Having just taken the second Jet Blue (B6?) flight of my life and my first in several years, I wanted to post my experience for others who may be considering switching to the carrier. A lot of things went wrong, some of which were their fault and some of which weren't, so I got a really good range of "experiences," some of which were handled well and some of which weren't. Overall, I got to see a really good range of B6's competencies.

Situation: On Tuesday night, I was in Detroit on business. I got the news that a friend had passed away and that the funeral would be held in DC on Thursday at 1 pm. Given that I wouldn't be able to get back to Boston to pick up clothes for the funeral until Wednesday night, I had to book a flight to DC on Thursday morning. My choices, based on times and prices, were United or B6. Even though it was $50 more (including $10 for the increased leg room; what a bargain), I chose B6 because I know United's reputation when things go wrong, and I wanted a more customer friendly airline and the extra comfort.

My flight was supposed to leave BOS at 9 am and arrive at Dulles at 10:30, leaving me plenty of time to make the funeral at 1. I got to the airport at 7:30 (Boston's C terminal makes the B terminal look like the palace at Versailles, by the way.), I discovered that my flight had taken a mechanical and was delayed until 11:40, arriving at 1 pm. I realized then that I had made a very, very rookie mistake: I had booked a last-minute ticket for a "must be there on-time" trip on a carrier with no interline agreements. A gate agent told me that only a supervisor could book me on another airline. I asked to speak to the supervisor. The GA went in the back and said the supe wouldn't do it. I asked to speak to the supe myself, and she pointed me to the service counter.

To say the supervisor was surly would be an understatement. I asked her what my options were and she gave me the bored look that said "I've spoken to a thousand people like you already. Please leave." I didn't expect her to pay for me to fly UA, but a sympathetic, "I'm sorry, we don't have an interline agreement," would have been better than the "That's not going to happen" that she said to me. A gate agent later took pity on me and moved me to the front of the plane so that I could at least get off fast. She was horrified by the supervisor's attitude (Later, I had to return to the service counter and noticed that the supervisor didn't even look up from her PDA to answer her colleague's question.).

The flight crew was outstanding. I was surprised that they didn't pass out headphones, but they told me that they don't do that on the short-hauls.

I made it to the funeral in time for the end of the service, which also allowed me to get a ride to the cemetery and Shiva house afterward.

The return: Mmm, dinner at Five Guys burgers. Long wait, good burgers.

I had the 8:55 pm to BOS (with the 38" of leg room!), #1260. At 8:30, the first "delayed" message went up. It could have been worse: two gates away, #1262, the scheduled 2:45 pm, was just starting to board. That was one unhappy group of people. The GA told us that it was weather in Boston, and that our flight would take off at 10:24 pm. I asked the GA about getting on #1262, and he told me that there were empty seats, but that he couldn't put me on the flight because they were boarding. I almost lost it, but the woman next to me asked if we could be put on standby. He tapped on his computer and handed me a boarding pass for 19-F. As I boarded, I noted a ton of empty seats up front (most of which stayed empty) and mentioned to the FA that I was supposed to be up front on my earlier flight and could I move up if the seats remained empty. On most other airlines, I would have been laughed at. The FA happily agreed and didn't even ask for proof that I was supposed to be in the E+ seats.

We took a number of delays on the ground and finally got off at 10:50 pm, but I can't say enough good things about the flight crew. They were friendly, had a sense of humor and did a great job of diffusing the situation for a group of passengers that had just spent eight hours in an airport and on a plane. The passed out snacks and drinks earlier, turned on the TVs and kept us updated every ten minutes. The pilot came on and made an announcement that if anyone needed to make a call, they could borrow his cell phone. The Live TV went in and out on our side of the plane, but I switched seats again later and got a working TV.

Bottom Line

The good: Outstanding flight crews. The seats were very comfortable and I loved the 190's. The "big seats" up front are better than F on another airline if you don't have someone in the middle seat, particularly with the Live TV and satellite radio. This would be a great airline to fly with kids or if you don't have to be somewhere at a particular time.

The bad: The gate agents ranged from okay to terrible. They were like GA's at any other airline (That's gotta be a crappy job.). If you need to be somewhere, you can't rely on B6, since they have no interline agreements. The phone line is useless in a heavy call volume situation (It told me there were too many calls and that I'd have to call back later.).

Thanks for listening,
Mike