Tag Archives for jetblue.
The JetBlue flight attendants union let crewmembers know on Thursday that the airline was planning to need fewer flight attendants starting in September as a result of schedule reducations, and that this would last at least through the winter season. Specifically they estimated that 39,000 flight attendant hours would be dropped from the schedule. As a result they’re offering leaves of absence of up to six months.
Domestic first class will reportedly be called “Mini Mint” and be introduced in 2026. It’s currently expected that they will use the Collins Aerospace MiQ seat. They won’t reduce total seats on planes, so they’ll squeeze legroom from coach to make room for first class.
JetBlue is selling summer non-stop business class from New York and Boston to Paris for less than $2,000 roundtrip.
A former secret service member and “highly decorated military veteran” says he’s lost his career because JetBlue banned him after informing flight attendants that he was (lawfully) carrying a firearm with him on his flight to Florida.
The FAA has decided that the workload in ensuring business class suite doors are in their correct position is significant. These doors generally have to be open during taxi, take-off, and landing. And that extra work means that airlines have to staff cabin crew beyond otherwise-required minimums (of 1 flight attendant per 50 seats) for planes with doors.
Basic economy matters as a way to differentiate corporate travelers (who generally pay more) from leisure customers (who are price sensitive). The old methods of Saturday night stay and 14-day advance purchase no longer hold.
But customers aren’t as stupid as airlines assume, or maybe even used to be. They compare the offerings of airlines – at the same price, nearly everyone offered better value than JetBlue. Certainly Delta – which has free wifi, too – offered better value in both New York and Boston than JetBlue’s basic fares. That hurts JetBlue, which wins only when customers go out of their way to choose them over competitors.
Dr. Oz jumped into action on a JetBlue flight from New York JFK to Los Cabos responding to a passenger’s medical emergency on Friday.
He was enroute to a wedding, and flight attendants called for anyone with medical training to assist.
JetBlue flight 1844 from Barbados to Boston diverted back to Barbados last Tuesday after the Airbus A320 (registration N586JB) experienced “so many… [reported faults that pilots] were unable to tell what is going on with the airplane.”
According to American Airlines, appealing the JetBlue partnership anti-trust verdict, “We do want to go forward with similar arrangements, obviously JetBlue is not here and cannot speak, we do.”
Pressed further about whether they really are considering this, the lawyer responds “We would seriously consider that, yes, and the injunction prevents us from doing that.”
American Airlines is still appealing the government’s win in its anti-trust suit against the Northeast Alliance between it and JetBlue – even though JetBlue abandoned the effort and moved on.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
