I was on the 7:50A flight JFK->TPA on July 4th. We boarded the plane, sat for awhile on the tarmac, and then the pilot announced engine trouble and we returned to the gate. The good news: JetBlue was going to put us right into another plane and we'd be just an hour and a half late. Given that many airlines would just cancel out the flight, I was most impressed.

So we get on another plane, sit for awhile, and lightning strikes again. This plane is not going anywhere either due to maintenance issues. But once again, JetBlue was going to put us onto another plane. Again, I was most impressed.

But here's the thing. Half the plane was royally pi**ed off at JetBlue. There were some hoots and yells and widespread muttering. It was so bad that several people actually cussed out the crew as they deplaned, and so when we boarded the third plane, the TSA was sitting there on the ramp to make sure there were no altercations. We made it to Tampa around 3 hours late.

JetBlue was great, but I was disgusted. What did the upset passengers expect? Planes break down, all the time. Every frequent traveler knows it's part of flying. The crew was great. And JetBlue ops went above and beyond the call of duty finding us not one, but two extra planes. I wish I could say that I'm sure my usual airline would do that---but I don't think they would.

And people wonder why New Yorkers have a bad image.

I think you just answered your own question.

To be fair, I would be pretty pissed as well. Not so much the first time, but when the replacement plane also broke down, I would not be very happy. I expect an airline to provide planes that, a majority of the time, work flawlessly. When 2/3 of the planes I've boarded in a given day have maintenance problems, I would not be very happy.

Also, you say you were three hours late, but that's on a, what, two-and-a-half hour flight?

People should not have been cussing out the crew, as the situation was totally out of their control, but I think a bit of frustration can be expected.

I wouldn't have cursed anyone out, but I would be pretty annoyed if I boarded 2 defective planes in one day.

To be fair, I also could have found you 67% of the planes JetBlue did in terms of their ability to carry you on the trip.

It is great that they were able to get a couple planes up and swap things around but that is really part of running Ops for an airline. Especially at the main hub it shouldn't be considered special for the carrier to be able to get a spare out for passengers. The fact that the initial plane and the spare both had MX issues sucks and I can understand being frustrated, particularly after being told that "we've got a replacement right here and we'll just get right out of here" and then that not happening.

No excuse for taking it out on the crew in any manner - I've seen a guy removed from a plane for such; that's a great story to share over a couple beers some day - but, well, people can be schmucks some times.

Theoretically, yes. But the big advantage JetBlue has is that they probably have two dozen interchangeable A320's sitting at JFK at any moment. I didn't appreciate this until last weekend.

In contrast, if (for example) a Continental B739 at Houston breaks down, it's far less likely that they will be able to absorb the loss and find you another plane just like that. You're likely to have a very long delay or a cancelled flight.

How do you figure? CO has over 150 738/9s in their fleet and a decent number of them at IAH at any given time. I've had them locate an alternate plane for me at IAH at least once. And our replacement wasn't broken when we got there.

I assume this has been posted many times on FT but it seems like a great thread to add it (again?).

The part about air travel starts about 2:30.
So funny imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

Yeah, but the 737s don't all swap for one another. For example, the 739s have more seats than the 738s, and there are only 40 or so of those in the fleet.

Maybe one should expect an airline to be able to swap a new plane in when one breaks down. And it does happen. But nowadays, you are also likely to have your flight cancelled---it's certainly happened to me, even at a hub. Knowing that was a possibility, I really appreciated that JetBlue got us a new plane (then did it again, a second time!). Perhaps this is just a sign of lowered expectations?!?

It could be said that the crew was just as frustrated. Imagine trying to do your job when 150 people are heckling you when you are doing your best to fix the situation.

Well said. We are in the same situation as the customers when it comes to delays like this. We are just as stranded and not getting paid except for per diem. We have things that we'd like to do then add to our duty day because of a mx delay. We want to get going and get done and either get home or to our hotel. However, having said that, we want to make sure the plane is safe and able to carry us to our destination. I have yet to witness "get-homeitis" from our crews.