JetBlue has apparently grown sick and tired of every other airline making news over the past several weeks.
News for the wrong reasons, but still. News nonetheless.
Therefore, in light of United assaulting a customer, Delta showing a patron the door for using the bathroom and Virgin turning away a young cancer patient, JetBlue has gotten into the Awful PR Business for itself.
Here"s how…
On May 3, a family of four was traveling to New Jersey when they allegedly refused to move a birthday cake they brought on board out of the overhead bin.
Cameron Burke, his wife Minta and their two young kids were headed to a surprise party when the patriarch started filming an encounter between himself and police officers who were brought on board to confront him over the issue.
The father told ABC 7 that he moved the dessert item from an overhead bin to under the seat in front of him when asked, but that two flight attendants were still giving him a hard time over it.
"You know, you could see the gestures – then she was pointing to her, did you tell him he couldn’t put anything in the overhead compartment?,” Cameron said.
“I had approached them, and I said everything was fine, and she said, ‘Sir, this does not involve you.’
"When she told me I had been non-compliant, then I said, ‘Ma’am, had you been drinking?’ because her behavior was not normal."
The airline forced all passengers to deplane in light of this incident, with the Burkes told they could not get on the flight and given a refund instead.
According to JetBlue spokesperson Morgan Johnston, however, the Burkes are not victims here.
He says “the video circulating [below] does not depict the entire incident and only starts after the objectionable behavior occurred.”
The company claims Cameron refused numerous requests to take the cake out of an overhead bin which is reserved for safety equipment in case of an emergency.
"The customers became agitated, cursed and yelled at the crew, and made false accusations about a crewmember’s fitness to fly,” JetBlue said, adding:
“After the customers refused to speak with a team leader about the situation, the Port Authority Police Department was called and the entire aircraft deplaned.
"The Captain determined the customers’ behavior demonstrated a risk for additional escalation in air and would not be allowed to fly."
JetBlue noted that cakes are permitted onboard as long as they are within the carry-on size limits.
Minta, though, says she wants at least one of the flight attendants fired and that her children were left “traumatized” by what transpired.
Watch the viral footage below and try to draw your own conclusions:
