On 6/21/2012 4:30 PM, Sancho Panza wrote:
On 6/21/2012 4:22 PM, James Robinson wrote:
Sancho wrote:
Sancho said:
That is analogous to the question surrounding the event that got
JetBlue its most publicity--sitting on the tarmac for seven hours when
they might have parked at a gate and discharged the passengers.
Not really, since the times JetBlue has stranded passengers at JFK and
Bradley, it wasn't the pilot's choice, but from the lack of support on
the
ground. In this case, it was entirely up to the pilot do decide what
action
he to take.
That has been strongly denied by the Port Authority. It is preposterous
for anyone to think that no available gate was available at JFK for
seven hours from the scores the airport has. It is part of an
anti-passenger attitude that the airline exhibits all too frequently.
Even the pilots dump on the airline:
Updated: 6:39 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 | Posted: 6:38 a.m. Tuesday,
Nov. 1, 2011
Even pilot blames JetBlue for 7 hours of tarmac time
By Michael Muskal
Los Angeles Times
A JetBlue flight, stranded for hours by the weekend's miserable weather
in the Northeast, prompted the flight's pilot to complain -- via now
widely available audio -- that he was getting more help from airport
officials than from his own company.
A spokeswoman for Jet Blue wouldn't comment Monday about the pilot's
complaints but defended the airline's actions in dealing "with this
confluence of events" caused by the weather. She said all of the
passengers will receive a full refund for their round-trip fares.
Flight 504 left Saturday morning from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., bound for
Newark, N.J., but snowy weather forced the flight to be diverted to
Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn. It landed there in
the early afternoon -- and then was forced to wait more than seven hours
on the tarmac.
Other flights spent more than their fair share of time on the tarmac at
the Bradley International over the weekend, but it was Flight 504 that
garnered the most media attention.
"I got a problem here on the airplane. I'm going to need to have the
cops onboard," a flight crew member told the tower in a conversation
posted on LiveATC.net, a website that monitors air traffic control
conversations. "I need some air stairs brought over here and the cops
brought onboard the airplane."
The pilot later told the tower: "Look, you know, we can't seem to get
any help from our own company. ... I apologize for this, but if there is
any way you can get a tug and a tow bar out here to us and get us towed
somewhere to a gate or something. I don't care, take us anywhere."
As the flight waited, the pilot took the time to thank the airport.
"Listen, I just want to put in my two cents worth in for whatever its
worth. Thank you very much," he said, according to news reports based on
LiveATC.net. "It's Capt. Thompson over here on (Flight) 504 ... I think
we've got more help from you guys than our own people."
The passengers were able to leave around 9 p.m. JetBlue blamed the
problems on the large number of flights that had to be diverted because
of the weather.
"Due to a confluence of events, including infrastructure issues in New
York/JFK and Newark, JetBlue diverted 17 flights on Saturday. Six of
those flights diverted to Hartford," the airline said in its e-mailed
statement. "We worked with the airport to secure services, including
remote deplaning and lav servicing. Obviously, we would have preferred
deplaning much sooner than we did, but our flights were six of the 23
reported diversions into Hartford, including international flights. The
airport experienced intermittent power outages, which made refueling and
jetbridge deplaning difficult."
JetBlue also apologized to the passengers.
"We have communicated directly with our customers impacted by this
confluence of events to apologize as well as provide a full round trip
refund, as it remains JetBlue's responsibly to not simply provide safe
and secure travel, but a comfortable experience as well," the company
stated. --
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...rmac-ti/nLzKS/