<![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> 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.

SawiniGrisha

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @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.

mrearly2

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> 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!!

pswords

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> 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...

JerseyJarhead

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @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.

ConsumerAdvocacy1010

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> 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 :-)

DeltaPurser

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Gotta love the "bargain" airlines.

bms

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @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".

FLConsumer

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @bvita:
Believe you're thinking of § 121.311
Part 135 applies only to commuter and charter ops

repstosw

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> 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!

EyeintheLAsky

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> 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.

bvita

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @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.

Lambasted

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Poor guy. Good thing it'a all behind him now.

mungojerry

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> If an airline forced me to sit in the bathroom for the entire flight:

#1: I'd be pissed off.
#2: There's no way I'd put up with that shit.

boobaloob

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Thorny:

Somehow I think you'd be singing a different song if you were in his position. This isn't 5th grade taunting...

gomakemeasandwich

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> There are people all over the world without a pot to shit on right now and this guy's complaining that he had one for the whole flight.

$2 million? For Christ's sake, if you could get 2 million dollars for simply being "humiliated," wouldn't we all be rich after by about 5th grade with the way kids all tease each other?

Fine, perhaps not the consumer's fault on this one, but can't this be remedied with a free ticket or something? Who pays for this if he wins? Yeah. Jetblue passengers. There is no way in hell this guy should get $2 million even if he wins the suit. That money should go into a fund that discounts future passengers on their tickets or fights world hunger or something.

Thorny

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Wormfather: And in fact it is not uncommon for the Pilot in Command (captain) and the First Officer to trade off who's flying for different legs of their daily route. You may take off from an airport in the hands of the Captain and land courtesy of the First Officer.

In other words, the "Pilot Flying" can be either of the two, but the "Pilot in Command" is always the Captain.

This allows both pilots to accumulate actual stick time.

I can ask a few pilots I know what extra training being a Captain requires, but that will vary by airline.

Buran

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Airlines have different policies re. jumpseats. On DL, only DL flight attendants and, as of a couple of years ago, DL pilots. Other airline employees are NOT permitted to sit on the jumpseat.

JetBlue's policy is, however, VERY different. They make the jumpseat available to flight attendants and pilots from most other airlines.

But I have yet to hear of a passenger being allowed to sit there...

If I'm flying up to get to work and the flight is full, I may sometimes have to ride on the jumpseat. Since I don't dress in my uniform when I fly to work, I may look like a regular passenger when I sit there in my "regular" clothes.

Dying to hear details on this story though... Something's definitely missing.

DeltaPurser

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @ElizabethD: :-) :-) :-)

DeltaPurser

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @bearymore:

"Would a pilot risk his license and livelihood for the comfort of a flight attendant?"

If he's banging her maybe.

gomakemeasandwich

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @FLConsumer:

So you would have no problem sitting in the bathroom the whole flight?

gomakemeasandwich

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Civilian pilots are the worst..."This is MY plane and I set the rules..."

Shut the fuck up, it's the company's plane and my ticket/government bailouts pay your salary. Go back and fly the fucking plane douchebag.

That probably would have been my response.

And has anyone thought of what would happen if that guy was sitting in the bathroom and there was turbulence? He could have been killed (no seatbeat).

gomakemeasandwich

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> If this case somehow makes it to trial, I think we'll find JetBlue faultless in this. Having travelled with JetBlue numerous times on BuddyPasses, they make it very clear -- being able to fly with one is a privilege, and should be treated as such. I'm willing to bet the passenger had some sort of medical issue or odor issue that the crew had asked them to address, but the passenger's lack of command of the English language caused him to interpret it differently.

FLConsumer

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @dorianh49: And a lovely one it was!

Apologies if you felt I'd given a ... crappy response. :)

Jim (The Canuck One)

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> The math as I understand it:

1) Threatening someone with certain arrest for not complying with whatever the airline wishes to impose is certainly an effective option for getting close to 100% compliance.

2) Many consumers are avoiding flying whenever possible, due to the general discomfort of modern flight "amenities" and horror stories connected to (1) above. Or because they have direct personal experience of getting the You Will Obey treatment in a manner eerily consistent with the protocol for a prison transport.

3) The airlines are going out of business.

What doesn't compute here? To suggest that the government wants the airlines largely out of business and travelers largely grounded seems the height of paranoia, but there isn't a reasonable alternative reason that I can see for this kind industry-wide lemmings-off-a-cliff myopia.

