Jan. 06--JetBlue Airways is reducing operations at Boston's Logan International Airport, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark from 1 p.m. today through 10 a.m. tomorrow, as the airline struggles to cope with fallout from last week's storm and the frigid temperatures forecast to spread back across the Northeast tomorrow.
More than 3,000 flights across the industry have been cancelled today, and roughly 300 of those will be JetBlue's, the airline said in a post on its BlueTales blog (http://blog.jetblue.com/)/.
The airline said it will gradually ramp up tomorrow morning starting at 10 and intends to be "100 percent operational" by 3 p.m.
"This plan allows for 17 hours of rest for crew, and time for tech ops to service the aircraft," the airline said.
A winter storm shut down the world's heaviest trafficked air corridor during one of the heaviest travel periods of the year at the start of the new year -- and icing conditions over the weekend caused more ground stops at airports.
"We're watching a polar vortex wreak havoc on flight schedules across the industry, as rainy weather prepares to turn airports in the Northeast into ice rinks once again," the airline said. "These industry wide cancelations, on top of the previous days' cancelations, have now left millions of air travelers displaced, struggling to find any available seat to get to their destinations. With planes already full with previously booked holiday travelers, remaining seats are quickly filled...and some customers aren't seeing available seats for nearly a week."
JetBlue is waiving its change/cancel fees and fare differences for customers traveling Jan. 2 through tomorrow to and from Boston and a string of other cities. Passengers whose flights have been canceled can rebook their travel or request an online refund at https://book.jetblue.com/B6.myb/landing.html. More information on current travel alerts and fee waivers can be found at http://www.jetblue.com/JetblueAlerts/WeatherUpdate.aspx?intcmp=global_travelalert.
"While we have to reduce operations in our Northeast cities today, we'll take the opportunity to use some those planes and crews for extra sections between cities where they're most needed and move crews in preparation for starting back up on Tuesday," the airline said.
The wait is causing a lot of angst at the airport.
Kriti Paudel, 28, of Texas, wasn't given a reason for JetBlue canceling her family's flight today and hopes to fly out tomorrow, but adds "they're not even sure about that, its completely frustrating and we are so tired and I'm back to work tomorrow"
Theresa Blakely, 74, said she is trying to fly back to Raleigh, N.C., but has been at the airport since Saturday morning, has had her flight canceled three times.
"It's not a pretty picture," Blakely said. "I don't even know what day it is."
Paul Corcoran, 70, from Cape Cod, said: "I think I'm taking this well." Paul has had three flights canceled trying to get to the Bahamas. He told the Herald he was given a voucher for a hotel room and a meal, but is stranded for tonight with no hotel and no flight.
"It's just a disaster but I haven't yelled at anyone yet," he added. "It's not these agents fault, its nationwide, no animosity towards these people."
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