Planes Were Grounded For 10 Hours Or More At JFK International

[Dracos]

JetBlue Passengers Describe Airport Tarmac Ordeal
AP) QUEENS, N.Y. Jet Blue Airlines apologized late Wednesday to dozens of passengers who were kept sitting on planes at New York's JFK International Airport for 10 hours or more without ever taking off, reports Andrew Kirtzman of WCBS-TV, the CBS affiliate in New York.

The airline said half of its 550 flights were cancelled because of a winter storm that also caused massive traffic and transit delays throughout the Tri-State area.

Ten JetBlue flights, however, were loaded with passengers on board. Some made it to the runways only to run into icing problems that kept them grounded. Some of the planes at the gate became frozen to the ground and passengers weren't able to disembark.

One couple told WCBS-TV they thought they were about to honeymoon in Aruba. Others said were dreaming of the sun and warm waters of Cancun. Instead, many described they felt like hostages being held on the tarmac.

"We had very limited toilet usage while we were on the plane," said Elizabeth Regale, who logged 10 hours of what she described as hell on a trip to nowhere.

"To sit on a plane for that long to be pulled into a gate for nine hours was horrible," said another passenger.

Early Thursday morning, the airline's Web site warned that other "flights to and from New York City (JFK, LaGuardia, Stewart and Newark, NJ), Boston, Washington D.C. and Upstate New York (Rochester and Buffalo) may be delayed or canceled." It urged passengers to check the status of their flight before heading to their local airports.

JetBlue's apology said anyone stuck on one of its flights for more than three hours Wednesday would receive a full refund and a free roundtrip ticket for a future flight.

Some, however, were in no mood to accept that apology.

"Disorganized. No one knows anything. It's all chaos," one passenger said.
http://cbs2.com/national/topstories_story_046063757.html

[Tin Man]

1. Unfortunately, fleet scheduling is so finely balanced, any hiccup can snowball

any hiccup can snowball into a nightmare. Widespread weather in a high-traffic region and - booya: clusterfuck.

[malaise]

11. No airline has the right to keep passengers

imprisoned for ten hours. A class action law suit is needed to sort out this crap.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. I can't help but wonder just what the hell...

people expect in the midst of a huge ice storm.

Yeah, it sucks to be stuck on a plane for 10 hours but when life doesn't go your way, why the need to lash out at someone to blame?

It's all JetBlue's fault-- when hundreds of employees of the airport, FAA, and JetBlue claim they're running around in the freezing cold and hail trying to get your sorry ass off the ground, they're really sitting in their warm, cozy offices laughing their asses off at you stuck there. Right?

For five years I spent a lot of time at air cargo and express package counters and watched every type of abuse imaginable heaped on airline employees. When I travelled a lot I saw the same abuse heaped on ticket agents. I remember one horrible incident when someone missed his flight and jumped over the counter and started strangling the agent. "Air rage" is very real.

Airlines are far from perfect, but too many passengers are evem farther from it. I wouldn't last a week in one of those jobs-- pacifist though I am, I just might have started swinging at some of them.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Being stuck on the ground in a plane for ten hours is ridiculous.

With conditions that bad the airport should have been closed for departures. My home airport for many years was Logan (Boston.) I've been on planes that were de-iced several times before takeoff because of hold times (de-iced, roll out to the runway, delayed for too long, pulled back to be de-iced again, then out on the runway again.) I've also been stuck on a ground hold for over an hour in 100 degree heat, no A/C., while the pilot waited for a thunderstorm to pass over the Tampa/St. Pete airport. It's not pleasant to sit for even a couple of hours. Ten hours is just too much time to expect passengers to wait on board when the airline was aware of the high potential for flight delay. Unless JetBlue can show that they were misled by the FAA and the airport officials, they should take the heat for this one. Someone decided to load those planes in truly awful weather conditions. JetBlue has offered full refunds and a free trip to the affected passengers, and that seems appropriate given the circumstances.

[dogday]

12. I was stuck for two hours and thought that was too long...

They should of let those people off the freaking plane

[Parche]

4. Air Rage

I agree with you, I am in the 'travel' business and air rage is a real problem
of course some airlines service is outrageous, but the passengers expect to be
flown first class on a coach ticket all the time.

Case in point the show....'Airline'!!! It is one of my favorites
I love to watch whiney passengers!!!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

6. unless lied to by the FAA or the airport staff

companies like JetBlue should NEVER have boarded those planes. And if by some bizarre set of circumstances they had boarded the planes, they should have brought them back to a gate...ANY gate to get the passengers off after no more than an hour. If you can't find a gate...get a portable stairway and get the passengers out of there.

There is ZERO excuse for this sort of abuse...

sP

[Tin Man]

7. Airport arrivals/departures are like a giant game of "musical chairs"

The JetBlue flight had left the gate, and lost it to an arrival. Subsequently, ATC closed the airport before JB could get airborn. In the interim, all airport gates had been filled. That's what I meant in reply #1 above - airport traffic is VERY finely balanced between arrivals and departures. As a result, even minor events can have ramifications for other aircraft in the system; closing airports (e.g. due to weather) will set off a major clusterfuck, everytime.

That being said, airports/airlines *do* need better contingency plans for de-boarding passengers from aircraft unable to return to a gate.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

8. i do about 300K a year in the air...I know this all too well

but there IS a way to get those folks off the plane...it is a disgrace that they were allowed to sit there for that length of time. I think I would have been ready to pull a slide or fake a heart attack just to get off the plane... :-)

sP

[Tin Man]

9. Fake a heart attack..... hmmm...... I'll hafta remember that one!

If I ever find myself trapped for more than 2 hours, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have a heart attack. LOL

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. yeah...free trip to the hospital too...

better be a good faker :-)

sP

[Tin Man]

13. Oops, my bad... it musta simply been a panic attack triggered by my claustrophobia

...with the sweating and shortness of breath, I mistook it for a mild heart attack.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. ahhh...panic attack...I think that would be the one to go with!

:-)

sP

[Carni]

15. I would have a full blown panic attack

I am very claustrophobic and would probably not be able to endure siting in a plane not moving for that long (I mean without going nuts)

The airlines really need to get some sort of accomodation in place to get people off of planes under these types of circumstances...I am sure everyone involved would be happier for it.

I do find it humorous that Joe Scareyborough was trapped for nine hours LOL

[mmonk]

5. No one should have to sit in the aircraft that long unless

they were in transit. I got up at 3 am this morning to take my sister in law to the airport for a flight to Toronto. My niece left on another plane heading to New Jersey. I think my sister in law's flight is probably on time and ok but anyone know about Newark?