[Videos below.] JetBlue suffered a major meltdown at New York JFK airport last night as it struggled to recover from the nor’easter snowstorm that slammed the East Coast over the weekend. Paddle Your Own Kanoo reports that hundreds of passengers were left sitting on planes on the tarmac for hours as the airline ran out of space and workers to deal with the unfolding mess.
The airline had already proactively hundreds of flights over the weekend and JFK effectively shut up shop the day before, but jetBlue apparently struggled to recover as the wintry weather coupled with Omicron-induced staff shortages took its toll on the airline’s operation.
Some passengers said they were stuck on arriving aircraft for hours upon hours because there simply weren’t enough ground staff available to connect jetbridges. At one point, aviation analyst Jason Rabinowitz counted nearly 20 inbound flights “scattered” around JFK’s taxiways unable to park at a gate because of the meltdown.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed the plane making a sharp left-hand turn as it suddenly diverted to Newark. Although inconvenient, the passengers might have been saved from a very long wait on the ground.
The situation was just as bad in JFK’s Terminal 5 where thousands of passengers were left in limbo as rolling delays plagued dozens of departing flights. Some passengers complained that JetBlue staff were nowhere to be seen, while many lamented the lack of communication from the airline.
Under Department of Transportation (DOT) rules, airlines must provide passengers with the opportunity to deplane within three hours if they have arrived on a domestic flight and four hours for international arrivals. The same rule applies to departing flights.
During a tarmac delay, airlines must also provide snacks and water. Failing to comply with these rules can lead to hefty fines. Paddle Your Own Kanoo
{Matzav.com}
Are you kidding, 3 or 4 hours?
JetBlue has sunk to the level of Frontier and Spirit airlines. How can we dehumanize our paying customers more? How can we treat them like worthless garbage? How can we ruin other people’s lives? I hope every passenger was wearing their disposable masks correctly for the entire ordeal? Mask up.
At least it wasn’t because the vaxed pilot died en route.
still the best airline, but every so often they mess up big time from trying to do too much and be aggressive.