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Woman claims JetBlue made them wait for 2 days at Vegas airport, weeks after JFK 'meltdown'

Wendy Michelle, a TikTok user, said in a series of videos that JetBlue kept travelers stuck at the airport for two days due to a lack of staff

Wendy Michelle, a TikTok user, said in a series of videos (now deleted) that JetBlue kept travelers stuck at the airport for two days before flying from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Newark, New Jersey. On Monday, February 28, the first video was uploaded from the Las Vegas airport. "[JetBlue] refuse[s] to help us! We are going on our second night [at] the airport!!!" reads one video caption. She adds in the video, “We’re here in Vegas, this is the flight from JetBlue 956 and we’re stuck here. We’ve been stuck here for a whole day and now they’re telling us we’re not going to be able to fly out. I’m going to put it on TikTok. I need JetBlue to really pay attention because unless we do this, they’re not going to pay attention to anything. We have kids, we have jobs, and this is ridiculous. We’re all waiting.”

Another lady added, “And we can’t get our bags. Four hundred bags are in a pile.” The airline had offered the TikTok user a $200 coupon, according to the user. She says, “We don’t care about the money, we’re just trying to get home. But clearly, they don’t care about us.” Frustrated passengers can be heard complaining to the desk employees in another video released to TikTok. During the debate, the phrase 'timed out' was heard many times, most likely in reference to a regulation aimed at ensuring that aircraft personnel, particularly pilots, do not get too tired to fly. JetBlue in January suffered a major meltdown at JFK airport as it struggled to recover from the nor’easter snowstorm that slammed the east coast over the last weekend of the month. With not enough ground staff to connect jetbridges, hundreds of JetBlue passengers were left trapped aboard at least 20 planes stranded on the tarmac for hours at New York's JFK airport.

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According to Newsweek, the new law restricts the amount of time a flight crew can work in a certain period of time. Pilots are required to have at least 10 hours of sleep between flights, which means that if a trip is delayed, a pilot may be told that they won't be able to fly until their schedule matches the required break periods. In a video caption, the TikTok user writes, “We have been stuck in the airport for the second day now…. No accurate updates! People have been sleeping on the floor! And we are yet to know when we will be home!”

On February 28, Michelle wasn't the only one annoyed by the airline's behavior and one traveler took to Twitter to ask the reason. To this, the airline posted on its social media handle saying: "We're sorry for the frustration with your delayed flight. We currently show JetBlue flight 956 is scheduled to depart at 2.50 am. If you'd like to review your options you can speak with an airport crewmember."

Her flight, along with three others, was stranded on the ground, she claims in her third video about the delay. She explained, “Literally, JetBlue is selling you these tickets when they don’t have a crew and pilots, and if that’s the case, you should not be taking people’s money. We have kids sleeping on the floor. We cannot get any hotel rooms. We have not been able to buy absolutely anything. And the pilots refuse to fly. The plane’s here, we’re here. I’m in Vegas in the airport stuck.”

She stated there were no issues with the weather or the plane in a video update after finally being allowed to return home. She claimed in the video, “The issue here was the fact that the pilots didn’t want to fly. It wasn’t because they were tired or had been flying for hours. They were going on strike with their union, which I totally understand. You want better benefits, no problem.” She continues, criticizing the airline for selling tickets when it lacks sufficient workers, “The issue is JetBlue. I get it, there’s a shortage, but it is not fair to children who are stuck in an airport, for the elderly who are literally stuck there on wheelchairs. It’s nighttime, everything’s closed. We couldn’t buy water, we couldn’t buy food.”

One user commented on the video, “JetBlue pilot here. We are not on or ever been on strike. Short-staffed. Yes.” Michelle responded saying, “That’s ... what your own JetBlue crew told us. I guess we will never know the truth. However, the pilots for our flights had half of their hours left.” Someone wrote, “No-strike and this is an issue with all airlines! You’re not aware of what happens behind the scenes” while another added, “The whole industry is short-staffed….not just JetBlue unfortunately.” Yet another user remarked, “Tickets are sold way ahead of time so there’s no way and predicting the future on flights.”