As spring breakers venture back from Panama City, Cancun or even the comfort of their own living rooms, the thought of having to go through the hassle of taking flights back to classes and jobs may seem uninviting. Yet, in the aftermath of Saturday's disabling rainstorm in the Northeast, handfuls of students were left with more stress than initially anticipated as flights were consistently delayed and cancelled.
While airports and flights as far as Mexico were affected as a result of the inclement weather, JetBlue airlines alone was forced to cancel a total of 188 flights on Saturday.
Alison Croyle, JetBlue's manager of corporate communications, expressed in an e-mail the effects the weather had on the airline's flights as the weekend continued.
"On Sunday, inclement weather prevailed in the New York metro area and the stronger weather system made its way up to the Boston area, affecting our flights in and out of that region as well," Croyle said. "We cancelled 150 flights on Sunday and an additional 61 flights on Monday. We flew an average of 644 flights per day throughout our network."
Competing airlines alike were also challenged with having to delay and cancel flights due to weather complications. Delta Airlines totaled about 175 canceled flights on Saturday, according to spokesperson Anthony Black.
"There were some residual cancellations on Sunday but some were still weather-related, ranging from around the New York and New England areas," Black said.
Mariel Plutno, a sophomore psychology major, felt the effects of Saturday's storm while trying to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.
"My flight was originally supposed to be on Sunday at 5:35 p.m. direct from NYC to Buffalo through Jet Blue. I wasn't able to get a flight until Tuesday at noon," Plutno said. "[Sunday's flight] was delayed and kept getting delayed all day until they finally cancelled it the minute we were about to board… after waiting in the airport five hours."
Missing a total of four classes, her internship and her volunteering time for UB STARS, Plutno is frustrated with the excessive time it took for the airlines to recuperate from the backup in flights.
"On Sunday, the airline was very uncooperative and although they were [cooperative on Tuesday], I was given no compensation for the inconvenience," Plutno said.
Plutno and many other travelers are now forced to play catch-up and simply hope their professors will understand.
Michael Stefanone, assistant professor in the Department of Communication at UB, is among the professors who have yet to deal with this situation but would be open to understanding.
"In considering these types of events are kind of an act of God and out of students' hands, I'd be flexible and willing to talk to the students for missed work," Stefanone said.
For some, though, missed schoolwork was dodged in flight changes but dented bank accounts were not. Benjamin Chen, a sophomore exercise science major, is one of the students who had to deal with this issue.
"I was freaking out thinking I wasn't going to make it back on Monday and I had a full day of classes on Monday," Chen said. "It was ridiculous. The lines were long and I had to wait two hours to speak to a JetBlue agent."
Chen's initial JetBlue flight was scheduled to leave from JFK to Buffalo International airport on Saturday at 9:55 p.m. but was cancelled two hours prior to departure. In fear of not making it back to Buffalo in time for his classes, Chen was forced to spend an additional $300 on a flight with Delta Airlines that was scheduled to leave Sunday morning at 8 a.m., but was delayed an hour.
Chen claimed he was lucky to have gotten the flight last minute and not miss any school, but is working hard to get a refund for the JetBlue flight he never received.
JetBlue is the only airline with its own Customer Bill of Rights, where all compensations and refunds regarding cancellations and delays are explained. This bill explains that there may be reimbursements for those whose travel arrangements didn't go as planned.
Delta Airlines shares similar policies in refunding customers whose flights were cancelled, given that the cancellation was legitimate and the airline's responsibility.
"Things are on a case-by-case basis. If they couldn't get another flight that day or the next day, they are fine to make a request to the airline [for refund]," Black said. "In the differing situations that can arise from cases like [Saturday's storm], it's likely [that] the agent is going to work with [the customer] to do something, whether it be a refund or travel credit – whatever the agent and customer feel is the best way to resolve the issue."
