JetBlue Blog

For the third straight year, we’ve brought together some of the biggest, sassiest names in aviation to judge this year’s BlueCity birthday cakes. Meet the panel and read their reviews of this year’s best homemade cakes below.

THE PANEL

Brett, Henry, and Benet

Brett Snyder, better known as Cranky Flier, is basically the world’s biggest aviation geek, with stints at USAir, America West, United, and even Eos (remember them?!) under his belt. He lives in Long Beach and can often be spotted volunteering at LGB Airport. Despite his name, Cranky is a really nice guy. Find him at crankyflier.com or on Twitter @CrankyFlier.

Henry Harteveldt is an airline and travel industry analyst by trade and a New Yorker by birth, which means he has a lot of opinions. A true aviation veteran, Henry has worked at TWA and Continental, and is now a travel industry analyst, which means he gets his name in the New York Times a lot. He lives in San Francisco — but spends most of his time in airplanes — and tweets his travel thoughts (and lots more) from @HHarteveldt.

Benet Wilson, affectionately known as the Aviation Queen, is one of the aviation industry’s leading voices. She is the new air travel expert at About.com and was previously a journalist with Aviation Week. An airline geek at heart, Benet has worked at Delta, Mesa Air, and Rolls-Royce North America. She lives in Baltimore, where she is currently learning to fly. Check out her blog at aviationqueen.com or her Twitter feed @AvQueenBenet.

WORCESTER

According to Team ORH, the balloon on the left represents the tail of our first aircraft while the right represents the tail of the most recent aircraft we took delivery of.

Henry: As they may say in ORH, “wicked clevah!” The ORH cake concept is very “on brand.” I like how the cakes incorporate the first and most recent tail fin designs into its concept and the balloon design is fun. As someone who struggles to make a piece of toast, I admire the team’s decision to create a “cake of cakes.”

Cranky: Very impressed with their sneaky placement on top of a Dunkin’ Donuts logo. For some reason, that brand seems to have magical powers over people in the Northeast, but they didn’t realize two of the judges would be in California, able to resist. The balloons do look great – I can see the tail designs in there and they come together nicely. Though the way that number 4 is listing, it looks like ORH is weighing it down!

Benet: THIS works for me, even though there’s not that sense of place I like in my JetBlue cakes. Anything with a Dunkin’ Donuts tie always gets my vote. And I like how this cake shows a piece of the airline’s history by the use of the first and latest tail art. Nice job, ORH!

PORTLAND, MAINE

Ten different Crewmembers at PWM had a hand in this year’s cake submission!

Henry: A lot of love clearly went into this! Kudos to whoever led this effort to make this a team-building exercise. Whoever did the frosting must be very patient; If I ever get stuck at PWM and experience a long delay, I hope I get to work with that Crewmember. I respect the effort it took to prepare this cake (especially the frosting). For me, however, the cake didn’t incorporate a strong sense of place about Portland, Maine, or JetBlue (aside from the blue icing).

Benet: While this is a perfectly lovely cake, it tells me nothing about JetBlue in general and PWM in particular. I always enjoy seeing cakes that give a sense of place. I wanted to see a big fat lobster (BWI did crabs on its winning cake last year), a fisherman, or the Portland Observatory. I *need* that sense of place or the JetBlue identity. I only know this could be JetBlue-related because of the color and because you told me so!

Cranky: Holy blue, Batman!  That is gonna make anyone who eats that thing look like a Smurf for days. I’m a fan of the tall cake, but there isn’t anything Portland-like here. Oh sure, there’s the PWM in white, but you completely miss that. It’s not even on the cake!

AUSTIN

Team AUS reports: Everything’s bigger in Texas, and this cake is no exception!

Cranky: Come on, Austin. Aren’t you guys supposed to be weird? This isn’t weird! I like the blue and orange being brought into the cake – very JetBlue-y.  But I wouldn’t know what those JetBlue-covered monuments are without an explanation. I can tell a lot of work went into this, but it’s not really coming together for me.

Henry: Brett, don’t confuse AUS with PDX. Portland, Oregon “owns” weird. That’s why we have “Portlandia” rather than “Austinia.” As someone who has lived in both Dallas and Houston, and spent plenty of time visiting Austin, I give the AUS team credit for incorporating so many local elements. Bonus points for using the orange that’s a hallmark of both UT and part of JetBlue’s color palette. And hey, is that a postcard on the side of the cake? All that said, the cake has a rather typical shape. I would have liked to have seen AUS come up with a more unique shape that better reflects Austin’s true distinct character.

