Results tagged “jetblue”

According to the Post, two JetBlue flights had issues after take-off from JFK Airport last week, requiring both to return to the airport. On Monday, "smoke seeped into the cabin of JetBlue Flight 654, which was bound for Rochester, NY, and carrying 40 passengers, just after takeoff." The pilot told air-traffic control, "We need to return immediately. We have some smoke in the cabin," before "briefly" losing contact but ultimately made it back safe. The FAA found no cause for the smoke. Then on Friday, "an electrical smell filled JetBlue Flight 63, bound for Tampa and carrying 63 passengers, just after it took off"; the plane managed to land safely. And a JetBlue flight landed in Bahamas on Thursday just as a fire was spotted on the left wing. The Post says all planes were the Embraer 1910 model and have been taken out of service as JetBlue investigates.

Having gotten his drink on while waiting for his Jet Blue flight to Mardi Gras in New Orleans in February, Paul Henry Boritzer was in a totally festive mood when he finally boarded the plane. But then the flight attendants had to go and harsh his vibe because he was strolling about the cabin "in a loud and disruptive behavior" ten minutes before take-off. When a flight attendant asked that he return to his seat, he told her he didn't have to follow her rules, because he was a federal air marshal and a U.S. Airway pilot. Lying about that stuff is a no-no, and after the attendant insisted he sit down, Boritzer called her a bitch and asked, "Who do you think you are?" Boritzer remained disruptive throughout the flight, and, according to the Justice Department, threatened a flight attendant who denied him more booze. Needless to say, he didn't make it to Mardi Gras; he was arrested upon arrival and a jury yesterday found him guilty of interfering with a flight crew and impersonating a Federal air marshal. Boritzer will be sentenced in December, and could face a 29 year prison term, a $1 million fine, and the indignity of Will Ferrell portraying him in a movie adaptation.

JetBlue's T5 still has that new terminal smell to it, and it just keeps getting better. On top being so pretty, the airline has now teamed up with some music and marketing folks to bring their Live from T5 event to travelers. The six-month, 12-date live music concert series at their JFK outpost "takes place on select Fridays throughout the year, will feature hand-picked emerging artists from around the U.S. as well as bands chosen based on public votes in a national online competition." The series kicks off tomorrow with Nicole Atkins, and other upcoming acts include Alberta Cross and Justin Townes Earle. Maybe on-air live performances are next?

Will JetBlue take off for another city or state? Last month, it was reported that airline carrier JetBlue might move its headquarters from Queens because its lease is up in 2012. Now, the Daily News learns, "City officials are racing to come up with incentives to persuade JetBlue not to fly the coop." Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) says, "They are serious about leaving," and that the one way the city could sweeten the deal is by helping to "finance the construction of a new JetBlue building near Kennedy Airport," where JetBlue operates out of the renovated Terminal 5. The airline, which has 800 employees in its Forest Hills offices, says, "We're continuing to look at several options both here in the New York-metro area and outside of New York City." Apparently the city's deadline for an offer is Tuesday.

An NYPD sergeant may have been catching up on Law & Order reruns via DirecTV while a real life crime was being committed on her at the Terminal 5 baggage check. A JetBlue baggage handler has been arrested for breaking into a suitcase and stealing the gun of the sergeant, who was on her way from New York to Orlando on th emorning of April 22. After first breaking into the sergeant's suitcase, 21-year-old Tamarcus Hines then was able to open a locked gun box within it, taking an unloaded 9mm handgun, ammunition and a gun holster. When the sergeant noticed her bag had been tampered with and weapon missing upon arrival, police were able to connect the crime to the baggage handler. Hines admitted to the theft and led cops to a Queens sewer where he had tossed the gun. Queens DA Richard Brown said yesterday, “It is upsetting that a passenger who buys an airline ticket and lawfully checks her luggage...has been subjected to having her belongings stolen. This case is, however, especially egregious in that the defendant is alleged to have brazenly stolen a 9mm handgun that had been properly secured by its owner, a sergeant with the New York City Police Department.”

Jet Blue is searching for a new home base. The lease on their corporate headquarters in Forest Hills expires in 2012; the company, which launched in NYC in 1999, employs some 400 employees at the location. According to NY1, the discount airline began searching last week for new locations in the New York metro area and beyond. A Jet Blue spokesman tells the St. Petersburg Times that the airline wants to consolidate its Queens headquarters with its departments in Long Island and Connecticut into a single location. But he insists they'll continue to have a significant presence the Big Apple because their largest base of operations is at JFK. Bids are currently being solicited by the airline, which could relocate even before the lease on their headquarters expires in 2012.

