First Flight on JetBlue - NOT Impressed
I also flew JetBlue this week on a RT BOS-JFK and I was not impressed.
My husband and I usually take Amtrak from Boston to NY, but thought I'd give JetBlue a try and take advantage of the $80 roundtrip fare, which was cheaper than the train.
The plane was very nice, a new EMBRAER 190. We had exit row seats and there was plenty of legroom. I also liked the 2 seats across seating configuration. However, our flight was scheduled to depart at 11:55 and they were boarding stragglers until 12:05. Then there was an announcement that luggage was still being loaded, so our departure would be delayed. We finally took off, 25 minutes late, only to have an aborted takeoff.
The pilot informed us that they had a warning light during takeoff indicating an engine problem, so we would be returning to the gate to check it out. They thought it was likely a software problem, as this particular plane had had the SAME problem several times previously (then why wasn't it fixed before?)
We sat at the gate for at least 30 minutes while a phone call was placed to Brazil (where the planes are manufactured) and the software was reloaded. This seemed to solve the problem and we arrived at JFK about 1 1/2 hours late.
Our return flight the next day was no better. Our flight was scheduled to depart JFK at 8 am, yet the plane did not arrive at the gate for boarding until 8:25. We were not waiting for a connecting flight and JetBlue never explained why the plane was late. Our flight did not leave JFK until 9 am, 1 hour behind schedule.
JetBlue's touted DirectTV service is not available on flights between JFK-BOS, so every passanger will get a $5.00 credit if they make their next reservation on JetBlue using the telephone. On our outbound trip, NO announcement was made as to why the tv didn't work, although inbound, the pilot apologized and said that the system was being set up. Neither flight made any mention of the $5.00 voucher.
On our next trip to NYC, we'll be taking Amtrak. It would have been a lot faster!
I have tickets to fly JetBlue next month BOS-MCO. I hope they get their act together by then.