Benet: This is much better than last year’s effort. I get a sense of place with this cake. And that postcard on the side is a great touch. My only nit – and it’s a small one – is I would have liked to see a shape different than a boring old square. Austin deserves better! And Henry, as much as it *kills* me to say it, Brett is correct – the slogan is “Keep Austin Weird.” Now will someone from the AUS station ship me some Amy’s Ice Cream and Salt Lick BBQ? xox

The winner?

We loved all the cakes we saw, and would happily dip into any of them, but our panel has the final word! Here’s their vote:

Benet:  ORH.
Henry:  I vote for ORH.
Cranky: Me too!

Congratulations to Woostah, which joins the JetBlue Cake Hall of Fame alongside Baltimore and Santo Domingo.

You know, we fly to warm places too. We want you to enjoy an escape from this crazy weather, not just flying JetBlue to one of our 29 destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America, but we also want you to enjoy the environment once you get there.

#JetBlueSoFly photo from @carelizapple

#JetBlueSoFly photo from @allo_alla

As part of our ongoing Jetting to Green effort, we’ve joined The Clinton Global Initiative and partnered with The Ocean Foundation to examine the impact those clean beaches have on tourism. We are assigning a measured dollar value to a healthy ocean ecosystem, including living coral reefs and a trash-free environment. And acknowledging that part of our profit comes from the beauty of nature.

“If you think it sounds obvious that travel companies profit more in locations with beautiful beaches, then we have to ask — why countries whose GDP depends on tourism aren’t already natural leaders in conservation or waste reduction?” Mark J. Spalding, president of The Ocean Foundation, said. “The answer is that assumptions are not good enough. Assumptions do not create action. What we are doing is turning this assumption into evidence specific enough to matter in financial filings.”

This is where you come in.

Please take a few minutes of your day to fill out a simple survey we’ve prepared with our friends at The Ocean Foundation about our Caribbean beaches. Help us gather the data needed to create action/. Your voice matters.

Take the JetBlue and The Ocean Foundation Sustainability Partnership survey

Earlier this winter, we announced that we joined TSA Pre✓™, an expedited screening program that was only available via mobile boarding passes in select BlueCities.

Now, the TSA Pre✓™ logo will also appear on boarding passes printed at a JetBlue kiosk or by our crewmembers at a JetBlue ticket counter. These additions will allow many more customers to enjoy the benefits of TSA Pre✓™, even if they don’t have the JetBlue app. (Though we love to see customers with our app!)

Customers may receive a TSA Pre✓™ logo on their printed or mobile app boarding pass when they add their Known Traveler Number prior to check-in by managing their flight on jetblue.com. Previously, TSA Pre✓™ was only available to customers using our mobile application.

Customers with TSA Pre✓™ on their boarding pass will receive expedited screening. TSA Pre✓™ allows eligible customers to move efficiently though security by leaving their shoes, belt and light outerwear on, and in most cases, keep their laptop computers and 3-1-1 compliant liquids and gels in their carry-on bag. In addition, some customers who are not TSA Pre✓™ qualified but meet TSA’s low-risk profile, may be randomly selected for TSA Pre✓™ on a per-flight basis.

Additional features to our TSA Pre✓™ partnership are coming soon, including the ability to print boarding passes via jetblue.com, and integration into TrueBlue accounts. Stay tuned for more information.  In the meantime, TSA Pre✓™ is available in all domestic BlueCities. (Travelers can check the locations of TSA Pre✓™ here.)

TSA Pre✓™ on Mobile Boarding Passes is currently available in the following 38 BlueCities:

*Checkpoints at EWR, LGA, MSY, SFO, SWF and SJU do not currently have a dedicated TSA Pre✓™ lane. However, TSA will offer a form of expedited screening to eligible passengers; customers may keep their shoes, belt and light outerwear on, but must remove their laptop and 3-1-1 compliant liquids and gels from their carry-on bags. However, TSA continues to add TSA Pre✓™ lanes at additional checkpoints  and airports.

Don’t worry if you’re not part of the known traveler program, we’re still offering our own Even More Speed product as well.

For more information on TSA Pre✓™, including how to apply visit TSA.gov. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also has a list of trusted traveler programs on their website that will provide TSA Pre✓™ eligibility to travelers.

During the holiday season our crewmembers work to light up lives across our network with Together We Rise – a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of children moving through the foster care system. This year, we have decorated more than 2,000 Sweet Cases to donate to children who will move to three different locations before they receive their permanent placement. Giving them bags that are lovingly decorated by our crewmembers provides children in foster care with a sense of digity and empowerment because they are now able to move their belongings in a duffle bag instead of a trash bag. This one small change is something that helps us light up lives in the communities we serve.

