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Thread: Worst Airline Service: Jet Blue

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    Worst Airline Service: Jet Blue

    Some years back the was a period where airlines completely forgot that they were in the service business to real human beings. They treated people like packages as if they were Fedex, except the packages probably had it better.

    One of the worst and earliest incidents was Jet Blue, who left a plane full of passengers, including parents with infants and elderly stranded on the tarmac in NY for over 9 hours. And they certainly didn't seem to care, after all, the CEO wasn't on the plane. It took passenger led protest for Congress to finally act and mostly these really long incidents are gone now. The airlines blamed it on everyone else, but once there were large fines possible, they found a cure pretty promptly,and such incidents are mostly gone now.

    Now they have even hit a new low,see the story in the business section of USA Today Monday. The Jet Blue plane was again SITTING on the tarmac, Not Moving for an hour or two, and a Mother needed to take her 3 year old daughter to use the restroom. The flight nazi, refused to let the girl go, even stood in her way, until the girl had and accident and then Brunhilda refused to help the Mother try to comfort and clean up her daughter.

    I just saw the CEO of J B on TV and once again he doesn't seem at all embarrased at the lack of concern, even a minimum of decency, of his company toward the public. He's s David Barger, reminds me of Sonny Barger. He makes $885,000 a year so children are likely not his concern.
    To be fair, one of their off duty pilots was on board and tried to help the Mother and child and thought the airline was wrong.

    To be fair, I have stock on Southwest, of which it is up 225% and I have never ridden on j B and don't own their stock which is down about 20%.
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 06-23-2014 at 03:24 PM.

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    Truly disgusting, Bill. You can bet this won't be tolerated on Trailways. (Maybe on Amtrac)

    Bob

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    Let us know if posting your concern here gets anything accomplished for you!

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    Worst Airline Service: Jet Blue

    Just for the record, jetBlue has apologized for the incident, and has offered the passenger a credit and a $5,000 donation to the charity of her choice. The "flight nazi," as you put it, would have violated FAA regulations by allowing the pax to use the lavatory after the plane left the gate. (By the way, why does everyone seem to feel the need to call someone a nazi if they do something you don't like? Please, let's leave the nazi label to actual Nazis...) In other words, she would have opened up her company to federal fines and possibly lost her job in the process. To be fair, I DON'T have stock in jetBlue, but I have had very positive experiences every time I've flown with them.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayi...elay/10572277/
    Last edited by Chuck Arnold; 06-23-2014 at 10:35 PM.

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    Just for the record, Chuck ,I saw the CEO on a tv interview yesterday, and he didn't seem at all bothered by the way his company had treated paying passengers, and as I wrote this is not the first time. I hope the woman does or has lost her job, If it was my company I would not want to be represented by anyone with that cold an attitude toward a 3 year old girl. Regs are one thing, but some humanity and judgement are also called for. The plane was not moving, not taxiing, it was sitting for an hour or two. The flght thug could have asked the Mother to use the restroom and get back to their seat as quickly as possible. It would have been over, no need to involve the FAA or anyone getting fired. I'll bet the if that woman , or any of the crew had a sudden need to use the restroom they would not have sat until wetting themselves, they would have gone in the john.
    After the child had wet herself the airline thug threatened to throw them off the plane and call them a security risk. Only the intervention of an off duty J B pilot stopped that lie from becoming a worse embarassement.
    It's great that you, perhaps flying in first class have been treated well by J B, but if you were on there for the 9 hour stranded, do you think you might want to use the restroom?
    And I hope you don't take any young children with you on your flights.
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 06-24-2014 at 05:24 AM.

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    It reminds me of an incident happened 30 years ago. We boarded a Aspen Airways Convair 580 for the trip over the mountains to Denver which can be turbulent. We put our one year old Son in his car seat belted in.
    The stew had a fit, and claimed we could not use the seat and wanted us to hold him in our lap. I showed her the highway dept approved sticker on the seat, still she insisted. I ask her if shel was going to use a slat belt for herself, and she admitted yes, and I said I thought our Son deserved the same protection. Finally the captain came out the the cockpit and told her to leave us alone and he would take responsibility, and the flight went to Denver as normal. We always used a safety seat for our Sons in cars, our planes, and on the airlines, and eventually they quit harassing us about it, and we always paid the fare for the seats the boys used. It was a safety matter, not a money matter.
    The boys are grown now, but the always wear seat belts in cars, etc.
    I wish I had the name of the captain who didn't let working for an airline interfere with being a decent human being.
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 06-24-2014 at 05:39 AM.

