Carrier Announces 'Bill Of Rights'

The planes are flying again, at last... but investors in JetBlue gave the low-cost carrier a sign of their displeasure with the six-day operations shutdown that stranded some 130,000 travellers. On Tuesday, shares in JetBlue lost nearly five-percent of their value.

Bloomberg reports the storm-related disruption was the worst-ever in JetBlue's seven-year history... and likely hurt the carrier's attempts to recover from two consecutive annual losses.

"It's a defining moment for JetBlue, and we will get better because of it," airline CEO David Neeleman said in a conference call with reporters. As Aero-News reported, Neeleman earlier acknowledged a combination of bad weather, poor communications and a breakdown in the airlines' reservation system all played a part in the crisis.

Neeleman also said the carrier will take steps to appease customers affected by the February 14 storms, as well as customers stranded by similar events in the future.

From now on, the airline will allow passengers to leave planes after ground delays of five hours -- some passengers at JFK were kept on planes for twice that long -- and travelers whose flights have landed, but can't get to the gate, will receive travel vouchers ranging from $25, to the full cost of a round-trip ticket. Customers will also receive compensation if their flights are cancelled within 12 hours of scheduled departure time.

Those vouchers will be retroactive to February 14, the airline added -- meaning passengers stranded at JFK and other JetBlue airports over the weekend, as the carrier struggled to redistribute its fleet and personnel in the storm's aftermath.

Neeleman said the storm has cost the airline $20 million in refunds, travel vouchers and incremental expenses such as overtime. That's three million more than JetBlue's fourth quarter earnings.

Despite a downgrading in JetBlue's stock Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analyst William Greene was optimistic on the carrier's future.

"The stock will be dead money for the next few months," Greene wrote. "The company will recover and could become a better airline for it."

FMI: www.jetblue.com