[eaw13]

My wife and I were vacationing in St. Maartin. On the day of our return (03/24) to Boston, JetBlue texted us that our connecting flight from JFK to BOS had been canceled. When we arrived at the St. Maartin airport, JetBlue advised us that they had rebooked the JFK-BOS leg, with my wife leaving the next day at 5pm, and with me leaving the day AFTER that, at 9am. When we inquired about compensation, we were told the cancellation was due to "winter weather" in NY, and we would therefore not be compensated.

When we arrived in NY, it was a balmy 58 degrees outside, clear skies, with occasional wind gusts of 20-25mph. This was according to the pilot. My wife and I decided to drive to Boston that night rather than wait 1-2 days at JFK. Other stranded JetBlue customers had already grabbed all the rental cars at JFK, so we had to take a $ 40 cab ride to LaGuardia. According to our cabbie, the weather had been beautiful all day. "JetBlue cancels flights because there are tarmac issues at JFK," he told us. "Rather than face federal fines for leaving customers on the tarmac, they just cancel the flights, and screw the customer."

If JetBlue cancels a flight for FINANCIAL reasons (to avoid fines), they should compensate their customers for both the inconvenience and expense this cancellation causes. My wife and I spent more than $ 300 to get back home, and we didn't get home until 4am (and my wife had to work only a few hours later!). Furthermore, there should be strict guidelines governing when an airline can - and CANNOT - cancel flights for weather-related reasons. I would go so far as to propose that such cancellations be based on ACTUAL weather conditions....