Singing the JetBlues

It's ironic, yet fitting, that my last entry for this blog is about passengers' rights. (Yes, Checking In, along with several other travel columns Yahoo launched one year ago, will cease publication with this post).

My very first blog introducing this column also focused on air travel service and travelers' increasing discomfort. I'd like to be able to say that things had improved during the past year. But this winter turned out to be one of the worst ever for air travelers.

There is a silver lining, though. After JetBlue Airways let hundreds of fliers sit on runways at its hub airport, John F. Kennedy International, last week in hopes that a severe ice storm would pass quickly, CEO David Neeleman announced action to alleviate travelers' suffering in such situations.

Under Neeleman's groundbreaking promise, passengers who experience flight delays will be eligible for travel vouchers up to the amount paid for the trip. Travelers will get a full refund if their flight is canceled within 12 hours of its departure; passengers denied boarding because of overbooking get $1,000. As for those interminable hell-on-the-tarmac fiascos, JetBlue promises that people will be deplaned if a flight has been grounded for five hours. Customers are asked to share their feedback online.

Reuters reports that the carrier is paying out $10 million in refunds to passengers on canceled flights and issuing $16 million worth of vouchers to delayed passengers for future travel. Even though JetBlue said the Valentine's Day meltdown will result in a quarterly loss, the airline's stock price is up since the ice storm.

Don't you wish all airline CEOs would get down on their knees and ask passengers' forgiveness when things like this happen? Neeleman's apologies and JetBlue's reaction represent the best chance to date that meaningful improvement in air service may be on its way. For all of you road warriors out there, I sincerely hope it is. Thank you for your comments, insight and stories over the last 12 months. And here's to happier flying this year.