 
Crewmembers in SEA gathered together to donate Sweet Cases to twenty children in Seattle –

 LAS teamed up with Apple Grove Foster Care to light up the lives of 30 children with their Sweet Cases decorated with favorite cartoon characters and words of encouragement.

PDX gave children in foster care dragons, unicorns and rubber band bracelets!

In Orlando, Crewmembers invited children from age 4 to 17 to have a JetBlue University experience that included piloting a flight simulator, learning how to guide a plane and understanding airport operations.

In San Juan, PR crewmembers made sure the children received their super sweet cases just in time for Christmas at the Hogar Cuna San Cristobal.
Our crew in STI, delivered sweet cases with the help of some of the kids’ favorite character to the local children’s hospital.

Marty St. George, SVP of marketing and commercial strategy, created multi-color penguins for a foster child in NYC.

Another winter storm is passing through the Northeast, impacting busy airports in the New York and Boston area. We have proactively thinned operations to or from the New York and Boston metro area. Additionally, we have waived change fees and fare differences for customers booked to travel today who wish to change their flights for select cities through the storm. For the most current information on the fee waiver, please visit our Travel Alerts section on jetblue.com.

For more information on how to rebook to a different flight online, or request a refund check out our Travel Alerts section on jetblue.com.

We’d encourage all customers who are scheduled to travel today to check their flight’s status at jetblue.com/flightstatus or sign up for alerts via the JetBlue app on iOS or Android for the latest information.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we’re giving a $10,000 grand to First Book to provide books to children in need. TrueBlue members can join us in our efforts through True Giving. 

Yesterday, we released details on our Customer Compensation plan (en Español) for those impacted by the winter storms this past week. Our Chief Operating Officer, Rob Maruster also took the opportunity to talk with reporters about the storms and our recovery efforts.

Mientras resumimos las operaciones regulares en el noreste siguiente la reducción de horario de ayer, queremos tomar un momento para informarles de cómo vamos a trabajar con los clientes afectados por el mal tiempo y dificultades operativas.

Seguimos trabajando con los clientes para cambiar reservaciones o reembolsar cualquier cancelación de vuelos, y estamos agregando secciones adicionales donde podemos. A medida que agreguemos secciones adicionales, estaremos comunicándonos con los clientes directamente a través de la información de contacto proveída para ayudar a acomodarlos en estos nuevos vuelos. También hemos establecido un plan de compensación para abordar los inconvenientes que nuestros clientes enfrentaron. El plan se dirige a aquellos clientes que experimentaron cancelaciones múltiples, y ofrece puntos de TrueBlue, crédito hacia un futuro vuelo de JetBlue, y / o reembolso monetario basado en el nivel de impacto, y el estado con TrueBlue.

Notificaciones al Cliente:

• Los miembros de TrueBlue serán notificados a la dirección de correo electrónico en su cuenta de TrueBlue
• Los que no son miembros de TrueBlue que reservaron directamente con JetBlue serán notificados a la dirección de correo electrónica proporcionada en la reserva
• Los Clientes que hicieron reservaciones por un partido tercero: Por favor contáctenos directamente ya que su agencia de reservación (tal como Orbitz y Expedia) no compartirá su información con nosotros.

Compensación/Proceso:

• Esta compensación es independiente y adicional a cualquier indemnización elegible bajo la Declaración de Derechos al Cliente
• Puntos de TrueBlue y créditos de servicio se crearán y se depositarán en las cuentas automáticamente antes del 20 de enero
• Los casos de clientes que incurrieron en gastos de su propio bolsillo entre 3 de enero a 10 de enero, como consecuencia directa de las cancelaciones serán examinados y tomados en consideración para el reembolso. Los clientes podrán enviar sus recibos y solicitud de revisión a Hercules@jetblue.com. Sólo las presentaciones con los recibos serán considerados para el reembolso y todas las solicitudes deben realizarse antes del 31 de enero de 2014. Los clientes que ya hayan enviado solicitudes a través de jetblue.com/contact-us serán contactados por un miembro de la tripulación y no es necesario que vuelva a presentar.

7:00 p. m. ET: updated for clarity

While we resume regular operations in the Northeast following yesterday’s schedule reduction, we wanted to take a moment to address how we will be working with customers caught in the past week’s weather and operational difficulties.

