Hurry Up and Wait

Since December I have flown enough number of times to know the drill. You get to the airport early so that you can get through the check in and security screening and be at the gate well before the departure time so that you don't have to stress. While the majority of people do do that, there are still those select few that prefer to have to run (and I do mean run) from the entrance of the airport to the gate (which will always be the farthest away in such cases) just to be a procrastinator. But we're not talking about the late-comers in this blog, instead, we're talking about having to hurry up and get there on time only to end up waiting for a few more hours. In the case of the JetBlue passengers stuck in the midwest last week, that waiting ended up being anywhere from eight to ten hours in a stuffy airline.

I love to travel by air and I love the whole experience of being on an airplane. I grant you that it's not for everyone, but it can be an enjoyable experience. Up until this past week, JetBlue had been one of the favorite airlines of a lot of travellers. My brother flew JetBlue a number of times on his way to and from California and often spoke of their service with an air of respect. To hear him tell it, he expects airlines to treat him more or less like sheep these days, but even a little bit of nicety means that they are doing a little more than expected. Unfortunately, they never seem to have anticipated snow and ice and the effect it could have on their travel plans.

A large part of the reason behind why the airline suffered so much last week was the fact that despite the deteriorating conditions, the airline continued to proclaim that they would have their departures delayed but not cancelled. Expectations for snow were even higher than they were here in DC but still, JetBlue continued to declare that they would fly as expected. Here in Washington we had delays and eventually cancellations. In fact, some airlines cancelled their flights for the next day as well because they knew that conditions would be bad. People complained about this and their angry faces filled the airwaves, but I'm sure they may have softened just a tad when they saw what happened when an airline decided to fly in the face of falling snow and ice.

To say that it's the fault of the pilot and crew is only assigning half the blame. I'm sure the pilot and crew would rather have been back at home sitting with a hot cup of cocoa rather than sitting in ice and snow, waiting to take a bumpy flight off to some other destination. While we passengers often enjoy a nice comfy hotel, aircrews don't get exactly the same treatment. They will have good accomodations, but it's not always exactly like a vacation. So I think it's safe to say that they didn't want to be flying either. The pressure comes from the airline itself in wanting to meet customer expectations. Prior to this debacle, the service and success of JetBlue was something to be lauded. Now it is mocked.

I'm sure the passengers and even the crew arrived much ahead of time in the hope of getting out of the region quickly but the airport is a big thing. You've got crews clearing the runways and jetways; you've got to de-ice the plane (you won't want to take off with ice caked on your wings an windshield... it's ten times worse than in a car) and you've got to keep up with air traffic control. When you sit on the ground you stil continue to burn fuel because the engines continue to run. If you've pushed back from the gate you can't 'plug in' to the airport power supply so you're basically between a rock and a hard place.

I'm not trying to exonerate the crew and airline from any wrong doing. To be stuck on a plane for ten hours is no joy. But being stuck on one for longer than the actual flight would have taken is an annoyance and point to get angry about. Compound that with the fact that there's no food on these airlines that you can get for free, you can then see why people are getting aggravated and upset. Thankfully no air marshals had to get involved in crowd control and riot control. Air travel was almost like taking the bus a few years ago. These days it's becoming more like the Department of Motor Vehicles.