Battling the largest snowfall in NYC history, it should come as no surprise that Jetblue had some operational troubles on February 12. These troubles persisted into the afternoon on February 13. Below I've chronicled my experience in attempting to fly from JFK to AUS on Feb 12-13. In telling my story, I've tried to be objective and simply relate the facts as they happened. That said, even allowing for the weather, I think that there were some serious breakdowns. I'll share those with you, too. Realize, of course, that my assessment of the breakdowns is pure opinion.
My wife and I were booked on flight 1069 to Austin, scheduled to depart from JFK on Sunday, February 12 at 8:40 pm.
All times are approximate.
Sunday, February 12
All day
1-800-JET-BLUE is apparently sieged by callers. Roughly 1 out of 6 times I am able to reach the automated flight information system. The remaining 5 times I reach a message which explains that there is unusually high call volume, directs me to Jetblue's website for more information, and then hangs up. Wait times to speak to customer service personnel are in the 30 minute range.
6:10 pm
Jetblue.com and 1-800-JET-BLUE both report that flight 1069 is scheduled to depart on time. As you will read below, we later discovered from Jetblue staff that the equipment schedule to take us to Austin was flight 1065 inbound from Austin to JFK, and that, flight 1065 had not yet left Austin. As such, flight 1069 could not depart on time using flight 1065's equipment. Because its scheduled equipment would not arrive until after the scheduled departure, flight 1069 could not have departed on time. This caused no small amount of inconvenience to me since I would have postponed leaving for the airport if I had known of the delay. In fact, if Jetblue had provided accurate information all along, I may have never have come to the airport and avoided the situation altogether.
7:00 pm
We arrive at JFK. The fight information screens are unable to keep up with the volume of delays. The departure screen only lists flights up to about 6:00 pm (all of which are, understandably, delayed past the current time). This problem persisted throughout Sunday and into Monday. Jetblue simply needs screens which can display more flights.
We call 1-800-JET-BLUE and discover that the flight is delayed approximately 2 hours.
8:30 pm
There has been no announcement of our flight's delay; however, our flight finally appears on the flight information screens and shows an estimated time of departure of 10:05 pm.
9:30 pm
Still no announcement of flight status. Flight information screens still show an estimated time of departure of 10:05 pm. Gate agents tell us that our equipment will be flight 1065, which they assure us is currently inbound from Austin. Flight information screens contain no information on flight 1065.
10:05 pm
Still no announcement of flight status. Flight information screens still show an estimated time of departure of 10:05 pm.
11:30 pm
Still no announcement of flight status. Flight information screens still show an estimated time of departure of 10:05 pm. A passenger tracks inbound flight 1065 on his laptop and discovers that the scheduled wheels-down time is 12:55 am. We show this information to the gate agent. She acknowledges it. We suggest that she make an announcement that the flight will be further delayed. She tells us that Jetblue's operations department has asked that she not make such an announcement.
Monday, February 13
12:00 am
Flight information screens include a weather map showing inbound aircraft. Flight 1065 is now shown as inbound to IAD (not JFK) from Austin. We confront the gate agent about the diversion. After some time, she acknowledges it and tells us that Flight 1065 will refuel at IAD, will continue on to JFK and will still be our equipment.
12:30 am
Flight information screens show an estimated time of departure of 1:25 am.
1:30 am
What appears to be a crew of flight attendants appears at the gate. Ultimately, one of them take it upon himself to investigate what is happening with our flight. He is visibly aggitated in speaking with operations on the phone. When he gets off the phone, he announces that he will be one of the flight attendants on our flight to Austin. He then tells us that we will be going to Austin that evening and that he would be coming with us.
1:30 am - 3:30 am
No further information on our flight.
3:30 am
Terminal-wide announcement that Flight 1069 had been cancelled. Passengers were instructed to go to the customer service center, or call 1-800-JET-BLUE, to rebook. There is never an explanation for the cancellation.
Passengers sprint to the customer service center. I was among the first from our flight, which joined an already pretty long line of distressed passengers. I took a place in line and also called 1-800-JET-BLUE. If I had to guess, I'd imagine that the wait for the last person in line to speak with an agent would exceed 2.5 hrs.
After 40 minutes on hold with Jetblue, it appeared that I would reach the customer service counter with 15 minutes. I hang up on 1-800-JET-BLUE.
4:20 am
I reach the customer service counter. The next flight on which I can receive a confirmed seat is the 8:40 pm departure of flight 1069 on Tuesday, February 14. We accept this (unhappily). We are also placed on standby for the 8:30 am departure of flight 1061 that same day. My wife and I are numbers 28 and 29 on the standby list.
8:30 am
The flight information screens show an on-time departure for flight 1061. Flight 1061 has not departed and the gate agents have no information on the delay.
