s-o-o-o much!" Anna said.

But, that moment of gratitude was followed by the sight of hundreds of less lucky souls stranded at Kennedy. Too many would be spending the weekend there as the airline yesterday cut almost a quarter of its weekend flights.

JetBlue said this was part of an effort to get back on schedule. The much harder task will be to regain the affection of those of us who loved the airline for a spirit measured less by a $69 fare to Florida than by the $360 cab ride a flight crew took to get a plane upstate.

[Guest]

After the whole thing that went down after this snow storm, you wount catch me flying jetblue anytime soon.

[Guest WolfEMT]

I wouldn't fly them anyway; all the airline is is a renamed ValueJet (remember them in the Everglades??).

[BIGRED1 71]

How long has JetBlue been in business?

They have one off week or so and then they are the worst airline out there? It was in a SNOW STORM. i know it is screwed up to be stuck in a sardine can for 11 hours but that was one incident. it's cool that the two pilots went and grabbed a plane but is that legal for them to just take a plane?

I've flown jetblue and am friends with one of there pilots and i think it is fine and plan to fly them again. Remember that these are discount flights. go check how much a flight to FL is this week and then look at jetblue maybe it will be the same.

[PEBBLES43 0]

AirTran is "ValueJet" NOT JetBlue

[Guest]

How long has JetBlue been in business?

They have one off week or so and then they are the worst airline out there? It was in a SNOW STORM. i know it is screwed up to be stuck in a sardine can for 11 hours but that was one incident. it's cool that the two pilots went and grabbed a plane but is that legal for them to just take a plane?

I've flown jetblue and am friends with one of there pilots and i think it is fine and plan to fly them again. Remember that these are discount flights. go check how much a flight to FL is this week and then look at jetblue maybe it will be the same.

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Even JetBlue officials admitted they did not accommodate their patrons as they should have. Nor have they properly refunded tickets/provided emergency accommodations. Get the people off the plane and into a hotel, don’t 1) keep them in a plane for 11 hours while continually saying we are going to takeoff within the hour or 2) keep passengers (including YOUNG CHILDREN - i saw one kid sleeping in cardboard box on the news) on the terminal floor for 24+ hours. I work too hard for my money to be d*cked around like that. While I don’t travel often, the few times I have run into issues on other airlines i had my situation remediated either by representatives @ the terminal desk, via phone call to the company or through my credit card representatives (got to love Amex!). And this isn’t the first time JetBlue has left people high and dry stuck on an airplane or on the terminal floor. That’s just not good business as far as I’m concerned. But, to all their own - just not me

To AJS - i hope you get your car seat back! Glad to see your sticking to your guns about your son's safety, its criminal that anyone would try to get you to use a substandard safety seat!

Edited February 19, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[ajsbear 11]

Even JetBlue officials admitted they did not accommodate their patrons as they should have. Nor have they properly refunded tickets/provided emergency accommodations. Get the people off the plane and into a hotel, don’t 1) keep them in a plane for 11 hours while continually saying we are going to takeoff within the hour or 2) keep passengers (including YOUNG CHILDREN - i saw one kid sleeping in cardboard box on the news) on the terminal floor for 24+ hours. I work too hard for my money to be d*cked around like that. While I don’t travel often, the few times I have run into issues on other airlines i had my situation remediated either by representatives @ the terminal desk, via phone call to the company or through my credit card representatives (got to love Amex!). And this isn’t the first time JetBlue has left people high and dry stuck on an airplane or on the terminal floor. That’s just not good business as far as I’m concerned. But, to all their own - just not me 

To AJS - i hope you get your car seat back! Glad to see your sticking to your guns about your son's safety, its criminal that anyone would try to get you to use a substandard safety seat!

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Thanks Alpha, I just went out and bought a new Britax for $249. To me its like this, they lost my BMW and loaned me a Yugo. While I watch what I spend I never compromise on saftey and comfort. I would rather spend a few extra bucks than wait or compromise these things. I'll pay a few bucks more for a better meal, sleep in a better hotel etc. My wife is a little more laid back than I am. I have to fly quite often these days for business and just put out a memo to the people working for me and our corporate travel department just took Jet Blue off of our list. No one is allowed to fly on it any longer. That's 20,000 people in the US. I have to fly in March to Miami for business (wish it was now) but I'm using AirTrans. Same price as Jet Blue. Keep the TV and dounuts. I usually sleep on the flight anyway.

My wife "gate checked" the car seat and a stroller. The stroller got back to her fine. They landed last night at 8:30 and at 10:30 they still could not find it. Their answer today on the phone was give us 3 or 4 weeks, if we don't find it buy a replacement and send us the bill and bring us back the seat we lent you or just keep in as the replacement. The one they gave us isn't even rated by the NHTSA and it only has a 3 point buckle.

