Once again, jetBlue managed to mangle handling somewhat unexpected severe winter weather last week and let several aircraft stand on tarmac in Connecticut while an early winter storm passed through the New York City area.   One aircraft already famous in the media managed a 7+ hour sit while the pilot begged for assistance from the airport.

And JetBlue has apologized . . . again. 

Thing is, should they really have been caught out this badly again? 

JetBlue already had a famous JFK system meltdown several years ago.   In fact, it managed to get David Neeleman fired from his job as CEO of the airline. 

I’m not saying that the winter storm wasn’t a bit early.  It was.  On the other hand, it wasn’t *that* early for the northeast and, more importantly, one would expect JetBlue to have a better action plan already in place no matter what time of year it is. 

After all, it is not like that area doesn’t get severe storms in the summer forcing diversions as well. 

I think JetBlue just kind of fumbled again and used a rather sedate apology  and the circumstances to justify what happened.  They certainly have been quiet about what they were trying to do to better help their customers.  And the ATC recordings of its pilots asking for police (to settle passengers) and help in getting people off the airplane doesn’t speak to JetBlue trying very hard to figure out what to do for these people.

Yes, American Airlines also had a long tarmac delay at the same airport.  They also worked diligently towards getting customs people to return to the airport to facilitate getting people off the plane.  You can’t blame them if those same customs people didn’t exactly work very hard at returning.  In short, American has a valid excuse and some significant evidence that they worked the problem hard.

I’ll also point out that it isn’t just JetBlue and American Airlines that flies frequently into the area.  United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines and several others all managed their problems acceptibly in a variety of ways. 

So JetBlue can apologize but I’ll make a point:  If David Neeleman were still there, he wouldn’t have permitted this kind of thing to happen after the Great Winter Snafu of 2007.  He is a human being and he does make mistakes but he also possesses the characteristic of not repeating those mistakes. 

How ironic that Mr. Neeleman continues to live in Connecticut right between JFK airport and Hartford, CT.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax