Stuck on an airplane for 8-9 hours!! (1 Viewer)

[Too many to list here]

Just saw where some Jet Blue passengers were on the taxi way for 8-9 hours!!!!
The flight was canceled after all.
I've never had the pleasure of spending that amount of time just waiting to take off!
They said the crew opened the doors to get fresh air into the passengers it was so bad!!!

I think I would be looking to deploy the inflatable slides to get the hell out of there.

There is no excuse for airlines to be doing this.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Yeah, it sucks allright. But I can give you an airline point of view. Without knowing the story at all other than your post... If the line is backed up for takeoff (due to weather?) and you're already in a long line, usually it's pretty hard to even get out of line. You also may have crew legality issues. If you go back to the gate (if a gate is available at all), perhaps a pilot will go "illegal" on duty time - and maybe there's not another crewmember to take your spot. Or maybe it's happening somewhere out in BFE & the crew is on thier last leg of a 4 day trip, and the Captain has to get home for a wedding, closing on a new house or ???? As sad as it is - if he's hell bent on leaving.... it's pretty much up to him! Maybe the ground & customer service crew has already left as soon as you pushed ooff the gate. Perhaps clearance keeps telling you it should clear up "any moment now" or that they'll open another runway.... you can only go by what they're telling you on the radio. Yes, the ground & ATC controllers could be a little more customer-friendly.
Maybe your company needs the airplane somewhere for maintenance - another reason to tough it out in line. There's a hundred excuses. The crew doesn't like it anymore than the passengers do I can attest to that. But yes, it basically boils down to poor planning - on every level. But it happens to every carrier out there.

 

[Toejam]

Alls I had ever heard about Jetblue was they were the Airline of the Future; TV's at every seat, Internet ports, etc... But this is going to knock them down a notch for sure.

 

[vegasnitro]

I once sat on the taxi way for 2.5 hours in Salt Lake City while they de-iced the plane. Ordinarily, I would have been pretty upset, but I was glad they didn't cut any corners once we got airborne, that's for sure.

BTW the airline was Delta, the parent company of Jet Blue.

 

[Jenn]

I've sat on the runway for an hour while a weather pattern moved out, but the most irritating was when it came to boarding time and the passengers were in the boarding area waiting and there was no crew to tell us that our plane had been delayed an hour and was enroute.

 

[Jim]

BTW the airline was Delta, the parent company of Jet Blue.

I am pretty sure Jet Blue has no relation to Delta. They are also publicly traded on NASDAQ under symbol JBLU.

 

[yoda]

Chris is absolutely right- there are a hundred reasons for not being able to get off the ground. And sadly enough, I've had to sit through at least 90 of them...

I am Gold or Platinum on at least 6 major airlines (I fly A LOT ). One word in situations like that-

Xanax.

 

[Jim]

Here are some links to stories about the flight.

WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 - JetBlue Apologized to Stranded Passengers

wcbstv.com - JFK JetBlue Passengers Face Turmoil On The Tarmac

1010 WINS - On-Air, Online, On Demand - JetBlue Apologizes to Passengers Who Sat on Planes for Hours

 

[dragboatphoto]

I sat on an Air Jamaica flight once for about an extra 4 hours once. We were supposed to go to Houston but flight was diverted to Austin and then diverted for a third time to Corpus Christi. We sat on the taxiway in Corpus and waited for the storm to pass. They had to refuel the plane before flying to Houston and couldn't refuel during the lightning. We couldnt get off the plane beacuse we had not gone through customs

 

[Toejam]

I am pretty sure Jet Blue has no relation to Delta. They are also publicly traded on NASDAQ under symbol JBLU.

Jim, does JetBlue fly to Vail, Colo.???

 

[BaldyLochs]

.....yet another reason why more people should charter! It leaves when you say - it goes where YOU say !!

 

[Jim]

.....yet another reason why more people should charter! It leaves when you say - it goes where YOU say !!

