Mar 16, 2007 4:40 pm US/Eastern
Update: JetBlue Grounds 400 Flights Due To Storm
American, Northwest Also Cancel Some Flights
NEWARK (CBS/AP) ―
JetBlue on Friday canceled nearly three-fourths of all scheduled flights across the country -- most in the New York area -- because of a winter storm on the East Coast.
Aiming to avoid criticism that followed a storm last month, the discount airline had canceled about 400 of its 550 flights by mid-afternoon. Included in that total were about 160 flights out of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport; 14 out of Newark Liberty International Airport; and seven out of LaGuardia Airport, said JetBlue spokesman Todd Burke.
"It's a strategic move to cancel your flights in advance to help you position aircraft and crews for a quick recovery when the storm is over," he said. "Our plan is working beautifully."
He said most of the customers in the New York area were notified of the cancellations in advance, except for Newark.
"Newark is an unusual circumstance where we had last-minute cancellations," he said. "The vast majority of flights that are canceled were notified well in advance."
Overall, about 1,000 flights at the three New York area airports were canceled by mid-afternoon, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports.
He said the Port Authority deployed extra customer service agents to Newark to assist passengers with their canceled JetBlue and other flights. Many customers there, though, fumed as they tried to rebook tickets.
Karen Opdyke, her husband, three young children and mother were trying to get to Miami after their 9 a.m. flight was canceled.
"We got on the plane, we got off the plane. We got on the plane and off the plane," said Opdyke, 48, sitting in the terminal mid-afternoon as she tried rebook on another airline by cell phone. "We have a cruise that is going to leave without us at 4 p.m."
As she balanced a crying child next to a pile of luggage, she said she couldn't book another flight and JetBlue agents were not able to help them book on another airline.
"There's nothing available all week," Opdyke said.
Other JetBlue passengers at Newark said they had not been notified of the cancellations, or were sent e-mails shortly before their planes were due to depart.
Michelle Spellman, 36, said her 2 p.m. flight to Fort Meyers had been canceled, and she found out when her husband received an e-mail at about 1:45 p.m. at their home in Florida.
"I'm not happy," she said, waiting on line. "We'll have to pay more money and fly out on a different airline."
Another customer trying to get to Fort Meyers, Elly Portsmore, said she had rebooked for Sunday and praised the airline for its efforts.
"They gave it their best shot," she said.
Other airlines also reported cancellations.
Continental Airlines -- Newark's largest carrier -- canceled 175 departures, or nearly half its normal schedule, said spokeswoman Julie King. It also scrapped about 75 other flights at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports in New York.
The weather forced American Airlines to cancel 265 flights, mostly in the Northeast, including at least 115 at the three metropolitan airports, spokesman Tim Wagner said.
United Airlines had 185 weather-related cancellations around the nation by midday, spokesman Jeff Kovick said. The airline does not give figures for specific airports.
Delta Air Lines canceled nine of its 11 departures at Newark Liberty.
JetBlue said it will waive its rebooking fees and any fare differences to allow customers with reservations for March 15 to 18 through Northeast area airports to rebook for travel between March 20 and April 30.
JetBlue has been under pressure to do better in bad weather since passengers were stranded in planes at Kennedy for up to 10 1/2 hours during a storm last month. JetBlue was unable to resume normal operations for days afterward because flight crews weren't where they were supposed to be.
New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. normally operates about 600 flights a day to various destinations in the United States, Bermuda and the Caribbean.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