[dadbo46 50]

Jet Blue is going thru a bad week. It is apparent that some really bad decisions by someone who is inexperienced with how to get planes back on schedule after a weather event like we had on Valentines Day.

I note that the other airlines did not have nearly as many problems as Blue had. Their schedule cancellations were minimal.

I suspect that whomever made the decisions that were made is no longer working at Jet Blue.

I have flown Blue a number of times down to Florida. Have always had safe and reliable service. And the TV's are the bomb !

I have flown Air Trans out of the Westchester County Airport a half dozen times, however. I have found their service dependable also.....especially last months 2 hour and 8 minute flight from Orlando to Westchester. Gotta love them tailwinds.

Keep the faith. I'm headed south next month to do the spring training tour. Jet Blue comes into Westchester on 3/25 and we'll see how the competition shapes up !

[Guest WolfEMT]

AirTran is "ValueJet" NOT JetBlue

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Even still, I wouldn't fly them; it's just my opinion that when you have an airline that has cheap prices, you get what you pay for. I'd much rather pay a little more money and get better service on Delta or another larger airline.

[ajsbear 11]

AirTrans - Gotta love the $84 to Ft Lauderdale!!

[Fex404 0]

Wow -- If you guys convicted every company when they have a big problem then there would be not one good company -- Not apple, not microsoft, noone. JetBlue had a problem and they will bounc back just like every other company.

[Guest]

This isnt the first time...

[helicopper 1,050]

Wow -- If you guys convicted every company when they have a big problem then there would be not one good company -- Not apple, not microsoft, noone. JetBlue had a problem and they will bounc back just like every other company.

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Thanks Fex, that's exactly what I was thinking. When Ford or Chevy has a recall do you vow never to drive their cars again?

Some poor management decisions were made at the Corporate level, at JFK, and probably a bunch of other places, some heads need to roll, but overall I've had a lot of good experiences with JetBlue and will be flying with them to FL in May (when there's no chance of a snowstorm).

I once spent about seven hours in the Dallas airport waiting for an American Airlines flight (no snow, no ice) and it sucked but every airline suffers with adverse weather once in a while.

Here's some info on how they plan on fixing their reputation and service...

Chastened JetBlue to unveil reforms Tuesday

By Dane Hamilton

NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - JetBlue Airways Corp. reeling from the worst crisis in its eight-year history, said on Monday said it will unveil new initiatives on Tuesday tomorrow aimed at winning back irate customers.

The airline, which was forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights in the six days following a mid-week ice storm in the U.S. northeast, said the measures will include a "customer bill of rights" that will outline what customers may expect in the event of future delays or cancellations, a spokeswoman said.

"This will be deeper and more meaningful that what has ever been seen in the industry," said JetBlue spokeswoman Alison Eshelman. She said the measures will include "compensation customers can expect" in the event of future service outages.

New York-based JetBlue cancelled 1,102 flights from Wednesday through Monday, but said it expected to have 100 percent of its flights operating on Tuesday. It usually operates more than 500 flights daily.

The cancellations and delays threw thousands of travellers' plans into upheaval at a time of heightened travel over the Presidents' Day weekend.

"There's a lot of talk that people are going to shy away from the airline, but JetBlue is still head and shoulders above competitors in price and customer service," said Stuart Klaskin, financial analyst with KKC Aviation Consulting in Miami. "But it's going to be a big transient hit."

Klaskin said the company "seems like they are doing a good job of self-flagellation," in response to the crisis, which may appeal to customers.

But "they have to be careful they don't set themselves up," by announcing customer initiatives that may be unsustainable to win back disgruntled travellers, he said.

Neelman blamed the problems on faulty communications and schedule snafus for flight crews, Neelman told The New York Times.

Under federal rules, flight crews' working hours and downtimes are regulated to prevent fatigue from affecting passenger safety. The delays and cancellations threw many schedules into disarray, the airline said.

David Neelman, JetBlue's founder and chief executive, said the costs will run in to "millions of dollars".

One analyst said that while JetBlue has been hammered by a public relations crisis, particularly with reports of customers waiting long hours aboard stalled planes, it may not suffer long-term reputational damage from a loyal core customer base.

[Guest]

I dont know too much about Ford or Chevy, i drive a VW

I just have a lower tolerance for the kind of stuff that happned last week, espically when 80% of all JetBlue flights are out of JFK. Your talking about thousands upon thousands of people. Plus, the snow storm hit all airlines...its beyond me why JetBlue customers suffered the worst. Hopefully, they get it all worked out and AJS gets his 300 dollar carseat back and or paid for.