We continue to work with customers to rebook or refund any canceled flights, and are adding extra sections where we can. As we add extra sections, we will reach out to customers directly via provided contact information to assist in reaccomodating them on those new flights. We’ve also established a compensation plan to address the inconveniences our customers faced. The plan addresses those customers who experienced multiple cancellations, and offers TrueBlue points, credit toward a future JetBlue flight, and/or monetary reimbursement based on the level of impact, and TrueBlue status.

Click for larger view

Notification to Customers:

• TrueBlue members will be notified to the email address in their TrueBlue account
• Non-TrueBlue members who booked directly with JetBlue will be notified to the email provided in their reservation
• Customers who booked through 3rd party sites: Please contact us directly as booking agents (i.e. Orbitz, Expedia) will not share your information with us.

Compensation/Process:

• This above compensation is separate and in addition to any eligible Bill-of-Rights compensation
• TrueBlue points and service credits will be automatically created  and deposited into accounts by January 20th
• Customers who incurred out-of-pocket expenses between January 3 – January 10 as a direct result of cancellations will be reviewed and taken into consideration for reimbursement. Customers may submit their receipts and request for review to Hercules@jetblue.com. Only submissions with receipts will be considered for reimbursement and all submissions must be made by January 31, 2014. Customers who have already submitted requests via jetblue.com/contact-us will be contacted by a crewmember and do not need to resubmit.

*JetBlue credit for the original one-way/roundtrip fare paid.

As we continue to address ongoing operational disruptions (more information on the current operation here), we wanted to address a few frequently asked questions we’re hearing from our customers.

NOTE: If “Manage My Flight” is unresponsive, please try again later or call us at 800-JETBLUE.  Call volume is high and wait times are long.  We thank you for your patience.

My flight got cancelled, what do I do?

Don’t go to the airport! Our teams are working to rebook you on the next available JetBlue flight. If you booked through jetblue.com, we likely have your contact information, and will contact you with your new flight details. You can also rebook or request a refund by managing your flight at Manage My Flight. If you booked via a third party site, we may not have your contact details. Please call at 1-800-JETBLUE to give us your information, or work with your point of sale site. Hold times are high at the moment – we ask for your patience.

I’m scheduled on the flight tomorrow out of the New York metro, or Boston area, will the cancellations affect my flight? Should I rebook now?

Customers on cancelled flights for January 7 should have received notification.  Should the forecast change, or airport conditions worsen, further delays and cancellations are possible. We have a fee waiver in place for those customers wishing the change or cancel their flight.

My flight was rebooked, but the time/date doesn’t work for me. Can I get a better flight?

We automatically rebook customers on the next available JetBlue flight. Other seats are limited, and may not be available for several days. You can cancel your reservation and get a refund, or rebook within the waiver period.

Why can’t you just get us an extra plane?

We unfortunately don’t have enough spare aircraft or crews to immediately rebook all the customers displaced over the multi-day disruption of operations. We are running some extra flights to relieve certain destinations.

Can you put me on another carrier’s flight?

Like JetBlue, many carriers are fully booked (and in many cases overbooked). We will work with customers on a case-by-case basis to find a workable solution.

I just want a refund, what do I do?

You can request a refund via Manage My Flight. If you booked via a third party site, we may not have your contact details – please call us at 800-JETBLUE or work with your booking partner.

Will you reimburse me for out of pocket expenses?

As part of our recovery plan, we will be addressing individual requests for reimbursement on a case-by-case basis. While we cannot guarantee any expense will be covered, you may submit a request at jetblue.com/contact-us.

I’ve been on hold for so long. What are my options?

High call volumes are still occurring as a result of the cancellations. Every available agent is on duty to assist (and we have airport and support center crewmembers calling customers as well), but the call volume and hold times is likely to remain high for the next few days.
If you’re calling to check on flight status, you can do so quickly on jetblue.com.
If you want to rebook or request a refund: Manage My Flight
If you have a question about reimbursement that doesn’t require an immediate answer, please submit your request via jetblue.com/contact-us.

I’m traveling with a large group and we can’t seem to find seats for all of us, what do we do?

We rebook customers on the next available flight. Unfortunately this may require groups to split up or wait for a flight with enough available seats for the entire group. One of our agents will be able to address specific options and work to make sure our younger customers aren’t flying without an adult.

Will we be receiving compensation for this travel disruption? 

While weather disruptions are beyond the control of JetBlue and therefore not covered by our Customer Bill of Rights, not all of the disruptions experienced are purely weather-related. We will be contacting customers who have been impacted and offering compensation, in the hopes that you give JetBlue another opportunity to earn your loyalty. Customers with specific questions on compensation or those customers who booked via a third party site may contact us via jetblue.com/contact-us.