Jet Blue thoughts???

[christykay]

I was just wondering what all of you thought about the actions that Jet Blue is taking regarding the recent flight delays??

It is nice that Jet Blue is being proactive and trying to please the customer, but what message is this sending to the other companies within the airline industry?

The statement that Jet Blue is making just sounds like the beginning of what could be a huge complicated mess for everyone in the airline industry.

Again... I was just wondering what all of you were thinking on this situation.

[TheWife]

From the parts that I have heard, I think keeping the public happy will help keep the airline successful, which helps keep the pilots employed. So it sounded reasonable to me! But maybe I'm not "getting" the bigger picture or something? I'm not in the "airline pilot husband" boat yet so I don't know all this stuff. Just have to make my opinions as an "outsiders" point of view basically.

[lucky81698]

Things like this have happened to just about every airline. It happened in DTW with NW a few years back, in DFW over the summer with AA. And now with JetBlue. I think they were so scared of all the bad publicity since it is a first for them, they are trying to do anything they can to appease the public. The people in operations and dispatch made alot of bad decisions, they didn't believe the weather would have that much of an impact and I'm sure no one ever thought the planes would actually freeze to the ground. As far as I know, you cannot take-off in freezing rain, it is a very dangerous situation. The decision to even try to operate was a very bad one. If they ahd simply cancelled the flights due to weather it would have saved them so much. One thing Bill did say, even if it is Monday morning quarterbacking, was that if he were the crew on a plane that had no power, air, etc, he would consider that an emergency situation and act accordingly to get the people off the plane. I know that in EWR, CAL has procedures for having no gate space, they have a gate that is reserved for planes to come in and dump off the people and then go park somewhere else. That seems like a simple solution for future problems. I haven't read the entire "Bill of Rights" they put out, just a small portion, but I think it may end up opening a can of worms as well. I know if I had been on one of those planes, I think I would have been going nuts. But it is after the fact and the only thing they can really do is offer a refund, which they did, and then they offered another free ticket. They can't change what happened, but I think that is enough. The whole thing would blow over in a few days.

I know Bill told me that a couple of weeks ago they were going from IAH to MIA with a full flight. They had left the gate and were waiting for around 3 hours due to ATC and some thunderstorms that had not moved as quickly as expected, but were moving out. One of the flight attendants came up and told the captain there were about 5 people that wanted to return to the gate (they later found out it was to smoke!). He asked Bill to make a PA that they understood there were a few passengers that wanted to return to the gate but that was not going to happen. He said the rest of the passengers started clapping. From what I understand, this "Bill of Rights" (not JetBlue's) would mean that if one person wanted to go back to the gate then they would have to go. So who is actually in charge of the plane then, the captain or the passengers! Just my opinion!

[Bigsweetie]

Originally Posted by lucky81698

From what I understand, this "Bill of Rights" (not JetBlue's) would mean that if one person wanted to go back to the gate then they would have to go. So who is actually in charge of the plane then, the captain or the passengers! Just my opinion!

If that is correct, we're all in danger. If a flight gets one person, who maybe is afraid to fly, or wants a smoke (eye roll) or whatever, and makes everyone go back to the gate, you're going to get people who are going to get so angry they may start fights in the cabin. I can see it right now! Joe gets freaked and makes everyone go back, and some guy who needs anger management is late already gets pissed and beats the crap outta the guy. It's only a matter of time, if that's how they're going to run this. Even if no one gets violent you're going to have people screaming and yelling at each other.

That's why it's better to let the Captain decide what to do. He's behind a bullet proof door. Let them get mad at him, not each other in the cabin. Other passangers could get hurt.

[Kristie]

personally, i think the passenger bill of rights is a bad thing for not only the airline but for the crew because it takes the crews decisions pretty much out of their hands.

as far as JB goes, i still wonder why the heck they didn't get a staircase and a few buses out there to get the folks off hte plane.

[ccbegay]

kristie, i couldn't agree with you more...come on, it can't be that difficult to wheel some stairs out there...and get them off...the bf said that it was because they didn't want to lose their spots in line and have to deal with setting up future flights...i don't know...but i do think that if the bill of rights were set up, what role would the crew have on flights?

[pilotwife38]

I don't think it is a good idea. Like everyone said the PIC makes those judgement calls. Maybe the airlines should address this issue with the PICs. If Jet Blue goes through with this the others will have to follow.

Tonya

[roz]

Originally Posted by Kristie

as far as JB goes, i still wonder why the heck they didn't get a staircase and a few buses out there to get the folks off hte plane.

The problem was, that in the middle of an ice storm, staff are limited. Not anyone can maneuver a stair to a plane--one has to be trained. And busses were limited too. And, can you imagine the busses negotiating the tarmac in the ice storm? And, can you imagine the little old lady in the wheelchair climbing down the stairs into the ice storm? They eventually got the passengers out--when the storm was subsiding.

Apparently these incidents happen frequently--just that it is usually a single plane involved. In this case, it drew press reaction due to the large number of planes. That very night, another major airline had a problem and, according to passengers, has taken no responsibility for the long hold to date. AA has not been responsive. NWA did it too. Today, another major had a five hour hold on the taxiway.

I don't think a bill of rights is the answer. Heck, TSA can't get it right--the rules vary by inspector! Imagine the rule being, 3 hours and you have to return to the terminal. What if there are no free gates? What if you are second in line to take off? I hate inflexible rules--I deal with them all the time in HR.

The problem with most legislation today is the authors. Did you ever go to visit your Senator or Congressperson? Did you ever look at the staff and notice their youth (ie--straight out of college)? That's who will write the bills. The bill would be written by a kid or two who don't know anything about airport operations, FAA rules, airline operations, etc. But it will sound good!

[DREAMJ]

I haven't read all the details on what happened with jetblue but have been wondering what the other airlines did that day? I have not heard any media coverage on that. If they are saying it was the weather then other airlines should have had the same trouble, seems very odd to me. It seems it was not a good situation for the crew or passengers and Kristie, does corporate make those decisions? I understand each airport has their own hierarchy but does Doug have a comment on this? My df and I discussed this incident and he seems to feel it was a corporate decision by jetblue. Possibly waiting for the weather to clear and it did not happen. I had an experience similar but not so long timewise a couple of years ago on NW, de-icing in the winter and I was very grateful when the captain came on after 2 hours and said we are going back to the gate until we have a better idea of our actual departure time. This was due to a weather delay, but I was comfortable with the decisons made that day and we took off 3 1/2 hours late but just to be able to breathe after being on that plane was huge. Passengers started getting angry after about 1/2 hour sitting there, believe me the flight atttendants had their hands full.

[roz]

That's just it--passengers on other planes were also stuck. There was one publicized about a flight to Greece that sat for longer on the taxiway than it would have taken to fly to Greece and then was, ultimately cancelled. It was monumental for JB because it's their hub and so many of their planes were impacted.