Passengers say they were left on the street ‘like animals’ after delayed JetBlue flight to Boston

It’s a travel nightmare for some JetBlue passengers trying to get back to Boston after vacationing in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

All told, their flight was delayed for about 24 hours and they had nowhere to go.

They said they were even kicked out of the island’s airport.

“Having people living on the streets like animals is definitely something I will never forget in my life,” said Marty, who was on a flight from Turks and Caicos to Boston.

Marty said hundreds of JetBlue passengers like him were told they couldn’t stay at the airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands when their flight to Boston was delayed until the next day.

The Saturday flight had been delayed for several hours, his children were exhausted, and he said there were no hotel rooms available on the island that night.

“This is a very disturbing, traumatic experience, with three young children looking to you for answers, a wife looking to you for answers, and for the first time as a husband, a father and a man. , I didn’t know what I was going to do. “I was going to shelter my family for one night,” Marty said.

Brett, who was also on the flight, said JetBlue employees at the airport forced them to leave when the flight was delayed.

“We just kept saying where do you want us to go? What do we do? How do you kick us out into the street like dogs?” Brett said.

Eventually, Marty’s travel agent found a small hotel room for his family.

Brett spent about a thousand dollars to find an Airbnb for ten people.

“It was a horrible, shabby area. The Airbnb itself was actually not bad, but the area was like something out of a horror movie. As we drove by, dingoes were chasing taxis. It was like a very shabby neighborhood. , the children were scared. “What are we going to do?” Brett said.

When they returned to the airport the next morning, they saw dozens of cots had been brought in for passengers who couldn’t find a place to stay.

Their new flight was also delayed another four hours.

JetBlue sent the following statement to Boston News 25:

“On Saturday, December 28, JetBlue Flight 754 from the Turks and Caicos Islands to Boston had to be diverted to Lauderdale due to severe air traffic control (ATC) congestion and long wait times. Fort Dyer, resulting in significant delays and the flight was delayed until the next day, safely arriving in Turks and Caicos to pick up our passengers and then complete our flight to Boston.

We apologize for the inconvenience this delay has caused you and understand this is a frustrating situation. While delays are caused by circumstances beyond JetBlue’s control, we understand the impact this disruption has on our customers’ plans. In light of this, we have provided instructions to affected customers to submit reimbursement requests for eligible out-of-pocket expenses under our customer service program. Additionally, as a gesture of goodwill, we’re issuing a $200 travel credit toward a future JetBlue flight.

“This goes well beyond delaying and putting people on the streets in the middle of the night asking them to fend for themselves without a solution,” Marty said.

Many of these passengers want airlines to find better solutions to shelter passengers during severe overnight delays.

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