JetBlue average load on a flight is in the low 80's . That is where you see Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
On the other hand the flight to NYC is at 46%. Airlines do not keep flights that have loads of 46%.
JetBlue/Massport has two choices:
- Give up on this flight
- Give us a 2nd or 3rd NYC flight to make this route viable
Obviously we would hope for the second, especially since according to the Points Guy:
The New York-based carrier will add four flights for up to 10 a day between Boston Logan (BOS) and New York LaGuardia (LGA), JetBlue said Wednesday. With the added service that will begin this spring, the airline will offer up to 22 flights a day between Boston and the New York area, including Newark Liberty (EWR) and New York John F. Kennedy (JFK).
Maybe Massport/JetBlue could see the benefits of adding flights in Worcester. Why not just 20, instead of 22 from Boston to NYC, and increase us to 3????
Point here is that the flight is in trouble and we need to be doing something about it, not pretending it is going great... There are two things we can do it:
- Work to get additional flight to NYC
- If the answer is no, we should end this flight ourselves and ask for a another direct leisure flight. Have loads of 46% is not a get look to attract other airlines to Worcester Airport.
** FOOTNOTE
The current NYC schedule gives us no chance at success
Departure 6:00AM lands 7:00AM
Return 10:50 PM lands 11:47 PM
Comments
I have never had a flight canceled. Occasionally there have been delays but never more than 45 minutes either way. Well worth the wait for the convenience and ease of access.
I would be personally devastated if this were canceled as an option for me.
Let me know if you need help marketing this flight. I will be happy to help!!
I have never had a flight canceled. Occasionally there have been delays but never more than 45 minutes either way. Well worth the wait for the convenience and ease of access.
I would be personally devastated if this were canceled as an option for me.
Let me know if you need help marketing this flight. I will be happy to help!!
Kathy
Erika, while we do agree that Orlando should have been the schedule to get the late return given the tourist travelers deserve the late return more, getting in to Florida at 1030 at night just wasn't ideal either and the outbound numbers in that time slot have declined over the past few years. It's not perfect given the market but it's much better overall than what was previously offered. Ideally we would like to see Orlando with the overnight, FLL with a midday turn somewhere and then an afternoon/evening JFK flight added. But we will certainly take it.
But coming home after Midnight sucks on the return trip.
Jim
Any delay and you could get stranded, or end up having to fly back to Logan anyway. Thats happened to me more than once and I have to pay for a service to drive me back to ORH to get my car. Totally destroys the convenience and savings of ORH. Another turn would give you options.
I also agree with th comments that people don't even know that you can fly out of Worcester, to anywhere really. For example, there are dozens of New Englanders flying to Ft Lauderdale later this month for a big meeting, and none of them knew that ORH was an option.
Having to drive to and from Logan for such a short flight is a time suck and aggravation builder. An ORH-DCA (or other nearby airport) would be a huge hit for anyone that doesn't live within or very near Boston.
The times are completely inconvenient. I have flown to NYC for business meetings in Manhattan. Yes, depart at 6AM for arrival at 6:35AM, but most times I've flown there's been ground traffic in NYC which forced us to sit on the tarmac for an additional 15-20 minutes. Then, if you take a cab into NYC from JFK, you'll sit in rush-hour traffic. The earliest I could make it into Manhattan was 8:45 (without luggage), which means it took an additional 2 hours to get from JFK to central NYC (without traffic, 30-45 minutes). I strongly recommend using the subway system, but again, PACKED because of the influx of commuters into the city. Very difficult if you're traveling with luggage / children.
I think the early time was chosen to make connecting flights, but booking through JetBlue.com isn't very helpful. If I wanted to book a flight through NYC, JetBlue's web site doesn't offer connecting flights through NYC easily (go there & try it). So what's the point of the early flight?
If JetBlue isn't going to add flights, then they need to adjust the times. I think a slightly later departure time of 7:30AM gets you into NYC at 8AM, and into Manhattan by 9:15AM (because the rush hour traffic isn't as heavy). Regarding the departure time out of JFK, 10:52PM is TOO late (getting in at almost midnight to ORH). A departure time of 9PM feels about right. If you have business in NYC, you can be done & complete dinner, with enough time to head to the airport. Being later isn't necessarily more helpful.
But if things don't change, this flight WILL FAIL because of the dropping passenger loads.
When it does . . . will Karyn Polito then schedule a press conference to announce that? Because she's always there for the good announcements, but nowhere to be seen when it's bad news.
Take the JFK Air Train to Jamaica Station, then get on the Long Island Railroad train to Penn Station. I've made it into Midtown Manhattan less than 2 hours after parking my car at ORH. I haven't gone to NYC any other way since I figured this out.
Of course, I didn't get stuck waiting for a gate after landing for as long as you did. I hope that your experience was an abberation and the typical experience is more like mine.
I heartily agree that the return flight is pretty late, but I assumed that it was so people coming from elsewhere connecting through JFK could have a better chance of catching the connection back to ORH. If there was a twice daily flight, then that late flight would be a decent backup if the earlier one got canceled or delayed etc. Fat chance we'll get a second JFK turn if this one isn't making it (or, more accurately, the money that they make at BOS isn't making subsidizing this flight worth it).
I would say 3 out of every 4 times there is a gate delay. For some reason, it seems like the ORH flight arrives too early, so we have to wait while a gate opens. Maybe I'm just unlucky or they have addressed the issue since I've flown last.
I get why the late flight is so late, but really the remedy is to have 2 options going down & 2 options coming back. However, that won't happen if the current loads are so low (and getting worse), and I don't see how they'll magically improve.
I have also taken Acela out of Providence several times, and I found it to be a good experience. Traveling business / first class is great, and I use the time on the train for work. If you have the time & can pay for the higher fare, it is an alternative to the ORH flight. But ideally, more choices out of ORH would be the ideal solution for my trips to NYC.
That is absolutely correct! It is a real dilemma to making the JFK flight work, which in my opinion is the key to making ORH work as a commercial passenger airport.
If this gets fixed as you suggested, ORH becomes a player and a real alternative to Boston, even having to make a connection. Getting in and out of Logan is that bad that a connecting flight is more convenient. It is a HUGE advantage and selling point and I don't know why MassPort doesn't see it. If you travel, you just know.
If the only place that you can reliably fly to from ORH is central and south Florida, the airport itself will never make it.
On the positive side, moving the FL flights back to morning departures is a BIG step toward success for the reasons many here have mentioned. I don't want to get to FL at night after any chance of using the day for business on a work trip or pleasure on a vacation trip. DIsney is expensive enough without adding an extra premium priced hotel night. Kudos to ORH for getting this done.
The JFK flight is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the American and Delta flights as well, by the way. Add a very inconvenient connection option (note - singular, ONE FLIGHT) plus the incapability of the aircraft to make it in bad weather to the schedule its easy to see why no one is flying those as well. We are talking 30 people a day to major connection hubs - think about how little people that actually is. Not good. American at least gave ORH a chance but management quickly messed that up and has shown little signs of improving. For reliability too, AA is very quick to cancel anytime there is a possibility of inclement weather. Where they go from here is going to be very interesting.