JetBlue Apologizes for Stranding Fliers

In this photo taken with a cell phone, passengers aboard JetBlue Flight 751 to Cancun walk around the cabin while waiting to take off at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007. Due to a snow storm, the flight was canceled, but not until the passengers waited 8 1/2 hours in the plane. (AP Photo/Lou Martins) (Lou Martins - AP)

Weather delays of up to six hours continued to plague JFK on Thursday. More than 300 flights were canceled. At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and LaGuardia Airport, delays averaged more than two hours.

Terminals at JFK filled with passengers trying to arrange alternative flights. JetBlue canceled 195 of its 568 planned flights in an attempt to avoid being overwhelmed for a second straight day.

Other airlines experienced problems, too. Mark Mannix, a government affairs officer for New York's Metro-North Railroad, said he spent hours stranded aboard an American Airlines jet.

The plane was scheduled to depart for Miami at 5:45 a.m. It did not push back from the gate until nearly 7:45 a.m. and soon halted for another delay. The pilot finally returned to the terminal at 10:45 a.m. after deciding it was not safe to fly.

Mannix said the airline made food available _ at a price. He said he paid $3 for a cookie.

"We're pretty much cattle. We're at their mercy," he said. "They don't seem like they have a plan or are prepared. Like this is the first time they had a snowfall."

American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said an icy runway prevented the plane from taking off.

On Thursday, JetBlue promised a full refund and a free round-trip flight to customers delayed aboard an aircraft for more than three hours. Passengers with canceled flights were being offered a refund. All other passengers with travel booked through Monday were being offered a chance to cancel and rebook, without having to pay the usual fee.

Asked why the airline did not summon staircases and shuttle buses to unload the 10 planes with extraordinary delays sooner, Neeleman said, "That's a very good question."

"I think the ice condition made it very difficult for us," he said. "We were worried about our customers falling down the stairs and hurting themselves."

The Federal Aviation Administration has no rules regarding how long airlines may leave passengers aboard a grounded craft, but Port Authority guidelines consider passengers officially "stranded" if they remain aboard a parked plane for more than two hours.