Originally Posted by
NWAFA
This B6 incident was caused by weather. I probably don't have all the facts, but the planes couldn't go anywhere and passenger safety is the Airlines #1 priority. The safest place for passengers to be in inclement weather is on a plane. To unload passengers out and away from a jetbridge is dangerous.
Weather
and bad decision-making on the part of JetBlue.
Originally Posted by NWAFA
Could things have been handled differently, sure. But hindsight is 20/20. The same thing happened to AA and to NW. It will happen to someone else.
And it also happened to
JetBlue almost exactly one year ago. NW and AA offer many more flights each day than B6. Yet, this is a repeat of their experience from last year. Apparently, B6 still does not know how to deal with stranded planes that are within sight of the gates.
Originally Posted by NWAFA
Here's one that tops B6. I was working a flight from ORD to NRT. Long flight. As we were getting into range of Japan, we were put into a holding pattern due to winter storms in NRT. We finally received permission to land on the Isle of Sapporo. Our flight was only cleared through immigration in NRT, not Sapporo. We sat for 6 hours on that plane.
Finally, we received permission to take off for NRT. It's about an hour's flight to NRT. When we got to NRT, the airport had been shut down again. We circled for another 3 hours before we landed. We had been on that plane for over 24 hours. And NW wanted us to maintain the schedule and take our originally scheduled departure back to ORD. Not! They had to scramble to get people to make up the crew to take the plane back to ORD.
This happened 18 years ago. About 10 years ago, CDG to BOS. Had to divert due to thunder storms in BOS closed the airport. After the roughly 8 hour flight, we sat for an additional 8 hours on the ground before taking off again. So this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
I am glad that I was not part of either of these experiences. However, there is one big difference. These pax did get to their destinations. NW didn't bail out on them and tell them that they were on their own as JetBlue did to hundreds of us last year and probably did to hundreds more this year.
Originally Posted by NWAFA
We have all this news about how a certain group of people and flights were stranded. But what is forgotten that this is an abberation. It doesn't happen every day. On a consistant basis. We forget how many people on many planes get to their destinations without incident.
While it might be an aberration, this is the second time it has happened to JetBlue planes in the past 53 weeks. Once is unacceptable. Twice is unforgivable.
Originally Posted by NWAFA
Count your blessings that eveyone involved have gotten to their final destinations
Have they?