[dadbo46 50]

From today's NY Times:

JetBlue’s C.E.O. Is ‘Mortified’ After Fliers Are Stranded

By JEFF BAILEY

The founder and chief executive of JetBlue Airways, his voice cracking at times, called himself “humiliated and mortified†by a huge breakdown in the airline’s operations that has dragged on for nearly a week, and promised that in the future JetBlue would pay penalties to customers if they were stranded on a plane for too long.

David G. Neeleman said in a telephone interview yesterday that his company’s management was not strong enough. And he said the current crisis, which has led to about 1,000 canceled flights in five days, was the result of a shoestring communications system that left pilots and flight attendants in the dark, and an undersize reservation system. Until now, JetBlue and its low fares have enjoyed overwhelming popularity and customer satisfaction ratings.

The crisis began Wednesday when an ice storm hit the Eastern United States. Most airlines responded by canceling more flights earlier, sending passengers home and resuming their schedules within a day or two. But JetBlue thought the weather would break and it would be able to fly, keeping its revenue flowing and its customers happy.

On the contrary, JetBlue’s woes dragged on day after day. On Saturday night, for instance, the airline said that the 23 percent of flights it had canceled on Saturday and Sunday would also be canceled Monday. The confusion led to angry exchanges between customers and employees, prompting the airline to call out security personnel.

Founded in 1999 as a low-fare airline, JetBlue was often cited as a favorite among passengers and expanded rapidly, but its systems to deal with the consequences of bad weather did not keep up with the growth, Mr. Neeleman said. The company’s low-cost operating structure may have been a contributing factor.

“We had so many people in the company who wanted to help who weren’t trained to help,†he said. “We had an emergency control center full of people who didn’t know what to do. I had flight attendants sitting in hotel rooms for three days who couldn’t get a hold of us. I had pilots e-mailing me saying, ‘I’m available, what do I do?’ â€

The part of the company that locates pilots and flight attendants and directs them to their next flight assignment is far too small for an airline JetBlue’s size, Mr. Neeleman said. He vowed to train 100 existing corporate office employees to work in that area when needed. Within two weeks, the area can be better backstopped, he said, and within 30 days, “flawless.â€

Then again, Mr. Neeleman has been wrong before. On Friday, he told The New York Times that operations would be mostly back to normal on Saturday. That morning the company canceled 23 percent of its flights and shut service to 11 cities entirely.

Yesterday Mr. Neeleman said that throughout the chain of events, he had overestimated JetBlue’s ability to find people and get them into position.

The basic problem, he said, was JetBlue’s communication system: the ice storm had left a large portion of the airline’s 11,000 pilots and flight attendants far from where they needed to be to operate the planes, and JetBlue lacked the trained staff to find them and tell them where to go. Prior to last week, JetBlue had never had so many people out of position.

The reservation system was also overwhelmed, with customers unable to get through to human agents to check on a flight. In an unusual arrangement, the company employs nearly 2,000 reservation agents in the Salt Lake City area, many of them women who work at home. Mr. Neeleman said he would adjust their work agreement to require them to work longer hours during difficult periods.

Mr. Neeleman said he would announce a compensation system for passengers tomorrow. He is hoping to win quick forgiveness from customers and to demonstrate that he takes the airline’s failings seriously.

“This is going to be a different company because of this,†Mr. Neeleman said. “It’s going to be expensive. But what’s more important is to win back people’s confidence.†He did not say if higher fares might be in the offing.

At the peak of the JetBlue problem, nine airplanes full of angry passengers sat for six hours or more on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Other airlines have suffered big breakdowns. American Airlines stranded passengers on a plane in Austin, Tex., for about eight hours last Dec. 29. And in January 1999, a Northwest Airlines flight from the Caribbean arrived in Detroit 22 hours late and then was kept on the snowy tarmac for seven hours.

Last week at J.F.K., Delta Air Lines had at least one outbound flight that pulled away from the gate and then sat for two hours or more on the tarmac before returning to the gate, Betsy Talton, a Delta spokeswoman said. But Delta’s operations, smaller at J.F.K. than JetBlue’s, ran more smoothly. It canceled 20 to 25 of its roughly 80 flights on Wednesday, Ms. Talton said, and had some delays on Thursday.

Up and down the East Coast, Southwest avoided many of the problems JetBlue confronted by canceling more flights earlier. American Airlines also canceled flights earlier at J.F.K.

Throughout the airline industry, the move to lower costs has led to a thinning of staff. When things are running smoothly, the fewer number of people is usually adequate. When bad weather and other problems develop, however, it often becomes clear that airlines do not have enough people to manually rebook passengers on other flights, to handle misplaced bags and to take care of other problems.

