My Jetblue Experience -- Feb. 12-13
Feb 14, 2006, 12:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 43
My Jetblue Experience -- Feb. 12-13
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.
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.
Last edited by jbernste; Feb 14, 2006 at 12:26 pm Reason: Clarity; not content
Feb 14, 2006, 2:26 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Los Angeles & Orange County, CA
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Posts: 23,822
I just want you to know that Washington Dulles (IAD) was closed at least in the morning/early afternoon on Feb 12. Luckily, I was flying out of Baltimore and that airport remained open. Your flight might have been headed for IAD and got grounded because of the closure.
My flight (UA) ended up departing 10 minutes early ^ ^ ^ I LOVE UA. Honestly though, I really needed to get home on Sunday for a very important meeting on Monday. I would rather my airline attempt to fly and get me back home rather than leaving me stranded in Baltimore by cancelling all flights.
My flight (UA) ended up departing 10 minutes early ^ ^ ^ I LOVE UA. Honestly though, I really needed to get home on Sunday for a very important meeting on Monday. I would rather my airline attempt to fly and get me back home rather than leaving me stranded in Baltimore by cancelling all flights.
Feb 14, 2006, 3:05 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 7
May I make a very simple, stupid suggestion?
Send exactly what your wrote (no more, no less) to jetblue via their 'contact us' page... it might take a few days (I'd image they're sorting through a bunch of feedback at the moment), but they've never failed to personally respond to any coorespondence sent to them through that manner.
I think your level-headed and honest appraisal of the situation will probably go over well.
Send exactly what your wrote (no more, no less) to jetblue via their 'contact us' page... it might take a few days (I'd image they're sorting through a bunch of feedback at the moment), but they've never failed to personally respond to any coorespondence sent to them through that manner.
I think your level-headed and honest appraisal of the situation will probably go over well.
Feb 14, 2006, 5:35 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: TPA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro 2MM, HH Diamond, WoH Globalist, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,207
Great post, jberneste. Just curious, did those of you in the terminal late Sunday/early Monday know that there were JetBlue planes sitting out there going nowhere?
Feb 14, 2006, 6:39 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 43
At around 7am, people started streaming from the jetways and into the terminal. It seemed odd to us that there were any arrivals at that hour, so we asked them where they were coming from. They told us "here" and explained that they'd been sitting on the plane all night.
That's when we learned about the flights getting stuck on the tarmac.
That's when we learned about the flights getting stuck on the tarmac.
Feb 15, 2006, 1:35 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: TPA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro 2MM, HH Diamond, WoH Globalist, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,207
I wonder when exactly the decision was made to cancel your flight, as well as flight 29 to TPA and the others on the tarmac. I would guess it was sometime around 1:30 a.m. That was when your FA made his announcement and my pilot came out of the cockpit to make his. You described your FA as "visibly agitated" after having spoken with ops, and my pilot was definitely frustrated after having spoken with them.
Feb 15, 2006, 8:56 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 540
Originally Posted by jbernste
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
9:30 pm Gate agents tell us that our equipment will be flight 1065, which they assure us is currently inbound from Austin.
11:30 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.
9:30 pm Gate agents tell us that our equipment will be flight 1065, which they assure us is currently inbound from Austin.
11:30 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.
I've had this happen on multiple airlines. What happened to that "passenger bill of rights", where airlines are supposed to keep everyone informed. If the plane that my flight will be using has not left yet, my flight will be delayed. If weather's good, they may have a spare. If weather's bad/holiday weekend, there are no extra planes. Please tell me, so I can go home/get on another flight. And if the operations department is telling them NOT to make an announcement, they're intentionally hiding information from passengers. You may want to send a copy of that information to your congressman, as only they seem to have the ability to force changes.
And thanks for the clear post with timelines. Its really helpful.
Feb 15, 2006, 10:10 am
#9
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jbernste gets major props for delivering a rational timeline and asking good questions. But I think he buried the lead in the sweet, chewy center of his massive post. The really serious turn of events is this:
Everything else is side dishes.
If you were writing a newspaper story about this, your lead sentence would not be, "We began dialing 1-800-JETBLUE at midafternoon Sunday."
The lead would be: "At the height of the historic New York area blizzard, beseiged JetBlue staffers at JFK acknowledged withholding accurate flight information from stranded customers on orders from their overwhelmed operations desk -- information that passengers could have used to make alternate plans and that was freely available via the Internet."
That kind of changes things. If the airline strove to conceal data from its customers, I would want to revisit my earlier stance on this thing.
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.
If you were writing a newspaper story about this, your lead sentence would not be, "We began dialing 1-800-JETBLUE at midafternoon Sunday."
The lead would be: "At the height of the historic New York area blizzard, beseiged JetBlue staffers at JFK acknowledged withholding accurate flight information from stranded customers on orders from their overwhelmed operations desk -- information that passengers could have used to make alternate plans and that was freely available via the Internet."
That kind of changes things. If the airline strove to conceal data from its customers, I would want to revisit my earlier stance on this thing.
Feb 15, 2006, 10:21 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 43
Well said.
