Free Republic

Think he got the message? Embattled U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat, flew home from Palm Beach International last week in economy — on JetBlue. Picture that! The congressman, and his wife, hanging in the back with the small fry, shifting uncomfortably on the seats — just like everybody else. Rangel, 69, and his ole’ lady, Alma, I’m told by a Page2Live operative across the aisle, even argued whether the flight attendant’s name really was Popcorn, as her tag indicated. It was. Rangel’s last few years in congress have exposed him to the scorn of New Yorkers. After...

A cultivated Chestnut Hill family therapist and former talk-radio sexpert was headed home from Florida to bury her son when she was arrested for allegedly attacking a stewardess and upsetting a beverage cart on a JetBlue [JBLU] flight. Renee Rapaporte, 76, is a national board member of the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Brandeis University, who was revealed last year to be an investment victim of convicted money manager Bernie Madoff. The grandmother was taken into custody Friday night by state police at Logan International Airport on charges of assault and battery and interfering with a flight crew.

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist and the chief executive of JetBlue Airways said Tuesday the company is considering moving its headquarters from New York to Orlando. "We'd love to have JetBlue move to Florida and fortunately, that's under pretty serious consideration," Crist told reporters in an impromptu press conference outside the Governor's Mansion Tuesday evening. "It could mean 800 new jobs in the Orlando area," Crist said. Dave Barger, CEO of JetBlue, met privately with the governor earlier and noted JetBlue already has its training facility in Orlando.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- JetBlue Airways will offer an "all-you-can-jet" pass for $599 in which passengers can book an unlimited number of flights within a one-month span

Federal agents have searched several Western Washington locations in an expanding investigation of two Pakistani men arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Saturday after their names appeared on terrorism watch lists. Agents also have scrutinized passenger lists for possible associates of the men on the American Airlines and JetBlue flights for which they tried to buy tickets. The men, who bought one-way tickets with cash, have not been charged with a crime and have not been publicly identified. One, a 29-year-old with a New York driver's license, had been detained and released at an unnamed airport once before and had...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 – In honor of National Military Appreciation Month, JetBlue is offering active duty military personnel $1 fares for domestic, nonstop flights, for a limited time, departing from the two JetBlue cities nearest to the nation’s capital: Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., and Richmond International Airport in Richmond, Va. The airline also will donate $15,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that honors and empowers wounded warriors. To take advantage of the offer, servicemembers must book between today and May 7, or while seats last, for travel between May 8 and May...

JetBlue’s pilots have voted against joining a union, a move that would have added complexity to the New York based carrier’s low-cost business plan. In a prepared statement, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger said: “We are very pleased that JetBlue’s Pilots have chosen to retain their direct relationship with the company. We will continue to work closely with our Pilots and all JetBlue crewmembers to ensure JetBlue’s competitive position remains strong and our culture remains unique in the industry. We truly believe culture, an environment of collaboration and the company’s agility are key competitive advantages for JetBlue.”

Balancing the demands of shameless and brutal commerce with the impossible dreams of the preservationists, JetBlue has restored a measure of sanity into this cuel and sterile world. JetBlue resisted the temptation to raze Eero Saarinen's iconic Terminal 5 to make way for their new JFK complex. Just as significant, they also pushed back attempts to preserve the site as an obsolete museum piece.

A ride from a strip club to a Subway restaurant turned ugly, cops say, when the passengers -- two pilots -- punched and kicked their cabbie. Two Jet Blue pilots have been charged with two counts of theft and one of felony battery after allegedly attacking Miami cab driver Juan Martin over a $9 fare after a ride from a Fort Lauderdale strip club to a Subway restaurant, police said. Pilots William Hart Smith, 40, and Brad Leopard, 38, both of Fort Lauderdale, allegedly attacked Miami cab driver Juan Martin about 2 a.m. on Aug. 12, said Fort Lauderdale Detective...

suspecious package or piece of luggage.