A 21-year-old JetBlue baggage handler apparently dozed off in a plane's cargo bin at JFK Airport— and then found himself stuck inside while the plane was in transit. The Daily News says that Sidney Nurse called JetBlue (from the plane) about being stuck, but had wait to after the plane landed 200 miles north at Logan Airport in Boston until he was rescued. And luckily the plane's cargo hold is pressurized—Nurse was relatively unscathed. Still, the Massachusetts State Police said, "Even after talking to him, we were a little uncertain as to how it happened. This may have been accidental." JetBlue is investigating the Saturday incident; Nurse returned home—in a passenger seat—on another flight.

Gina Rousett of New Jersey says a Jet Blue flight attendant was way too attentive on her flight back to Newark from Fort Lauderdale. The incident happened over seven months ago and led to the arrest of Dayne Arokium and his termination from the airline, but Rousett's just now telling her creepy story to CBS2. After some friendly chitchat during boarding, Rousett says Arokium told her "he was going to have nobody sit next to me because I was all his...He kept telling me that he wanted me. At one point he said, 'You know you want me,' and [he was] always grabbing himself, all the time." When those moves failed to romance Rousett, the amorous attendant showed her a naked photo of himself on his cell phone. Arokium admits showing her the photo, but denies grabbing Rousett's butt or "acting in a harassing manner."

The alert about a "suspicious package" at JFK Airport said there were hand grenades in a piece of luggage. The JetBlue terminal was evacuated, only for the grenades to turn out to be World War II grenade replica paperweights. Next time, mail them! JetBlue is having an opening ceremony for its new Terminal 5 today. And yesterday, a Newark Airport terminal was evacuated after many "false positives" on a suspicious bag, which was eventually deemed safe.

JetBlue may be charging you for pillows and blankets, but it will be auctioning over 300 roundtrip tickets and some vacation packages this week. According to the AP, the opening bids start between 5 and 10 cents: "The flights are to more than 20 destinations, including four 'mystery' JetBlue Getaways Vacation packages to undisclosed locations." There are specific ranges of dates when people can travel and taxes and other fees are not included. A finance professor at Northeastern University, Henry Platt, thinks that the winning bids will probably end up being 85-90% of the flight or package's actual value. You can check out JetBlue's store on eBay here.

Remember the lady who tried to argue her way onto a plane last April by bringing up her already checked bags: "What if I had a bomb in my bag? Well, I have a bomb in my bag, so are you guys going to turn the plane around cuz I need my bag" Well, Rosalinda Baez ended up paying JetBlue $23,000 for the plane's emergency landing (they had to be safe, of course). And though the fake bomb charges were dropped, business consultant Baez pleaded guilty to pot possession--there was a "very small quantity of marijuana residue" on her. The Post adds that she "glared at the prosecutor and rolled her eyes repeatedly during yesterday's plea" and could face up to 6 months at sentencing.

Jet Blue invited a thousand people out to JFK yesterday to play pretend passengers on ten mock flights they staged at the $743 million terminal that they'll open in October. Passengers in Terminal 5 got to sample sushi and French cuisine from some of the upscale restaurants that will be a part of the terminal in the fall. Jet Blue assigned each of the volunteers an identity and travel itinerary. Carol Weinberg, aka "Mrs. Cattest," was excited that she and her husband were "flying" to Las Vegas because they had never been. "It's on our bucket list," she said. The volunteers did not leave empty handed as Jet Blue sent them home with (actual real) duffel bags with JetBlue mementos like playing cards, luggage tags and baseball caps.

As if you needed any more reasons to choose Jet Blue over other airlines, Grub Street got their hands on renderings for the dining and drinking areas of the airline's renovated Terminal 5 at JFK airport, scheduled to reopen October 1st. While it does give one pause that the design is being done by ICRAVE, the same firm that unleashed Crobar upon our fair city, their vision is certainly a cut above most airport dead zones. Seen here is the rendering of the Deep Blue bar and Asian fusion joint, which doesn't seem like such a bad place to sit out an interminable flight delay.