Good catch...being a lawyer, and not a journalist, you can imagine how hard a time I have writing clearly and getting the main points across 
In defense of Jetblue, though, the gate agent wasn't acting in bad faith. She was following orders. But you can imagine how frustrating it was for us...
In defense of Jetblue, though, the gate agent wasn't acting in bad faith. She was following orders. But you can imagine how frustrating it was for us...
Feb 15, 2006, 1:01 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: TPA
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Posts: 2,207
Originally Posted by BearX220
jbernste gets major props for delivering a rational timeline and asking good questions. But I think he buried the lead in the sweet, chewy center of his massive post. The really serious turn of events is this:
Everything else is side dishes.
If you were writing a newspaper story about this, your lead sentence would not be, "We began dialing 1-800-JETBLUE at midafternoon Sunday."
The lead would be: "At the height of the historic New York area blizzard, beseiged JetBlue staffers at JFK acknowledged withholding accurate flight information from stranded customers on orders from their overwhelmed operations desk -- information that passengers could have used to make alternate plans and that was freely available via the Internet."
That kind of changes things. If the airline strove to conceal data from its customers, I would want to revisit my earlier stance on this thing.
Everything else is side dishes.
If you were writing a newspaper story about this, your lead sentence would not be, "We began dialing 1-800-JETBLUE at midafternoon Sunday."
The lead would be: "At the height of the historic New York area blizzard, beseiged JetBlue staffers at JFK acknowledged withholding accurate flight information from stranded customers on orders from their overwhelmed operations desk -- information that passengers could have used to make alternate plans and that was freely available via the Internet."
That kind of changes things. If the airline strove to conceal data from its customers, I would want to revisit my earlier stance on this thing.
I understand B6 has loyal customers (for good reason), but this is taking the position of being a JetBlue apologist to an extreme.
The idea that JetBlue withheld information from its passengers (on order from above) is the issue. Don't fault the passengers for not going online to get more accurate information, because during the day on Sunday that information was not accurate. Besides that, not every passenger had access to that information, especially those of us on the planes. And to take that one step further, why should passengers have to confirm everything they are told by airline employees by going online? Sure, sometimes they don't have up to date information, but covering up the truth is far more serious.
The idea (note that I am using the word "idea," not "fact," giving B6 some benefit of the doubt) that JetBlue staffers gave false information and that JetBlue ops ordered them to do so is a very serious issue, something that needs to be investigated by the DOT. In addition, it goes some way toward confirming something that I and others on Flight 29 believed. And by the way, my timeline for the events of what happened on Flight 29 have been validated by two other posters who say they were on that flight.
Feb 15, 2006, 1:43 pm
#12
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Originally Posted by Flying Buccaneer
I understand B6 has loyal customers (for good reason), but this is taking the position of being a JetBlue apologist to an extreme... The idea that JetBlue withheld information from its passengers (on order from above) is the issue.
For the record, I'm not an apologist for B6 and have never flown with them.
Feb 15, 2006, 3:03 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Posts: 2,207
Originally Posted by BearX220
Dude, read what I wrote again. I'm agreeing with you.
For the record, I'm not an apologist for B6 and have never flown with them.
For the record, I'm not an apologist for B6 and have never flown with them.
Again, sorry for the misunderstanding.
Feb 15, 2006, 6:36 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: New Jersey, DC
Programs: Jetblue
Posts: 538
I can't find a link, but apparently Jetblue chartered a North American Airways 757 to fly two R/T's between JFK and FLL to fly customers affected by the blizzard. They served it with the usual Jetblue offerings, including the headphones, although I am not sure about the tv situation on NAA. They also had a inflight manager onboard meeting the customers and doing their best to sooth over hostile feelings. I give them credit for doing their best to accomodate the stuck travellers. You can't correct the past, but you can try to make the future better.
Feb 16, 2006, 1:30 pm
#15
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 540
That sounds much more reasonable, and for the record, I DO fly with Jetblue, and my experiences have so far been excellent.
As far as I know, Jetblue does not use one of the standard GDS sytems as a cost saving measure. What that means is that if you call the airline the agents don't have much more information than what is on the website. They may be looking up your flight status on Jetblue.com.
What I mind is intentionally hiding or not informing passengers if something is obvious, such as it being my flight time and my plane has not taken off from its previous destination yet. I don't even mind honesty to the level of "We'd like you all to stay in the terminal, because there's a 1 in 100 chance that we could get a plane from another airline, but your plane is severely delayed". Or from the other thread, if they told the passengers "Our gates are full, and the rampers went home after all the flights left, so we may need to get them back to the airport to get us a gate." But no information is the worst.
As far as I know, Jetblue does not use one of the standard GDS sytems as a cost saving measure. What that means is that if you call the airline the agents don't have much more information than what is on the website. They may be looking up your flight status on Jetblue.com.
What I mind is intentionally hiding or not informing passengers if something is obvious, such as it being my flight time and my plane has not taken off from its previous destination yet. I don't even mind honesty to the level of "We'd like you all to stay in the terminal, because there's a 1 in 100 chance that we could get a plane from another airline, but your plane is severely delayed". Or from the other thread, if they told the passengers "Our gates are full, and the rampers went home after all the flights left, so we may need to get them back to the airport to get us a gate." But no information is the worst.