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02/26/2007: "Feeling Blue, Part Two"

There's another big storm about to roll into New York - what's this, two or three in the last month? The news this time isn't the storm, though, but rather the reaction to it's impending arrival. You remember the last one, right - the Big Valentine's Day Storm of '07? It wiped out pretty much all movement on the East Coast. No one was hit - or hurt - as hard as as air carrier JetBlue who, though a series of missteps, was left with thousands of passengers stranded in terminals and on tarmacs. I think there might still be a few lost souls wandering aimlessly through their terminal at JFK.

In the wake of the last storm, JetBlue announced its Passenger Bill of Rights, intended to assuage irritated passengers with travel vouchers for future flights. Now, with another storm bearing down and threatening to swamp an overworked logistics staff, JetBlue is taking no chances. They preemptorily cancelled 40% of their flights into JFK for today, and some flights using other East Coast airports as well. Passengers are given the opportunity to rebook later in the week with no penalty.

JetBlue is doubtless feeling the heat, and is desperate to avoid the PR nightmare they faced after the last blizzard. I'm not sure this is the right answer, but I understand their reaction. The cynic in me wonders, though, if this wasn't done simply to avoid the payouts of their new BoR ...