Customers Have Deja Vu After JetBlue Cancels 66 Flights

NEW YORK (AP) _ JetBlue canceled 66 flights because of snow Monday, testing the airline's pledge to compensate customers for more than 1,000 canceled flights during the Valentine's Day storm two

Monday, February 26th 2007, 6:40 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ JetBlue canceled 66 flights because of snow Monday, testing the airline's pledge to compensate customers for more than 1,000 canceled flights during the Valentine's Day storm two week earlier.

However, the embattled carrier wasn't alone this time as other carriers also grounded flights in and out of the Northeast.

JetBlue's cancellations at John F. Kennedy International Airport affected flights to or from Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Va.; Washington, D.C., Portland, Maine; and Chicago. The company also canceled flights into and out of Chicago and the Washington area during the weekend.

The cancellations were an attempt to make sure crews and planes were situated so the company could quickly resume operations after the snow, JetBlue Airways Corp. spokeswoman Alison Eshelman said.

But as the storm brought as much as 4 inches of snow to the New York metropolitan area, Delta Air Lines Inc. reported 175 canceled flights throughout the Northeast. American Airlines canceled 20 flights in and out of JFK and was experiencing slight delays of 15 to 20 minutes by afternoon, said spokesman Ned Raynolds.

JetBlue customers described delays, bad communication from crew members, and general frustration early Monday, echoing complaints that led to the company's bill of rights following the last storm.

Doug Rosenberg and Segun Akande, 22-year-old students at Duke University, found their flight from New York to Raleigh, N.C., canceled after being delayed on the taxiway for hours.

``It was so bad,'' said Akande. ``We were waiting on the plane for so long. You would think they would tell us to go back to the terminal after an hour or two.''

Rosenberg said JetBlue did a poor job telling passengers about what was going on and offering service after the flight was canceled. ``I never witnessed this bad of service in my entire life,'' said Rosenberg.

Eshelman said the students' flight was supposed to depart at 9:45 p.m. but its departure was delayed until 11:47 p.m. She said the plane was sent to be deiced, but then because of the weather in New York and Raleigh the company canceled the flight. The plane was returned to the terminal by 2:45 a.m., she said.

Eshelman said that in accordance with the customer bill of rights, each of the 100 passengers would receive $100 vouchers good for any future flight and their choice of either a refund or accommodation on a future flight.

Earlier this month, JetBlue was heavily criticized after bad weather stranded passengers in planes at Kennedy, its main hub, for up to 10 1/2 hours.

The company, which had hoped to ride out that storm without canceling flights, later admitted it took too long to call airport authorities for help in getting passengers off the grounded planes. It couldn't resume normal operations for days because flight crews weren't where they were supposed to be.