Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Rooting for JetBlue... to do the right thing, all the time

So JetBlue's new Terminal 5 at JFK opened for business today. It looks like almost all of their planes are landing and taking off on time and those that are delayed are under an hour.

Good for JetBlue. It seems its dedication to its New York City hub is without peer.

Now if it could just devote a smidgen of that type of dedication to ALL its routes, JetBlue would be what it claims to be - a different sort of airline.

I had dinner with a friend last night who is a pilot for a charter airline. I was explaining my JetBlue ordeal in detail again and she could not, for the life of her, understand how JetBlue could cancel a flight and then make those passengers wait for three days. She said that the plane had to get back to New York at some point to fly its next route. Just get another crew, load the plane and go.

Easier said than done, apparently. I could only tell her what JetBlue told me - that the next available flight was in three days.

I told her welcome to my lawsuit. The cancellation was weather related, but the lack of crew, equipment and service in Portland, well, I contend that was all JetBlue's doing. JetBlue made a calculation that it was more profitable to screw over 150 pre-paid passengers than make arrangements to deliver what it sold to us.

I am counting on a judge reading JetBlue's "Contract of Carriage" and seeing that the cancellation and the subsequent lack of service were two different things. One is covered in the "Contract of Carriage", the other is not.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

New JetBlue terminal: Tomorrow's the big day!

After an obligatory airline-type delay and three quarter of a billion dollars later, JetBlue plans to open their new terminal at JFK tomorrow. The first flight is expected to arrive at 5:00 AM - a red-eye from Burbank.

It will be fun to see if JetBlue can actually pull this one off without stepping on its...

Anyone want to take bets on what time the flight will actually arrive?

Truth be told - I hope it goes off well and without a hitch, if for no other reason, I want the travelers on that Burbank flight to have a pleasant and uneventful flight. If they land on time or early, good for them.

If they do not, I'll be sure to document it here.

Good luck, JetBlue. Don't screw this up!!!

Oh - and I'm still suing you.

Friday, October 17, 2008

JetBlue lawsuit update: JetBlue denies liability

I received my letter from the Connecticut Small Claims court today. JetBlue officially disagrees with my claim.

A paralegal hand-wrote the following explanation, complete with inconsistent and incorrect spellings:

"JetBlue Airways Corporation is not liable per our Contract of Carriage Sections 25 and 28. Mr. Baker recieved [sic] a refund of the cancelled [sic] flights fare as well as vouchers in the amount of $229 for his inconvenience. The reason the flight was canceled [sic] was due to uncontrollable irregularity* (weather.)"

OK, there, Perry Mason. I do not know if I can navigate around that cleverly conceived legal thicket but let me try:

  1. As I have stated on this blog - yes, the cancellation was due to weather. The three day delay in getting me on another JetBlue flight was due to... what? Gremlins? Mercury in retrograde? Global warming?

    No! It was due to the fact that JetBlue didn't have the planes or the staff to fly people to New York from Portland in a reasonable amount of time AFTER the "uncontrollable irregularity." JetBlue sold me a product with a promise to fly me on a certain route on a certain day and then did not have the systems, people or equipment in place to live up to that sale.

  2. I am only suing for the difference between what it cost me to buy a ticket on another airline in order to get home, minus the amount JetBlue refunded to my credit card. JetBlue vouchers are worthless Monopoly money, since I have no intention of ever flying JetBlue again.
I have just laid out my arguments that I will use before the judge when this goes to court. I can only hope that it helps the legal-eagles at JetBlue to further hone their diabolically complex legal strategy.

And, in fact, a court date is next. According to the letter, now that JetBlue has denied liability, "... the matter will be scheduled for a trial as soon as the court schedule permits."

I can only hope that the trial is scheduled in February (say around Valentine's Day) so that JetBlue's lawyers are forced to drive up to lovely Bantam, Connecticut, in a raging blizzard.

* Is it me or does this sound like a tag line to an Ex-Lax commercial?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Answer filed in JetBlue lawsuit!

I did my daily check of the Connecticut Small Claims web site and it appears that on October 14, 2008, "Answer sent to plaintiff(s)".

Not sure what that means (I've never done this before), but when I receive that letter (I assume it will be a letter), I will post an update.

Monday, October 13, 2008

"Justice delayed is...

... par for the course when it comes to JetBlue."

I have heard nothing from JetBlue or the court in Connecticut. At this point, of course, it has nothing to do with JetBlue per se. Near as I can tell from the Connecticut court web site, JetBlue did not answer my claim and so I win by default. What happens next? Beats me. I am waiting to hear.

It just struck me slightly funny that:

1. JetBlue tried to delay me for three days.

2. JetBlue would not listen to reason. It just spouted company talking points and read from the "Contract of Carriage." (In other words - In spite of its claim to "bring humanity back to air travel", it acted not like a concerned human, but an uncaring corporation (which is what it is, but stop trying to tell everyone that you are something better. You are not.)

3. As a result of JetBlue's inhumanity to THIS man, I had to pay $1,000 and arrived home 14 hours late.

4. I sued in small claims court

5. Now I am being delayed again. Not "ha ha" funny. Just funny.

Sure, it's not JetBlue's fault that the courts move at this pace, but then again, if JetBlue had done the right thing in the first place, this blog and this lawsuit would not exist. Or if JetBlue had chosen to answer my claim instead of ignore it, this could have been adjudicated in a much more timely fashion. So I guess JetBlue IS all about delaying it customers anyway it can.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

JetBlue lawsuit update: No answer

JetBlue had until yesterday - October 1, 2008 - to answer my legal claim. According to the State of Connecticut's web site, JetBlue did not respond.

Giving JetBlue the benefit of the doubt here - maybe the court has not processed the paperwork and updated the web site.

I will wait to hear from the court as to what happens next. Stay tuned.