The airline said it deeply regrets the incident and apologized for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of Pacheco's flight back to the Dominican Republic, due to aircraft maintenance.
SANTO DOMINGO.– While JetBlue apologized for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of Alfredo Pacheco's flight back to the Dominican Republic due to aircraft maintenance, the president of the Chamber of Deputies announced yesterday that he will sue the airline for one peso.
“The phone line contacted us, we’re talking. I said I was going to sue, but the lawsuit was very unusual. It’s a lawsuit for one peso, for damages, and the compensation I was going to request was one peso,” Pacheco declared yesterday while participating in the Corripio Communications Group luncheon.
"They are working on it and the Aeronautics Board has responded that they will evaluate it," he said.
Pacheco also criticized JetBlue for canceling flights without setting dates, calling it "an abuse," and criticized the treatment offered to Dominicans.
He apologizes
JetBlue acknowledged yesterday that it has reduced the quality of the travel experience, and assured that it continues to take steps to improve its operations.
Regarding this, the airline said it deeply regrets the incident and apologized for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of the flight on which Pacheco was to travel back to the Dominican Republic, due to aircraft maintenance.
He said the delay of flight 1938 scheduled for Saturday, July 23, was two hours due to the aircraft's delayed arrival and the lack of gate availability at Las Américas International Airport (SDQ).
“The flight departed without incident and arrived in San Juan at 6:01 pm local time,” JetBlue told Diario Libre. Regarding the return flight on Sunday, July 24, they confirmed that it was canceled due to aircraft maintenance.
“Customers on this flight, whose information we had in our system, were notified by email and phone two hours prior to departure. All customers were rebooked on other JetBlue flights in the coming days, offered the option to fly to Punta Cana (subject to availability), and provided with transportation and/or lodging vouchers at one of the hotels near SJU Airport,” JetBlue stated.
The airline stated that it understands customer concerns and feedback, assuring them that both JetBlue and the entire tourism industry have experienced unusual years, and that this summer they have had a record-breaking passenger season and are overcoming operational challenges.
“At JetBlue, our priority remains operating safely and providing a positive travel experience for our customers. We reiterate that the Dominican Republic is a priority market for JetBlue and we continue to implement action plans to mitigate any inconvenience for our Dominican customers,” the airline said.
“We continue to take steps to improve operations, make our crew members’ experience better and less disrupted, and bring back the JetBlue we all know and love,” he continued.
Constant complaints
This is not the first time that Dominicans inside and outside the country have complained about the "inconsiderate" treatment and abuses they constantly receive from the airline.
Therefore, many of them have echoed Alfredo Pacheco's statements, and for this Thursday, July 28th at 4:00 pm, they have called for a protest in Times Square in New York, the airline's main headquarters.
The protest has been called by the president of the Dominican Chamber of Commerce in the US, Elida Almonte.
Consumer Protection Agency warns
The National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumidor) warned through a publication on its social networks that it will not issue any more warnings to the airline JetBlue and that it will respond to all consumers according to the magnitude of the breach.
The agency, which is responsible for protecting consumer rights, stated that the airline's breaches of contract have been repeated, as have the complaints and claims from consumers, and called on the latter to contact the agency.
"Pro Consumidor will no longer issue warnings to the airline JetBlue, as its breaches have been repeated, as well as the complaints and claims of the affected consumers," the entity stated in one of two publications.
Pro Consumidor's reaction is motivated by the constant complaints from Dominicans regarding the airline's mistreatment.
Earlier this week, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, criticized JetBlue for its behavior and the "abuses" against Dominicans who travel with this company.
Pacheco recounted his experience with the airline during a commercial flight to Puerto Rico last Saturday, and how he observed that they only committed abuses against Dominicans, so he asked the Dominican Government to cancel their license.
“They are abusers, the way they treat Dominicans is appalling,” Pacheco began his story, continuing that he had to attend an event in Puerto Rico, they sent him a ticket with a flight for 2:00 in the afternoon and it wasn't until 5:30 that the plane took off.
