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Many people trying to travel out of Logan International Airport in Boston had a frustrating weekend, as they were stuck waiting in terminals for hours for delayed or canceled flights.It was a tough weekend for air travelers across the country, as WCVB managing editor Bill Sheerin said his flight out of Tampa International Airport was delayed for several hours.As of 6:50 p.m. Sunday, FlightAware reported that 108 flights coming into or departing from Logan Airport were canceled and 224 were delayed. JetBlue alone had 74 cancellations and 114 delays alone as of that time.On Saturday, FlightAware reported that Logan saw 79 total flight cancellations and 243 total delays. JetBlue accounted for 33 of those canceled flights and 131 of the delayed flights into or out of Boston on Saturday.Other major airlines with a smaller number of cancellations and delays at Logan Airport this weekend included Spirit, Southwest, American, Delta, Frontier, Alaska, and Allegiant.The number of flight cancellations and delays in Boston and across the country is leading to checked bags being separated from travelers, and therefore a luggage pileup.In some cases, people are giving up on air travel and finding alternate options to get to their destinations. NewsCenter 5’s Todd Kazakiewich spoke with four cousins from the Greater Boston area who were supposed to fly to Logan from Nashville on JetBlue, but when their flight got canceled after numerous delays, they had no choice but to rent a car and drive 17 hours back home.”We were kind of scrambling, obviously, to find other flights and everything and trying every which way to land in different cities or to try different airlines, whatever,” said Amanda Gately. “But I mean, all of the flights were just unavailable or they were like $1,500.”A spokesperson for JetBlue said the number of flight delays and cancellations are not specific to JetBlue, and that severe weather in the Southeast and multiple air traffic control delay programs have created significant impacts on the industry over the past several days.”We have unfortunately had to cancel flights this weekend, and today’s cancellations will help us reset our operation and safely move our crews and aircraft back into position,” the JetBlue spokesperson said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and we are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”According to to the Transport Workers Union of America, Ed Baklor, head of JetBlue’s Customer Care and Programs, issued a statement on March 28 that indicated the operational problems at JetBlue are being caused by flight attendants refusing to accept assignments. The union said, in a news release, that Baklor’s statement could not be further from the truth.“It’s time for JetBlue to stop playing the blame game with their flight attendants,” Gary Peterson, TWU International Vice President and Air Division Director, said in the union’s statement. “Our flight attendants showed up and kept this airline flying during the pandemic. Now it’s time for management to show up for them.” “Flight attendants are not the cause of these problems. They are the reason customers come back to JetBlue,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said in the union’s statement. “The TWU is ready to meet on these issues immediately. It is time for JetBlue to take responsibility for poor management decisions and to come to the table to negotiate real solutions that will address the real problems.”
BOSTON —
Many people trying to travel out of Logan International Airport in Boston had a frustrating weekend, as they were stuck waiting in terminals for hours for delayed or canceled flights.
It was a tough weekend for air travelers across the country, as WCVB managing editor Bill Sheerin said his flight out of Tampa International Airport was delayed for several hours.
As of 6:50 p.m. Sunday, FlightAware reported that 108 flights coming into or departing from Logan Airport were canceled and 224 were delayed. JetBlue alone had 74 cancellations and 114 delays alone as of that time.
On Saturday, FlightAware reported that Logan saw 79 total flight cancellations and 243 total delays. JetBlue accounted for 33 of those canceled flights and 131 of the delayed flights into or out of Boston on Saturday.
Other major airlines with a smaller number of cancellations and delays at Logan Airport this weekend included Spirit, Southwest, American, Delta, Frontier, Alaska, and Allegiant.
The number of flight cancellations and delays in Boston and across the country is leading to checked bags being separated from travelers, and therefore a luggage pileup.
In some cases, people are giving up on air travel and finding alternate options to get to their destinations. NewsCenter 5’s Todd Kazakiewich spoke with four cousins from the Greater Boston area who were supposed to fly to Logan from Nashville on JetBlue, but when their flight got canceled after numerous delays, they had no choice but to rent a car and drive 17 hours back home.
“We were kind of scrambling, obviously, to find other flights and everything and trying every which way to land in different cities or to try different airlines, whatever,” said Amanda Gately. “But I mean, all of the flights were just unavailable or they were like $1,500.”
A spokesperson for JetBlue said the number of flight delays and cancellations are not specific to JetBlue, and that severe weather in the Southeast and multiple air traffic control delay programs have created significant impacts on the industry over the past several days.
“We have unfortunately had to cancel flights this weekend, and today’s cancellations will help us reset our operation and safely move our crews and aircraft back into position,” the JetBlue spokesperson said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and we are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”
According to to the Transport Workers Union of America, Ed Baklor, head of JetBlue’s Customer Care and Programs, issued a statement on March 28 that indicated the operational problems at JetBlue are being caused by flight attendants refusing to accept assignments. The union said, in a news release, that Baklor’s statement could not be further from the truth.
“It’s time for JetBlue to stop playing the blame game with their flight attendants,” Gary Peterson, TWU International Vice President and Air Division Director, said in the union’s statement. “Our flight attendants showed up and kept this airline flying during the pandemic. Now it’s time for management to show up for them.”
“Flight attendants are not the cause of these problems. They are the reason customers come back to JetBlue,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said in the union’s statement. “The TWU is ready to meet on these issues immediately. It is time for JetBlue to take responsibility for poor management decisions and to come to the table to negotiate real solutions that will address the real problems.”