Low-Cost Airline Cancels More Flights

Saturday, February 17th 2007, 6:05 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ JetBlue, still reeling from a snowstorm that forced hundreds of canceled and delayed flights, said Saturday that 23 percent of its weekend flights would be canceled as it tries to get back on schedule.

``JetBlue is taking this aggressive, unprecedented action to end rolling delays and cancellations, and to operate a new schedule reliably,'' the New York-based carrier said in a statement posted on its Web site.

All Saturday and Sunday JetBlue flights were canceled in and out of 11 airports: Richmond, Va.; Pittsburgh; Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Austin and Houston, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Nashville; Portland, Me.; and Bermuda.

Officials also warned additional cancellations were possible and told travelers to call ahead before heading to the airport. Affected customers may receive refunds or rebook their flights, the airline said.

JetBlue's problems began Wednesday when its operations at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport were overwhelmed by the snow and ice storm. With dozens of grounded jets and not enough gates to unload passengers, some flights were stranded on the tarmac for up to 10 hours.

The airline said it tried to get its system back to normal by selectively canceling flights Thursday and Friday, but long delays continued because of constraints.