We're going to be a very sad and isolated people when almost nobody travels long distances except as required for their livelihood, but that could well be the way this is heading.

memphis9

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I almost just booked this flight for a June vacation. Glad I went with Virgin instead. (Although I could use the $1M.)

Craig

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @blackmage439: well how 'bout a link then?

themediatrix

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> From what I know, you have to be qualified to sit in a jumpseat position. At Fedex, we have to take a course in jumpseating, for all the different models of airplanes we fly.

DJ Barrak

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> ALL I gotta say is WTF?????

And the absolute authority that flight crews have ends up with abuse such as this. FORCING a passenger to sit on a toilet during the flight is just insane! WHy not allow him to sit on the floor? I know there are safety regulations, but how much of a difference would it be from sitting on a toilet!?

forgottenpassword

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I bet he had bad B.O. The other passengers were complaining and the flight attendant was a cover story.

factotum

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Talk about a shitty seating assignment.

LionelEHutz

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> This seems like a hoax to me. This is a clear violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Would a pilot risk his license and livelihood for the comfort of a flight attendant? Here are the relevant FAR's:

Part 121.33

a) No person may operate an airplane unless there are available during the takeoff, en route flight, and landing-

(1) An approved seat or berth for each person on board the airplane who has reached his second birthday; and

(2) An approved safety belt for separate use by each person on board the airplane who has reached his second birthday

And in section 121.317:

(f) Each passenger required by §121.311(b) to occupy a seat or berth shall fasten his or her safety belt about him or her and keep it fastened while the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign is lighted.

So, the airline and the pilot would be in clear violation of the FARs. The pilot should have suffered an immediate suspension and action to fine the airline should have been taken leading to the pilot's dismissal.

I don't believe a word of this story. No pilot, even a private one such as myself, would be so stupid and arrogant as to willfully violate a basic, and well known regulation.

bearymore

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> whether completely true or not, no surprise in this story -- airline crew are usually ready to treat a customer like crap if it comes to otherwise having to sacrifice their fellow employees a benefit.

kepler11

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Hmmm...could there be something racial going on here?

womynist

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I'd sit on the crapper for 3 hours for much less than $2,000,000.00.

Hell, I did it for free on Seis de Mayo.

tommyjr

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> IANAL and IANAAE (Airline Employee), but:
1) The problem looks like 2 non-revenue passengers trying to figure out where to sit -- a non-rev flight attendant flying from point a to point b wouldn't be able to use the fold down seating as those are reserved for the crew. As others have said, a non-rev non-employee can't sit in the cockpit jumpseat.

2) What's this guys claim to anything, much less $2mm? He's not a maligned consumer -- he's a guy flying for free on the goodwill of his friend and the airline. He's traveling under no quality of service agreement.

ndonahue

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I call bullshit. Even of the flight attendant were pregnant or ill, they have their own seats at the front of the plane that face the other seats. The only thing I can think of is that he might have been causing such a ruckus among the other passengers that the toilet was the closest thing to a holding cell that they had on board!

thalia

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @facted: @bluemonq: Amen. Lots of crying wolf of late, amplified by completely credulous crazed commenters, makes me think Consumerist is on water skis looking for dorsal fins right now. Sad to see my favorite site losing its way...

AtomicPlayboy

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> There is absolutely no way this went down like this guy said it did.

Basically he's asking us to believe that #1 - the captain came out of the cockpit to chat at length with a customer in flight and not only that but...

#2 - this captain put his entire career on the line by ORDERING the guy into the bathroom -- clearly a firing-worthy if not license-losing offense, in front of all of the passengers.

Right.

Unbelievable that someone can just make a claim like this and without fear of consequences.

jperu

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @facted: "Consumerist has taken on quite a sensationalist tone in the past few months."

Yeah...remember the "Stolen Pepsi 12-pack Guy?"

InfiniTrent

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @fluiddruid: "Now, I'd like to see the nay-sayers blame the consumer on this one. :)"

He must have had serious B.O., or was "too pretty" like those girls on the SouthWest flight. Pilots are humble individuals who always make the right decision - we just don't know the entire story.

How's that for a try? ;)

InfiniTrent

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Edge23:
Just because the airline industry is struggling doesn't mean they can put passengers in harms way.

myasir

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I've had a few flights with intestinal distress where, true or not, I gladly would have flown in the bathroom.

jaydeflix

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> mutlu...reminds me of dear ndugu

induscreed

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Was his name Lou?

Cupajo

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @endersshadow: There's typically two pilots, ya know in case one of them has to tend to buisness or use the bathroom. Each pilot is fully capable of flying the plane solo.