While on my honeymoon we got talking to a couple from the NJ area. They said they were leaving on Sunday morning. Early Monday they walked by us at the pool. They said they left around 8AM Sunday morning for the airport, took the hour and 30 min ride to the airport, checked in, got on the plane etc. Ended up their charter flight had mechanical issues. Had to deplane and spend an extra night in St Lucia (not a bad thing necessarily.) But they did not get back to the resort until after 11 PM. After the main kitchen had closed! After some harsh words with the tour operator, the tour operator finally agreed even ask to the resort to make up some food for the 30 odd couples. Luckily they reopened it for them. We left on a 2 PM flight Monday and their plane was still sitting at the airport.

 

[BaldyLochs]

There's just too many variables, and too many "human hands" involved in the overall process for flying to ever be perfect. Now they're pushing this "passenger bill of rights".... and that , I guarantee you,,, will raise airfares if the carriers have to meet certain customer service standards. They're not going to eat that cost. Flying is not the same as going an ordering a chicken sandwich. This WILL happen again.

ps. Having said that.... i know a rather prominent Top Fuel driver who can hook you up in a LearJet whenver you're ready !!!!

Even though they took away my signature... I'm STILL Kalitta Trilogy!

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Hey Chris. What did you mean about a pilot going "illegal" on duty time? Is there something that allows him more hours as long as he doesn't leave the plane? I wonder in what ways a pilot's hours rules are similar and different than a trucker's.

I have a relative who flies the corporate jet for the people who own the Dixie Stampede show. We have some interesting conversations at the family get together at Christmas every year, but we never compared the hours that we're allowed to operate.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Yeah, Keep in mind I'm not a pilot - but here's the way it works. Sometimes you have a crew rest window, and if you're not on duty by a certain time, you go "illegal". Meaning you have to get 8 hours or so of rest - no flying.
Here's where it gets screwy though. They say you need rest.... if you don't get in the plane and go, you "time out"..... yet, you can get in the plane and sit for 8 hours on the ramp and be "legal"???? Wierd.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

So, their clock basically stops as long as they're sitting on the runway? Yeah, that would be VERY weird. Sounds to me like something that would allowed fatigued pilots to be operating.

 

[Toejam]

WE do Printing for the Largest Charter Airline service here in NM. Unless you have 25 passengers or more it's VERY Ex$pen$ive!

 

[BaldyLochs]

Hey Joe, I work for one of the largest charter-Maintenance companies in Colorado. It's amazing - to the average consumer who flys maybe 3 times a year for $300 on Southwest.... yes, Charter sounds astronomical. But still, the planes are flying every day. The market is out there. Alot of it is celebrities, corporate funded, or even contract flying. But everyday people still do rent these things more than most people know.

 

[Toejam]

Hey Joe, I work for one of the largest charter-Maintenance companies in Colorado. It's amazing - to the average consumer who flys maybe 3 times a year for $300 on Southwest.... yes, Charter sounds astronomical. But still, the planes are flying every day. The market is out there. Alot of it is celebrities, corporate funded, or even contract flying. But everyday people still do rent these things more than most people know.

You don't have to tell me about the Commercial Jet market, our local Pit-stop Cutter Flying service I know one of the employees. He says he's seen just about everybody celeb there is from Morgan Freeman, J-Lo, to Professional athletes come through.

 

[T.J.]

On the subject of crew time. Once you push from the gate the clock starts regardless of how long you sit waiting to takeoff and the only way it will stop is if you go back to the gate and shut down (if the engines are running so is the clock) . Pilots can work 16 hrs IF they have an extended rest period of at least 10hrs or more. Other wise it is 8hrs flying/8 hrs rest time. Traveling to and from the airport to the hotel is included in a pilot's rest time. My uncle is a Southwest captain and has never had an issue with "crew rest", so it comes back to the airline's planning during situations.