By Laura Lane
En route to a vacation in Cancun, Mexico, the five members of the Caso family, who are from Merrick, were stranded aboard a JetBlue plane for 10 hours on a runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport because of a day-long ice storm.
³They kept telling us that they were waiting for the storm to calm down a bit, waiting for ice pellets to stop,² Caso said. ³Every hour they¹d update us with nothing. It got really hot in there, so they¹d open the doors occasionally and then it would get cold. I was surprised that people didn¹t jump out.²
The passengers grew hungry and thirsty. Flight attendants offered some cookies, potato chips and bottled water, but the supplies ran out quickly. And Caso, who sat toward the front of the plane with her husband, Jeffrey, and three sons, Jeffrey Jr., 13, Nicholas, 9, and Brian, 5, heard that the rest room in the rear of the plane was not working.
³Everyone had their moment where they¹d yell at the flight attendants ‹ they could have at least made us some coffee,² Caso said. ³They¹d show up once an hour and say that there was a communication problem, that the airport didn¹t know that we were stranded on the runway. But we could see the airport. Why didn¹t they get us off of that plane sooner?²
A new law to protect airline passengers, sponsored by state Sen. Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) and signed into law by Governor Eliot Spitzer on Aug. 1, will ensure that passengers stranded or delayed at airports in New York state are more comfortable. The New York State Airline Passengers¹ Bill of Rights requires all airlines at New York airports to provide snacks and water, fresh air and power, and working restrooms for passengers delayed on planes for more than three hours.
³New York is home to some of the world¹s busiest airports, and in adopting this new law, we have taken the lead in protecting the rights of passengers,² Fuschillo said. ³This first-in-the-nation law will ensure that stranded passengers are treated with respect by the airlines that serve our airports and are not held hostage on delayed flights without basic amenities.²
Although the experience with JetBlue was horrific, the Casos did eventually enjoy their vacation. JetBlue arranged for a special flight for the passengers on the Valentine¹s Day Cancun flight that left Kennedy Airport the next day.
Even so, Caso believes that Fuschillo¹s law is necessary. ³The law is a great idea to protect consumers,² she said. ³It¹s ridiculous to make people sit on a plane for that many hours and not be able to offer them food or water. I couldn¹t even look at my children when we were on the plane that day. It was heartbreaking.²
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