Larry King has two interesting guests tonight: The main guest is JetBlue CEO Dave Barger, who will discuss his airline's changes as higher costs hit the airline industry. And more humorously, writer-director Adam McKay will also be on, to discuss the Paris Hilton response ad on Funny or Die. The ad was shot in the Hamptons--and Paris apparently memorized the entire script!

JetBlue has announced it will now charge $7 for a pillow and blanket on its flights--and the customers gets to keep them. While the few recent JetBlue passengers we spoke to didn't recall pillows or blankets being offered on their flights, JetBlue asserts it's an environment-conscious and health-conscious move, instead of recycling old pillows and blankies. The soften the blow, JetBlue is also offering a $5 coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond so you can buy more stuff. Otherwise, bring a sweatshirt. And to recap: US Airways started charging $2 for soda, while Delta doubled the 2nd checked bag fee to $50 (the first bag is free)

The Queens woman who is accused of verbally abusing and punching Jet Blue flight attendants during a flight from NYC to San Francisco was released on bail yesterday. Christina Szele was allegedly drunk and caught the crew's--and fellow passengers'--attention when she lit a cigarette on the plan. She had been in a Denver jail for the past week and a half; 1010 WINS reported, "The magistrate who set her bail ordered her not to travel on planes or drink alcohol."

Get this woman a reality TV show! Christina Szele of Woodside, Queens created such a disturbance during a Jet Blue flight from JFK airport to San Francisco that pilots diverted the plane and landed in Denver, where federal authorities took her into custody. According to an affidavit obtained by the Smoking Gun, things started to go sideways after a flight attendant noticed Szele waiting on line for the bathroom with a book of matches and a cigarette, which were promptly seized.

If this is what a Jet Blue "buddy pass" is, we totally pass. An Inwood resident is suing the Queens-based airline or $2 million, claiming a pilot made him sit on the plan's toilet for three hours during a flight from San Diego to New York earlier this year.

A business consultant is accused of "falsely claiming there was a bomb in her suitcase" after she was unable to get onto her JetBlue flight at JFK Airport last week.

After January hype - which resulted in rain - and a brief moment of snow last week, a winter snow storm finally made an appearance this year. Two weather disturbances resulted in many inches of snow falling in the region: By 2PM, more than 6 inches fell in the city, which is the biggest snowfall in two years and the biggest daily snowfall on the books (old record: 5.7 inches in 1948).

Workers are almost done dismantling the 317 feet long, 23 feet wide stained-glass exterior to the American Airlines’ vacant Terminal 8 building. The red, blue and white wall, comprised of 900 panes of glass, was designed by artist Robert Sowers and was completed in 1960; at the time it was the world’s largest stained-glass window and the first to heavily incorporate stained glass in a secular building, an aesthetic that soon became fashionable.

Jaunted took a jaunt over to the new Terminal 5 (not the music venue) at JFK. The terminal, with design by Gensler, will house JetBlue and is set to open in September of this year.

While it may be beautiful now, yesterday's weather was awful enough to cause some holiday travel headaches for those flying out of area airports. Winds were gusting up to 47 MPH, and travelers arriving at LaGuardia had two hour delays, which wasn't bad considering arrivals at Kennedy and Newark had delays of four to four-and-a-half hours.

In spite of the reports, hypes and fears, there actually wasn't much snowfall in the city yesterday - just about an inch - though we did see some sleet that quickly melted. The suburbs got a few inches of snow, while much of the accumulation was in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Waiting for the 1, by jschumacher on Flickr

When it comes to driving routes for a JFK airport pickup, George Costanza advocates taking the Grand Central to the Van Wyck, deriding Kramer’s L.I.E. route as a “suicide mission.” In the current New York Magazine cover story, “How to Escape Airport Hell”, the editors invited chauffeur Kevin Sullivan to weigh in. While he comes down squarely on Costanza’s side, he also shares some invaluable alternative routes to all three airports in the unlikely...

New York City was amply represented during last night's National Design Awards at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

A new plan adopted by the FAA yesterday hopes to decrease delays in airports around the nation by 20%. The focus of the plan is on airports in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelpha, where delays can cause a ripple effect on the rest of the nation's air traffic. The Airspace Redesign Project, as the FAA is calling it, is supposed to modernize the systems in the affected airports (Newark, JFK, LaGuardia, and Philadelphia International) and help prepare for the future. Additionally, the FAA says that the project will reduce noise levels for more than 600,000 people, and reduce fuel burn and emissions by 20% by 2011.

Air Traffic Control 2: "Jeez."