A baby was born on board JetBlue’s 10 p.m. San Juan – For Lauderdale flight Saturday night. Flight 1954 was operated by an Airbus A320, registration N523JB, which is named “Born to Be Blue.” And so that happened.

Flight tracking sites show a different aircraft on the route, suggesting this plane would have been a last minute swap. It was kismet.

The airline suggests this is the first time a baby was born on one of their flights. They describe the newborn as ‘their youngest customer’. Here’s video from the cabin:

JetBlue says they’ll rename the plane for the baby (we’ll see if that happens) and promises other gifts to come, although they weren’t specific. In contrast when a baby was born on a Jetstar flight the mom named her child after the airline.

Giving storks a day off. With mom’s okay, we’d like to rename “Born To Be Blue” after our newest baby blue and our youngest customer ever. More baby shower gifts to come! #AirBorn https://t.co/h7tQRY0lwn

— JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) February 16, 2019

So what’s customary here? Cebu Pacific gave one million frequent flyer miles. Jazeera Airways gave free flights until age 18. On Saudia the family got a single free trip.

In some sense the mother ought to be compensating the airline in cases where there’s a diversion. That didn’t happen to the JetBlue flight.

Giving birth inflight isn’t a regular occurrence but happens more often than you’d expect, sometimes because the mother travels past 36 or 38 weeks, sometimes because she delivers early, and sometimes because she didn’t even know she was pregnant.

It’s happened on Southwest. It’s happened on American, though most recently their pilot got the plane on the ground in Dublin prior to delivery (luck of the Irish!). It’s happened on Air Canada, where the woman was taken by surprise that she was carrying a child.