Tucson-based Global Aircraft Solutions Inc. on Thursday delivered Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's new campaign plane, an Embraer 190 regional jet complete with the Republican ticket's campaign logo on the fuselage. Palin, presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's running mate, told delegates at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday that she put her predecessor's plane on eBay. Former Gov. Frank Murkowski, a Republican, had been criticized for buying a jet to travel around the state. Palin's new plane seats about 100 people and was reconfigured with bigger first-class seats, dividers and an area for the press, Global Aircraft President John Sawyer said....

A Queens woman was arrested by federal authorities after a JetBlue flight was forced to make an emergency landing because she allegedly lit and refused to extinguish a cigarette on the plane and punched a flight attendant in the face, according to KUSA.com. The plane was en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday when officials said passenger Christina Szele, 35, lit a cigarette in her seat and starting smoking, the Rocky Mountain News reported. Smoking is forbidden on all domestic flights, but the Rocky Mountain News reported that when a...

A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California. Gokhan Mutlu, of Manhattan's Inwood section, says in court papers the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned was uncomfortable, the lawsuit said. Mutlu was traveling on a a...

<p>A man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.</p>

NY man sues airline over flight spent in toilet Mon May 12, 2008 6:52pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York man who says he was denied a seat on a five-hour jetBlue flight and was instead told to "hang out" in the plane's bathroom has sued the airline for $2 million, saying he suffered "extreme humiliation." When Gokhan Mutlu arrived to check in for a jetBlue flight from San Diego to New York in February he was told the flight was full, according to the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. But Mutlu was allowed to...

Woman denies the allegations NEW YORK (WABC) -- A woman trying to board a JetBlue flight in New York City is accused of causing a a bomb scare at JFK Airport. The Daily News is reporting the woman, 44-year-old Rosalinda Baez, was trying to board a JetBlue plane but was stopped by an attendant because the jetway had closed. In a complaint filed with the Brooklyn Supreme Court, prosecutors allege that Baez told the attendant her suitcase was on the plane and asked, ""What if I had a bomb in my bag?" Baez, a Dell web consultant, says she asked:...

NEW YORK (AP) - The head of JetBlue Airways Corp. said Tuesday the low-cost carrier expects to boost its noncore revenue by 60 percent this year, in part by charging passengers extra for more legroom. "What we want ... is the ability to upsell," Chief Executive David Barger said. Speaking at an investment conference in New York, Barger said "demand is solid across the JetBlue network," and he assured analysts the carrier is "in the middle of a momentum story," in spite of industrywide worries of a slumping economy and sharply rising fuel prices. Like a number of its competitors,...

Earlier this week we confronted JetBlue CEO Dave Barger about his airline sponsoring a conference held by the hate-filled Web site, the Daily Kos. That far-left concern routinely posts vile thoughts such as Tony Snow should die from cancer, the pope is a primate, and Israel deserves to be attacked. The hate this Web site traffics in rivals the KKK and Nazi Web sites. Since JetBlue was the only major company sponsoring the Kos conference, we wanted to know why. So we confronted Barger. Well, today the CEO sent us this statement: "Because the only thing JetBlue has done with...

Bill O’Reilly Takes on JetBlue’s Sponsorship of Daily Kos Convention Posted by Noel Sheppard on July 16, 2007 - 17:35. According to Bill O’Reilly’s website, the Fox News host Monday evening will be taking on a decision by airliner JetBlue to sponsor YearlyKos, the second annual convention of Daily Kos and company: Talking Points Memo & Top Story JetBlue and the radical left Why would JetBlue sponsor a hateful far-left website? We'll discuss it. This information was obviously made available to the Kossacks, as regular DK diarist mcjoan had plenty to say on the subject in a posting early Monday...

A 2 ½-hour JetBlue Airways flight bound from Fort Lauderdale to New York on Wednesday turned into a 25-hour odyssey that finally ended Thursday afternoon, as a chain of problems left 150 passengers staggered by the mind-boggling delay. The cascade of problems occurred just four months after a disastrous five-day period in February when the airline canceled more than 1,000 flights in the New York area. And it again raises questions about how much of the blame should fall on airlines when flights encounter unexpected delays. Flight 62's takeoff at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday was delayed for three hours. The jet...