9:30 am
Gate shows aan estimated departure time of 11:30 am. Gate agent informs passengers that E190 equipment will be replaced with a larger Airbus aircraft to accomodate the 50+ standby passengers. Baggage is offloaded from the E190.
10:30 am
Baggage is reloaded onto E190 equipment. No further announcement is made or information provided.
11:00 am
Flight begins boarding. Ultimately, 9 standby passengers are accomodated.
11:20 am
Fifteen or so passengers from the flight on which I was confirmed (Flight 1069 on Sunday) ask to speak to a supervisor. We are told that he is a person we saw earlier enter the jetway. We wait for him to return. He never does. One passenger then spots him at a gate across the terminal (apparently he got there via some other passageway). We ask that he speak with us. He tells us to wait for him at gate 17 (from which flight 1061 departed). He arrives 15 minutes later, but bypasses us and enters the jetway (flight 1061 has still not pushed back). 20 minutes later he arrives to speak to us.
The supervisor was patient, civil, and honest. He acknowledged that there had been breakdowns in communication. We asked him to do all he could to get a larger plane for the next scheduled departure to Austin (flight 1065 at 1:30 pm) to accomodate the standby passengers. He promised to do all he could.
12:20 pm
Flight information screens show flight 1065 schedule to depart on time from gate 17. Passengers waiting at gate 17 hear from a gate agent (but not via an announcement) that there had been a gate change for flight 1065. It was not scheduled to depart from gate 4.
1:00 pm
Flight information screens show flight 1065 schedule to depart on time from gate 17. Howver, a flight to Buffalo is at that gate and not schedule to depart until 2:30 pm. Gate agents nonetheless acknowledge (but do not announce) that this will be the departure gate for flight 1065.
2:15 pm
Flight information screens show flight 1065 schedule to depart on time from gate 17. Passengers ask the gate agent what the equipment for the flight will be. One gate agent tells the other gate agent that it cannot be an E190 because those are not flying "in this weather". Weather that day was cold but crystal clear. Winds were unremarkable. The gate agent checks and ultimately confirms that the equipment will be an E190.
3:00 pm
A gate agent is overheard telling a customer that the departure gate for flight 1065 has been moved to gate 11. Passengers, slowly and gradually, move to gate 11. No announcement of the gate change is made. Gate 11 shows an estimated time of departure of 4:30 pm.
3:30 pm
I ask the gate agent how many passengers have checked in for the flight. She tells me "all but 4".
3:45 pm
I ask the gate agent again about flight status. She notes that there are 2 seats unsold for the flight and tells me that I'm free to purchase those seats by paying the change fee and difference in fare. However, she says that she is unable to process payment and tells me that I'll have to visit a customer service center to do so. All this despite: (i) our current position on the standby list of nos. 19 and 20 and (ii) Jetblue's incement weather policy which provides that passengers may rebook on flights without paying a change fee or difference in fare.
Wait times remain long at customer service centers, so I call 1-800-JET-BLUE and attempt to secure the two remaining confirmed seats on flight 1065. Wait times at this point have decreased to 10 minutes. I speak with an agent who, with the help of a supervisor, is able to confirm my wife and I on flight 1065.
4:30 pm
My wife and I depart on flight 1065 and arrive in Austin without incident.
EPILOGUE
A. Here are the problems I observed with Jetblue generally in my 19 hours at JFK.
1) Flight information screens do not contain updated information and do not show information for all flights involving passengers likely to be at the airport.
2) Customer service personnel rarely make flight status update announcements. When they do, they don't utilize the public address system.
3) Given the level of noise in the terminal, each gate's public address system is inadequate. Passengers even a few feet away often cannot hear announcements.
4) Customer service agents are not receiving current information from operations; or, if they have such information, they are unwilling to share it.
5) Customer service agents are unsure as to what information they are permitted to provide. For example: one customer service agent refused to tell me my status on the standy list. She finally did after a supervisor told her that it was permissible to do so.
6) 1-800-JET-BLUE is unable to handle capacity in a situation of irregular ops. On average, I could not even access the automated flight information system on 5 out of 6 calls on Feb. 12-13.
7) 1-800-JET-BLUE and Jetblue.com both provide the same inaccurate information which is listed on the flight information screens at the airport.
My final thoughts:
Foreseeing the ripple effect of flight cancellations caused by the snowstorm, AA and DL cancelled all flights into and out of JFK on Feb. 12. Jetblue chose to gamble: it attempted to protect its revenue on Feb. 12 by attempting to board and fly planes scheduled to leave after the weather had subsided. This caused some fairly predictable problems which Jetblue's customer service agents and operations staff did not handle well. These problems persisted into Monday, February 13, a day when weather was good and delays generally at JFK were reported at 15-30 minutes.
Much of the trouble could have been mitigated if Jetblue did a better job of: (i) training its customer service and operations personnel; and (ii) providing information to its customers, both in the airport and via its phone system and website.