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    Worst Airline Service: Jet Blue

    Yup. A three-year-old child wet herself on an airplane. Worst. Airline. Service. Ever. Gimme a break. It's easy to imagine scenarios that would've gotten the child injured, and presumably would have you incandescent with rage at the airline's lapses. For instance, child takes a little longer in the bathroom than planned (That never happens, does it?) Captain starts taxiing, little girl finally emerges from bathroom; captain slams on the brakes to avoid a King Air that taxis in front of him; child's head slams into the edge of a service cart. Now explain that one to the FAA and the family's lawyers at the deposition. The little girl's mother is over the incident. Why aren't you? You want the FA ("flight thug") fired? Really? For following the regs? And you've got your shorts in a knot because the CEO, who makes $885,000 a year (for running a $5B company, by the way), wasn't appropriately contrite on TV? Sorry, I'll save my outrage for something a little more serious than a toddler peeing in an airplane. And as for first class, I wouldn't know. When I fly commercial, it's in steerage with the rest of the peasants. Either that or I fly my Yankee. No bathroom breaks on that either.
    Last edited by Chuck Arnold; 06-24-2014 at 07:00 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood View Post
    Some years back the was a period where airlines completely forgot that they were in the service business to real human beings. They treated people like packages as if they were Fedex, except the packages probably had it better.

    One of the worst and earliest incidents was Jet Blue, who left a plane full of passengers, including parents with infants and elderly stranded on the tarmac in NY for over 9 hours. And they certainly didn't seem to care, after all, the CEO wasn't on the plane. It took passenger led protest for Congress to finally act and mostly these really long incidents are gone now. The airlines blamed it on everyone else, but once there were large fines possible, they found a cure pretty promptly,and such incidents are mostly gone now.
    Actually, the DOT 3 hr delay rule hasn't "cured" anything. Prior to the rule, being stranded on the tarmac for more than 3 hrs was a rare event. Since the 3 hr rule, being stranded on the tarmac for more than 3 hrs is a rare event but it still occasionally happens. Flights that will be subject to lengthy IROP delays are now simply cancelled which allows passengers to be "stranded" in an airport terminal instead. Flights that approach the 3 hr limit can provide an opportunity to deplane and the delay is erased. The latter tells the true story: It's amazing how many people choose a 3 + hr delay over cancellation. You'd almost think gov. intervention to end this inhumane treatment of passengers was nothing but a big theatrical production but we won't go that far.

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    Aaron Novak's Avatar
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    Hi Chuck,
    You don't have kids do you? Obviously not, or your wife did all the raising. Three is not a toddler, and that age is very sensitive to things like this. Regulations make a poor substitute for common sense. Maybe the punishment should have been for the CEO to be denied a bathroom until he wet himself in public? I bet if it had been a WW2 vet and not a kid, there would be more outrage.
    Last edited by Aaron Novak; 06-24-2014 at 09:29 AM.

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    Worst Airline Service: Jet Blue

    No, I don't have kids. But I've known many three-year olds. And I've even BEEN a three-year-old. In my admittedly limited experience, three-year-olds get over unpleasant incidents a lot faster than many grown men. Sure, jetBlue probably could've handled it better. Odds are, they could've broken the regs and let the kid go to the john a hundred times without any repercussions. But, let one child get hurt while the airline is violating the regs out of "common sense" and the Feds and the courts and the media (and many people on this forum) will descend on them looking for someone to blame. I don't have a dog in this hunt. I really don't care one way or the other about jetBlue. But, yes, I get a little irritated when an employee making a judgement call gets called a Nazi and a thug for her trouble, particularly by a pilot, who should know better.
    Last edited by Chuck Arnold; 06-24-2014 at 09:53 AM.

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