Mr. Neeleman said JetBlue certainly erred in not canceling more flights and in not doing so earlier on Wednesday, and added that his company’s management lacked depth in operations. “We need to beef it up,†he said. “I’ll address that as well.â€

Mr. Neeleman said he would enact what he called a customer bill of rights that would financially penalize JetBlue — and reward passengers — for any repeat of the current upheaval. He said he would propose a plan to pay customers, after some amount of time, by the hour for being stranded on a plane.

He says knows he has to deliver. “I can flap my lips all I want,†he said. “Talk is cheap. Watch us.â€

There is growing sentiment in Congress to pass legislation that would mandate limits on the time passengers can be kept in a plane on the ground and also set compensation standards for stranded passengers. The airline industry hopes to fend off such a measure. Mr. Neeleman said he wanted to make the penalties to JetBlue “more aggressive than any airline lobbyist would let Congress do.â€

Gordon M. Bethune, the former chief executive of Continental Airlines, said that little other than low fares would do much to win back customers, but if an airline makes a bad judgment call, “you better be good at recovery no matter what.†He called last week’s JetBlue meltdown “a byproduct of their past and their growth.â€

[nycemt728 49]

I am more prone to agree w/ the supporters on this one, they had a bad week, they made some bad calls w/o a doubt. However, I have flown them several times down to Florida, my father several times to PR, no problems ever, as a matter of fact I can think of several instances where their customer assistance has been better than other larger carriers. I feel for those who were stuck on the runway and had their luggage lost! But lets be honest, every other carrier has done the same. I think the everyone is giving this a little extra attention b/c their the new kids on the block and up to now have had a pretty clean record. You don't see stories of pilots paying to pick up a plane to fly stranded customers very often...I am scheduled to fly them again in May, I'll make a more informed decision then. I can say I have had a painful and downright nasty experience at the hands of a national airline of supposed good repute, so its not all about Jet Blue.

[ajsbear 11]

It took a lot of arguing to get the POS car seat they "loaned" my wife. She was like 'I can't put the kid in a seatbelt and dive home. He needs a car seat." This was 2 hours after they landed. They called the airport in Tampa. I'm not worried about the suitcase as much as the seat. Here she was at JFK, 10:30 at night with no car seat for our son. So far nothing from them except when I called "when are you returning our car seat."

[Guest partyrock]

JetBlue - 0 AirTrans - 110. I'll stick with Jet Blue for now.

[RWC130 594]

Don't Wanna Fly Jet Blue?

FLY AIR 2!

[x635 4,066]

America forgets quickly.

jetBlue will come out even stronger from this current situation.

The airline's customer service and in-flight comfort is superior to any other airline out there now.

Although jetBlue is in the same Low Cost Carrier class as AirTran, it's like comparing apples and oranges. jetBlue is getting a lot of bad press from this, but I know that they will recover and there's thousands of loyal jetBlue fans just like me who will as well.

As for the being stuck on the plane for hours part, that's just unacceptable.

And I'm proud that jetBlue is taking responsibilty for what happened.

[Guest]

Take a bus or train.....

[ajsbear 11]

America forgets quickly.

jetBlue will come out even stronger from this current situation.

The airline's customer service and in-flight comfort is superior to any other airline out there now.

Although jetBlue is in the same Low Cost Carrier class as AirTran, it's like comparing apples and oranges. jetBlue is getting a lot of bad press from this, but I know that they will recover and there's thousands of loyal jetBlue fans just like me who will as well.

As for the being stuck on the plane for hours part, that's just unacceptable.

And I'm proud that jetBlue is taking responsibilty for what happened.

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Seth;

What I was ranting about in the begining of this thead was that when my wife got back to JFK from Tampa with our 9 month old his car seat which was gate checked disapeared. It was gone. How is she supposed to get from JFK to Northern Westchester with out the seat. Can't put him in the back and seat belt him in, its against the law. After 2 hours of her being in their face they came up with a seat, a piece of crap, 3 point harness and old but at least it got them home. Looking a it to me it was like loosing a BMW and getting a Yugo in replacement. I had bought 2 Britax car seats becasue the NHTSB and Consumers gave them the highest raitings then looking at them they looked good too. A lot of pading, 5 point seat belt and looked more like a lot went into the design to protect the occupant. The next day I called and their answers were "well you have a car seat" and it'll take us 3 to 4 weeks before we can process a claim as the seat may turn up.

Is this an airline I want to do business with. Nope. I have gone to the point to discuss this with my corporate travel and they have taken Jet Blue off the approved carrier list. I don't know how many flights we book a month but with over 20,000 worldwide employees and our in house travel company I'll bet it's a lot.

[nycemt728 49]

For anyone who's interested...the new JetBlue customer bill of rights that was e-mailed to True Blue members and posted on youtube.

Jet Blue Customer Bill of Rights