JetBlue update

I flew JetBlue back from Puerto Rico today. Just as at Logan Airport on Monday, the line to check a bag or check in with a human were epic and would not have been out of place in Lagos or Nairobi. A passenger with carry-on baggage might have gotten away without waiting too long except that half of the automated check-in kiosks were out of service. JetBlue says that they are implementing some new software. In the meantime, I would heartily suggest JetBlue customers plan carry-on baggage only and print boarding passes at home. Don’t ask friends to meet you at the scheduled arrival time; the flight to San Juan left an hour late and the flight back to Boston was late as well.

Once on the plane I asked the flight attendants if they were going to brief us on the use of the emergency slide. Apparently I was not the first to come up with this joke. All three of the flight attendants had worked with Steven Slater, who was finally released from jail on Tuesday evening, and described him as a great worker and “way more tolerant than we are”. How about the slide exit? “That’s been my dream for years,” one said.

[How was Puerto Rico? I stayed in a charming family-run hotel called the “Hilton” and ate authentic local cuisine at Morton’s and Chili’s. It was somewhat challenging being plunged into an exotic foreign culture in this manner, but I believe that it broadened my perspective. Adapting to life back on the mainland was difficult; dinner this evening included some broccoli and the presence of anything green on the plate was unfamiliar.]