JetBlue Comes Through Again

We’re home safe and sound!

Our flight began in Seattle Wednesday night after eleven p.m. and we arrived in Boston yesterday morning just after seven. Along the way, the JetBlue crew did another excellent job of taking care of all the passengers with cheerful good humor. The trip was mostly smooth, but punctuated with significant turbulence. However, during each round of bumpy air, the captain calmly explained it and accurately projected when we would travel into less eventful air.

About two thirds of the way into the flight, the captain announced a medical emergency and the need for any doctors, nurses or emergency medical personnel to press their call buttons. Two buttons rang out immediately. Apparently, an older woman, seated just a few rows in front of Chuck and me, had suddenly lost consciousness. The three flight attendants behaved calmly, efficiently and quietly as they worked with the folks with medical training, to assist the passenger who had taken ill. After a flurry of activity, including the administration of oxygen by mask from a tank, the initial fear and tension dissolved as we noticed some smiles begin to emerge from those involved.

Shortly before arrival in Boston, the woman and and the gentleman sitting next to her were moved to the front of the not full to capacity plane. Their carry on luggage was also relocated. Before landing, the captain notified us that we might see emergency vehicles and personnel in evidence around the gate and not to be alarmed. He also informed us the passenger was feeling much better, but that she would be met by an ambulance. The flight attendants asked us to remain seated until she was safely off the plane. Chuck and I were seated near the back of the airplane and as we emerged at the gate several minutes later, we saw EMTs with a gurney, along with police and security officers all quietly in attendance around the passenger. As we walked by, we heard a Massachusetts State Trooper radioing in that the passenger was well enough not to need transport to the hospital.

I commend JetBlue and their wonderful crew for handling it all so beautifully. Heaven forfend I ever find myself as an ailing passenger, high in the skies over North America. But if I did, I would want it to be a JetBlue crew attending to me so warmly and efficiently. We’re writing a letter to that effect today.