JetBlue flight 882 from St. Lucia to New York JFK couldn’t operate on Friday due to a birdstrike. The airlnie delayed the flight until 11 a.m. on Saturday, but it telling passengers stuck overnight in the Caribbean that the airline will not provide hotel rooms.
@JetBlue Flight 882 from St. Lucia to JFK was canceled after a bird strike damaged the left engine. After hours of delay, JetBlue is now refusing hotel accommodations for passengers rebooked on an 11 AM flight tomorrow, while the airport is putting us out. This is unacceptable.
— Monkey Interlect (@MonkeyInterlect) May 8, 2026
JetBlue confirms – a birdstrike is not a ‘controllable’ cause of a delay or cancellation. JetBlue did not cause the problem, so JetBlue has no obligation to cover passenger costs.
We know flight disruptions are challenging. Please know this is considered uncontrollable situation. If you purchased travel insurance or have a travel credit card, we'll be able to provide proof of disruption for your claim. We appreciate your understanding.
— JetBlue (@JetBlue) May 8, 2026
Legally, JetBlue is correct! A birdstrike is not a mechanical issue, in the sense that JetBlue failed to properly maintain their plane. If crew time out after a birdstrike, that’s not a workforce planning issue, it is a situation that arose because birds hit the plane’s engine.
And in fact, even European airlines don’t have to compensate passengers for delays after a birdstrike under EU261 according to the European Court of Justice. Still this feels wrong, doesn’t it?
- The passenger bought a ticket for travel on JetBlue
- JetBlue did not fulfill its obligation
- Passengers are stuck in a foreign country overnight
JetBlue’s advice, though, is correct. If you purchased travel insurance, or paid with a credit card that offers trip delay coverage, you may still get the room paid for. And as I often remind you, in some circumstances airlines commit to providing a hotel but they’ve never specified the quality of that hotel. It’s often places you would not want to sleep.
And remember, they’re trying to forestall bankruptcy. They led the way in raising bag fees. You don’t think they’re going to go out of their way to spend any money on customers they aren’t absolutely required to?
If it’s a bird strike, shouldn’t the passengers take it up with the bird union?
Sue the Bird.
Aw, the poor Noo Yawkers got stuck in the Caribbean. My heart bleeds.
At least it wasn’t because the hotels said they didn’t pay their bill. I saw that happen over at JFK. The overnight passenger has to pay for her own room because the hotel said Jetblue owed them money
It feels wrong, sure. But was my carrier supposed to get me a hotel room in Florida because they cancelled my flight when all flights into the Northeast were cancelled a few months ago because of a huge snowstorm? Of course not.
Sometimes things happen when you travel thousands of miles from where you live. If this is your only vacation of the year or something, I certainly have sympathy, but yet, you have to be prepared for the unexpected.
If you live in St. Lucia, you just went home, right? The entire island takes like 1.5 hours to drive.
If you were a tourist – you should always budget for unforeseen expenses / have some level of travel insurance / have a premium credit card that provides travel delay insurance of $500/pp for delays of 6 hours or more. I fully expect that there will be a few days each year that something will happen and I’ll be paying for a hotel. Stay where you want to stay first, submit claims later.
I enjoyed my two extra days in Florida. Enjoy your extra night in St. Lucia (get out the violins…) and move on.
European airlines would be required to provide hotel accommodation under the EC261 right to care provisions. You’re right that they don’t have to provide financial compensation for delays outside of the airline’s control, but the right to care provisions (lodging and food) apply regardless of cause.
“remember, they’re trying to forestall bankruptcy”
So do any airlines commit to providing a hotel in this situation, or is this a non-sequiteur?
Although early May is shoulder season and most hotels won’t likely be full, St. Lucia is a tough place to be stranded on a Saturday. Happened to me once, and although I don’t recall the reason for the cancellation, with some kicking and screaming I got AA to cover a block of rooms at the (then new) Hilton resort in Soufriere (now Sugar Beach), an hour away from Hewanorra Airport. There are very few rooms on the south end of the island where the airport is located; most are 75+ minutes away on the north end.
Yeah, this is probably an ‘extraordinary circumstance’… that said, far better than Jeju…
@Denver Refugee — Zing!!
@MGHOW — Got’em!!
yep always travel with insurance… also there’s not a lot of airport hotels that jet blue could have put people up anyway they were probably already full, just saying
@Ben
Aren’t ALL airlines trying to forestall bankruptcy?
Not being bankrupt is sort of the definition of “remaining in business.”
“the airlnie”……”but it telling passengers”…..
Happy Friday Gary!
CHEERS!!!!!
@jd — Bingo. Even then, read the fine-print, because policies often limit claims to like $300/day for hotels, so it’s not like you can splurge on the Four Seasons…
Sometimes scat happens. No lying took place. I would be bummed but I wouldn’t blame the airline.
I don’t see how anyone can reasonably expect the airline to pay for a hotel after a birdstrike. It is absolutely not a situation they can control. Any responsible traveler will have travel insurance or be prepared to provide for themselves just as they would if they were on a roadtrip and got a flat tire.
Was just in St Lucia a month or so ago. You’re going to have a fun time finding a hotel or a way to get to a hotel from that airport. You’d probably spend most of the day arranging that and then you’d have to turn around and find a ride back the next day. Maybe just sleep out on the beach. It’s a tropical island after all
There are a bunch of idiots commenting. Anyhow, JetBlue should have put the passengers up for the night if only to avoid bad publicity. It was also the right thing to do. The airline does not need bad publicity now as it is struggling to stay in operation.
If Rule 240 was still in use, the passengers would (probably) not be entitled to any compensation. The incident was a “force majeure” or “act of god”. Weather is the same thing…an act of god. The incident was not a direct fault of the airline as would a maintenance issue, lack of flight and cabin crew, etc. That’s why passengers should use a credit card with trip cancellation/interruption insurance. If the airline chose to reimburse or pay for the inconvenience, it would be a nice gesture.
Once was stranded in Paris for 2 extra days due to snow at EWR. Two years later we were stuck in Madrid for 2 extra days for the same reason. Amex travel insurance helped cover the bills. Travel with insurance.
@MGHOW
She’s retired now. Doesn’t have the big bucks anymore.
Legal requirement or not, there used to be a time when companies actually valued customer service. American capitalism sucks. It really is time for a revolution, and a constitution that puts people first, and where people have more rights than corporations.
@TCS — “There are a bunch of idiots commenting.” The lady doth protest too much, me thinks…
Airline scum doing whst airline scum does. Why don’t they have a spare plane handy? A service was paid for. It was not delivered.
Not funny if you have never been stranded there. We were in January for FIVE DAYS. !! And no one gave a damn. Especially not the american airlines. AND NO. reimbursement whatsoever because they said it was an Act of War! They had closed the Air Space during the conflict with the US. And instead of adding more flights to get people home they cut them down the beginning of of Jan.
There were 9 of us and eventually had to split up in .3 groups to get home. Had to change resorts twice. The Marriot was filthy. Ran out of food and just horrible service with the addition of cockroaches‼️. Our original resort was Coconut Bay and it was great but we couldnt stay after being stranded . They were booked. Never again to the Caribbean ‼️‼️ Have not submitted this before
What are you talking about? Airlines don’t pay for hotels if there is a flight cancelled at the passenger’s point of origin.
“birdstrike” sounds like a very convenient excuse, doesn’t it? where’s the proof?
@katja — *bird blood and guts*