Feb 17, 2007 7:00 am US/Eastern
Another Day, More JetBlue Cancellations At JFK
Hundreds Of Passengers Continue To Struggle To Get Out
by Pablo Guzmán
QUEENS (CBS) ―
For JetBlue passengers, Friday was another day of utter frustration. The airline is still struggling to recover from an operational meltdown during Wednesday's ice storm.
Although a lot of work has gone into trying to make things more or less normal, JetBlue said it still had to cancel 85 of its 570 flights on Friday.
CBS 2 spoke with frustrated passengers who are still grounded.
The black eye JetBlue in particular has to deal with in the aftermath of everything since Wednesday's storm is in the thousands of stories from so many people who feel burned.
Judith Gunzer, for instance, never left JFK Wednesday fro Fort Myers, Fla., but her luggage did, with her medicine. She's a diabetic with a heart condition.
"I have been calling since (Thursday) morning and you can't get through," Gunzer said.
What Gunzer has been getting from JetBlue is a prerecorded message that says the company's voicemail is full.
Someone who knows what's going on, but from another angle -- an air traffic controller -- said Friday all those planes going nowhere is not just the airline's fault, but also the FAA's for not slowing flights down.
"Consequently, when you have the weather, they need to slow it down," said Barrett Byrnes, a controller at Kennedy Airport.
By the way, listen to what passengers were told inside the plane.
"We sat on the plane for 2 1/2 hours and they said they couldn't find the pilot," Gunzer said.
CBS 2 passed Gunzer's information to a representative from JetBlue, who said the company would try to find her luggage.
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