National Travel Woes - Jet Blue Airline Flight Problems

The past week, much loved and appreciated Jet Blue Airlines ran into a rough time with their customers when bad winter weather caused many of their flights to be canceled. To make matters worse, some Jet Blue passengers were stuck inside grounded airplanes for over twelve hours while at the same time being able to see empty departure gates right outside their windows. While most people expect bad service from public airlines, Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines are usually the exception to that rule.

Airline companies and passengers have seen a sharp decrease in the amount of money paid for seats on airlines since the industry was deregulated several decades ago. However, along with lower ticket prices have come a mark decrease in customer service by most major carriers and the idea of departing many major airports on-time is nothing more than a pipe dream in many large metropolitan areas.

The best flight I was ever privileged to take was on Delta several years ago. That flight was between DFW and Reno, Nevada. We had to rent a car in Reno to finish our vacation to the Lake Tahoe area on the Nevada side of the border. This Delta flight was filled with helpful and courteous employees both on the ground, at the airport, and on the plane during our trip. The thing I remember most about traveling on Delta Airlines was that they allow us to receive free earphones and watch reruns of “Frasier” on the flight both to Reno and on our return flight back to DFW.

When most people purchase a ticket on a major airline their first thought usually revolves around the time the flight leaves the airport and when it arrives on the other end. However, in the back of most passenger’s minds are the safety aspects of the plane and the experience level of the pilots that will literally have the lives of everyone on board in their hands during the flight. While most people never outwardly speak of safety issues, ever since 911 only a fool would board a major airliner without having safety as a consideration in their travel planing.

Just like the price of gas has effected the travel plans of people in their cars. Increasing jet fuel prices have caused the major US airlines to readjust their fairs on a regular basis depending on how much it costs to get these huge planes in the air. On major highways there is overcrowding, reckless drivers and ongoing construction work making travel a nightmare in many parts of the US and those problems are worse on major Interstate Highways like I-35. Interstate 35 runs through the middle of Texas between the DFW, Austin and San Antonio areas and this major Interstate Highway is also overcrowded most of the time because of large truck traffic from Mexico.

I believe Jet Blue will be able to recover customer confidence with their new “customer bill of rights” and most likely now other major air carrier will be force to also address the concerns of their customers with their own bill of rights. While I don’t fly as much as I use to, I do travel major highways like I-35 on a regular basis. There are no real solutions to the growing problems associated with travel and the best thing anyone can do whether they are flying between cities or driving a major interstate highway is to leave as early as possible and expect long delays.

Read more about Travel Problems:

Late Night Drunks
Labor Day Deaths
Slow Air Travel
Traveling With Pets
Vacation Travel Costs