JetBlue’s JFK Terminal 5 opens its doors

by Grant Martin on

After a few brief delays, a dry run and countless days of anticipation, JetBlue finally opened the doors of Terminal 5 at JFK today.

The building, a Gensler re-design of the old TWA behemoth, features wide open spaces, new amenities, all sorts of lovely food options and a dedicated home for the once-cramped JetBlue airlines. Blogger Jeremy Kressmann took a look through T5 earlier this fall and wrote it up for us here.

So how are things going so far? Have there been any epic fails like Heathrow’s Terminal 5 that opened up earlier this year?

Things actually seem to be moving pretty smoothly so far. JetBlue launched a liveblog (of sorts) that details some of the features and hobknobbery that’s going on during the first day activities and things seem pretty calm. Sure, you can’t trust content coming straight out of the lion’s mouth, but the blog is at least worth taking a look at for all of the fun pictures and insider looks into operations.

Later this week, our own Jerry Guo will be wandering through T5. Stay tuned to hear his take on the facilities.

Which Airlines Will Cut Flights for Thanksgiving? (And Which Won’t?)

by Josh Lew on

If you’ve ever tried to fly on or around Thanksgiving, you would be inclined to agree that it is among the busiest travel times of the year. Unfortunately, this holiday season will kick off with most airlines cutting the number of flights they offer. This will lead to fuller planes, fewer options and, of course, higher fares. According to USAToday, the combined cuts will lead to an 11% overall drop from last years flights. That’s 2.5 million fewer seats than last year’s Thanksgiving season (between the 20th and 30th of November).

The biggest cutbacks come from USAirways, which will drop its service by 40% compared to last year. Delta will cut 26% of its flights. The only two major names bucking the trend are JetBlue and Southwest. JetBlue is upping its ante by 3% by the end of the month, while Southwest is planning 15 new flights for the same period. Still, these increases are quite modest when compared to the substantial cuts in the industry. The bottom line: Thanksgiving season travelers who haven’t booked their flight yet are in for higher prices and fewer options.

JetBlue to offer “happy hour” fares in DC this afternoon

by Grant Martin on

JetBlue seems to be kicking up their marketing tactics into high gear. Just a few weeks ago the airline started selling tickets on Ebay, and coming up in the next few weeks will be sponsoring “happy hour fares” in several target cities.

According to JetBlue spokesman Morgan Johnston, the airline will be setting up a happy hour bar-eqsue setting in select locations around the cities where people can mill about and see special last minute fares that will only be available at that location. Tickets will be available on a first come first serve basis for upcoming last minute weekend fares, and as customers see fares they like published on a blackboard, they can jump on the tickets on the spot.

Whether JetBlue will dynamically adjust the price of their last minute fares based on demand is an interesting question. Depending on how many people show up to the events, they may have a hard time selling strange flights at strange times. Or maybe people will just get excited and buy anything.

The overall goal, however, is pretty clear: get a group of dedicated JetBlue customers isolated, fired up about travel and in the spending mood then throw some tickets to the fray — let the excitement of the moment overtake any reasonable doubts on prices. The same thing applied to the earlier sales on Ebay — nobody really got a good deal, but in the heat of the moment, winning an auction is much more fun than saving on tickets.

Today’s happy hour takes place in Washington DC, between 3:30 and 6:30 PM at the Reston Town Center Pavilion (11900 Market Street at the intersection of Discovery St.) Let us know how the the sales go and if it’s a good deal we’ll post more dates.

2 JetBlue pilots arrested for beating up a cabbie

by Scott Carmichael on

Oh my, the bad news about JetBlue staff just keeps piling up.

After the report of a JetBlue Flight attendant harassing a passenger, it is now 2 Jetblue pilots who are in hot water.

The 2 off-duty pilots were in a cab, making their way from an upscale Miami strip club to a local Subway sandwich shop. When they arrived at their destination, they decided that they were too important to pay the $9 cab fare.

Their refusal resulted in a fight with the cab driver, ending with him on the ground with a concussion and a broken right ankle. The incident happened last August and it is not entirely clear from the arrest report why it took the police this long to arrest the 2 pilots.

Of course, this brings me to the most important part of my article; the news reports about this attack seem a little too sensationalist to me. Does it really matter what the profession was of the 2 alleged attackers? Are there professions out there where beating up cab drivers is considered acceptable? (And yes; I realize the irony in this statement, given the fact that I am also writing about it!).

To prove my point; the web page title of the CBS4 article is called “Cabbie Killer Cab“. Nobody was killed, and I’m fairly sure these 2 pilots had no intention of killing anyone.

At the end of the article it is made clear that there is, as always, 2 sides to a story. The cab driver apparently has an anger management problem and the attorney for the pilots claims the cab driver used pepper spray before he was attacked. Whichever side of the story turns out to be true, it is a bad idea to refuse paying your local cabbie, and it is a bad idea to use pepper spray on 2 guys trying to find a tasty sandwich.

What strange things have been found on planes?


JetBlue flight attendant accused of sexually harassing a passenger

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s a sordid, wacky tale, and one that’s hard to believe, except that the person who is accused of gross behavior has admitted to part of the accusation.

Here is the scoop from what I read in this CBStv.com story. A male JetBlue flight attendant has been accused by a female passenger of sexual harassment.

She said:

  • he said he would make sure no one sat next to her so she could be all his.
  • he said that he wanted her.
  • he said that she wanted him.
  • he kept grabbing himself.
  • he tossed his open cell phone on her tray to show her naked pictures of himself .
  • he made vulgar comments to her through the bathroom door when she fled there to escape his advances.
  • he grabbed her derriere when she was heading back to her seat.

He said that:

  • he DID show her naked pictures of himself on his cell phone.
  • he DID MAKE sexual advances,

He said he DID NOT

  • grab her butt.
  • act in a harassing manner.

As a result of the woman coming forward with her accusations, the flight attendant was arrested for “obscene and indecent exposure” and for making “lewd, obscene and indecent sexual proposal.” JetBlue is still involved in the investigation of the he said/she said situation.

Even though the incident happened seven months ago, the woman said she was too scared to say something to any officials at the time of the incident. In retrospect, she admits saying something at the time of the incident would have been the best tactic.

If such a thing ever happens to you on a plane, which I would hope is a rare occurrence indeed, here is one thing I’ve thought of to say to a flight attendant (or anyone else) who is making comments you think are inappropriate:

“Sir (or Mam) you are being inappropriate. I do not like the way you are talking and behaving. If you do not stop immediately, I will notify the appropriate authorities.”

If the behavior continues, stand up, walk down the aisle to the appropriate person, tell him or her immediately what occurred. If you do not feel safe after taking action, ask for an escort after the plane lands. The woman said she did not feel safe. I’m wondering if she wasworried that he may do something rash after the plane landed. That’s why I would ask for an escort. I don’t know if you can get one, but why not ask?

There is no need to take on any bad feelings from a person who is acting like an idiot towards you.

Other troublemakers in the sky