Talk about crappy service! JetBlue is the number 1 and the number 2 airline! A man from NYC is suing JetBlue “for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California,” reports CBS News. We’re not going to judge the airline too harshly until more of the story comes out, just in case it turns out to be another upset passenger overstating the situation—but if it’s true, it’s going to be hard for JetBlue to wipe this story from the public’s memory for a while. Especially with all the joke opportunities.
The passenger, Gokhan Mutlu, was traveling on a buddy pass, and says about 90 minutes in to the 5 1/2 hour flight from New York to San Diego the pilot told him to give up his seat to a flight attendant.
When Mutlu expressed reluctance to go sit in the bathroom, the pilot, who was not named in the lawsuit, told him that “he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board,” the lawsuit said.
When the aircraft hit turbulence and passengers were directed to return to their seats, but “the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts,” court papers say.
Sometime later, a male flight attendant knocked on the restroom door and told Mutlu he could return to his original seat, court papers say.
We wonder if this is just a new corporate policy to reduce the attractiveness of buddy passes. To be honest, though, traveling in a plane bathroom—no strangers sitting nearby, your own sink, free to stand or sit the entire time, and the opportunity to spend most of the flight in your underwear—doesn’t really sound that bad. It’d be like a very short prison term, and who doesn’t want to get away from everything now and then?
“Man Says JetBlue Pilot Forced Him To Sit On Toilet” [CBStv.com] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
(Photo: qmnonic)
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@jperu: Yep, I agree with you. No way in hell the airline forced a passenger to sit in the toilet because they needed his seat for someone else. This story is absurd. Passengers witnessing this would have been up in arms and talking all over the internet by now if it were true.
Directly from the Federal Aviation Administration:
FAR 135.128 Para a:
§ 135.128 Use of safety belts and child restraint systems.
top
(a) Except as provided in this paragraph, each person on board an aircraft operated under this part shall occupy an approved seat or berth with a separate safety belt properly secured about him or her during movement on the surface, takeoff, and landing.
I don’t think that a toilet qualifies as an approved berth.
Besides being completely out-of-line as far as compliance with commercial FARs, it seems to me that the flight attendant should’ve already had a seat for herself.
i know…i’ve sat in the back with a few FA’s before – on more than one flight.
That being said, why not invite the FA to accompany me in my new assigned seat! If we wind up joining the “Mile High Club”, more the better!
@bvita:
Believe you’re thinking of § 121.311
Part 135 applies only to commuter and charter ops
@gomakemeasandwich: Sitting in the bathroom for the flight would be preferable to sitting next to some fat whale whose stomach/blubber flows over the armrest and over into my seat. Same for the never-ending hacking, coughing TB/flu factory that I’ve sat next to in the past. The bathrooms in A320s are rather nice & roomy. Plenty of fresh air, no waiting in line for the loo.
@DeltaPurser: Yep, JetBlue does indeed allow any employee (even ramp rats!) to use a jumpseat. Not 100% sure on foreign airline employees using them, but I’d assume if the plane’s full and that’s the only seat, they’d probably allow it.
From experience, the jumpseats aren’t the most comfortable things in the world, but I’ve sat in far worse. I’d much rather have a jumpseat than be stuck in the middle economy seat of a B747 with a 3-5-3 configuration. A little difficult to nap/sleep in them, but if you’re truly tired, you’ll find a way. Besides, pax look down upon sleeping crew, even if you’re not actively working that particular flight.
Keep in mind that he was travelling on a BuddyPass a.k.a. very reduced price ticket. Last time I flew on B6 it was $30 (raised from free) fee including all taxes to fly. No reservations necessary. Just go up to the counter and hop on the next available flight out. I wish the airlines would sell coupon books of these. It’s quite freeing to just be able to hop on a plane on a whim, even if for one of those “$100 cheeseburgers”.
Gotta love the “bargain” airlines.
More on this: A few years back I was going to Europe on vacation and had plans to meet up with friends, so I HAD to be on a specific flight to Paris… Of course it was full, so I took the jumpseat. These were the longest 9 hours of my life!!!!! It took me days to recover. You’re not allowed to even “give the appearance of sleeping” while on the jumpseat, so that was out of the question. For a couple of hours they allowed me to sit in the crew rest seats, but when they were in use I had to sit in the back. I even tried napping on the bathroom floor for about 30 seconds. It stunk… Aaaah, the glamorous life of a flight attendant
@someone1234: Favor? You don’t change your mind mid-flight. I’m sure the flight attendant mean well, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Unless Jet-Blue EXPLICITLY told the man that if the flight attendant changes her mind, he’d have to STAND or go to the TOILET….then Too bad for Jet-Blue.
As much as I HATE AND DETEST the airlines this just doesn’t ring true.
If it is true the pilot will almost surely lose his job if not his license from the FAA.
And therefore if true, the pilot must be, well, insane and should not be at the controls anyway (of course jetBlue A320s pretty much fly themselves if you know anything about Airbuses).
Not impossible, given what I myself have experienced on the airlines. But just sounds really far fetched.
Putting a corpse on the floor in first class, well that’s another matter entirely…
My daughter got sick on Jet blue airlines when the buckle seatbelt sign was on. – there were no air sickness bags in our row so I ran to the bathroom to get a paper towel – the stewardess announced over the loudspeaker to stay in there.
The toilet must be the safest seat on Jet Blue!!
@dorianh49:
ROFL! Love your witty response.
I should think the toilet-sitting passenger would have considered himself lucky to HAVE a seat. And riding in the lavatory certainly has its advantages.
I’m not impressed with JetBlue, and they haven’t got the brightest people working for them.
All flights have AT LEAST enough jump seats for every working flight
attendant and most of the time there are a few extra. I have traveled
‘non-rev’ for years and I work at the airport as a gate agent. Flight
attendants can sometimes ‘give up’ their seat to the next non rev person so
that person can get on the flight. When she wanted her seat back she really
shouldn’t have been given his seat. If her jumpseat didn’t have a working
seatbelt she could have moved to any of the other jumpseats.
On the other hand, the guy could have stood in the galley or walked the
aisles. The story says he was sitting in his seat during take off and
landing. Those rules you all are quoting state that every person must use
the seat belt during take off and landing or on the ground (taxing). He was
in his seat for both of these.
Sometimes when you fly stand by as an employee you don’t get treated the
best. We should be treated with just as much respect as a paying passenger.
Some buddy passes cost up to $100. I think he should get all the money he
spent on his flight refunded. 2 million dollars is a joke.