Wormfather

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> You have to sit in the bathroom!

Is it because - I'm black? Fat? Wearing a turban? Any kind of minority female? Too much perfume? Short, tall, skinny? Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic?

Juggernaut

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @bluemonq: Very true. Consumerist has taken on quite a sensationalist tone in the past few months.

facted

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> The airline industry as a whole is a miserable mess, so I'm not surprised that a bottom of the barrel carrier would do something this outrageous.

ClayS

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @dorianh49:

Pretty cheeky of you, I'd say.

llcooljabe

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I didn't have to sit in the restroom, but I did once have my seat "commandeered" by a flight attendant when the jump seat safety belt wouldn't work. I sat in my assigned seat - it was on my ticket - and was threatened with arrest for disobeying a flight crew direction when I asked where I was supposed to sit. They said they would put me on standby for the next flight, but my wife would need to stay on that flight.

Actually, I jokingly offered to ride out the flight in the restroom, and they were quick to shoot down that idea :)

kadath217

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> That's just plain silly.
@bluemonq:

I think you meant

"That's just plane silly!"

LUV2CattleCall

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Looks like this is just another case of low-frills from an LCC...on Continental, you don't even have to get up, they bring the bathroom to you! [consumerist.com]

Those people who do the M.Jordan "It's Hanes...that's all that matters" commercials should somehow incorporate this into one of their ads!

Can someone remind his lawyers to change the lawsuit to $1,999,980 since jetBlue now charges $20 for that extra legroom?

LUV2CattleCall

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @coan_net: "Dont flight attendants have their own places to sit on a place?"

Yeah, they have those jump-seat thingies, and aren't there usually more jump-seats than flight attendants on the flight? I was on a really crowded flight once where a dude had a heart attack (I think) and they moved a couple passengers to the jump seats so they could stretch him out. And gave them free liquor.

Eyebrows McGee

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> "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"

Wait, so you aren't certain about this, but you title the article "JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight". How exactly do you think the readers will react? That's just plain silly.

bluemonq

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Something like this happened to me once. But I was in the Army and I was on a transport aircraft, so there wasn't really any Customer Service to speak of.

I did have to leave my seat whenever someone wanted to take a leak, though.

BigElectricCat

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Jim (The Canuck One):
A buddy pass is the last bit of carrot with which the once glorious travel industry can lure new suckers - ooops - employees.

(It's almost always standby (there used to be ID50 positive space passes on some carriers) you get them to pass out to friends and family. My carrier used to allow you to work "volunteer" hours and get passes in exchange. They are a footnote in travel history.

MickeyMoo

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> The real question is... Did he get billed more for the extra leg room?

tripnman

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @durkzilla: I saw this story on the news this am, and they said the jumpseat was busted.

statnut

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Jim (The Canuck One): It's called a pun. It's not a great one, but it was all I could think of at the time.

dorianh49

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Jim (The Canuck One): Airlines employees are issued buddy passes for friends/family to allow the friends/family to fly standby for free.

missdona

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Um... this isn't the entire story. Even Yahoo! managed to get more of the story than you did, Consumerist. Please state all the facts next time.

blackmage439

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @dorianh49: I think you meant "annals" instead of "anals" - but then, again, maybe you're right the first time.

I'm not clear on "buddy pass" - is it buy a ticket at full price, get one for a friend free or is it something to do with the travel industry?

Jim (The Canuck One)

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> chongo: you beat me to it. Nicely played!

Me

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I was once on a long flight from L.A. to NYC and there was a woman travelling alone who was quite old and from a Middle Eastern country. She spoke no English and about halfway through the flight shat her pants (or bhurka). She was definitely not all there mentally either. Because she shat, it smelled awful so two flight attendants half helped and half forced her to the bathroom. Since the bathroom can't hold more than one person, they had to leave the door open and other flight attendants had to stand in the galley holding up blankets so we wouldn't peek inside. (Like anyone would want.) She was in the crapper for the entire flight home and they actually have seat belt like restraints they brought out to "buckle" the woman onto the crapper. Who knew? On that day, those flight attendants earned every bit of their paycheck. What was funniest though was when we got off the plane, her entire extended family of about 30 people were waiting for her with signs, flowers, and all dressed up. Little did they know Grandma had just shat up an entire airplane.

stanfrombrooklyn

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I...don't believe this story. At all. Literally. None of it makes sense.

Balisong

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @durkzilla: You still have to be qualified to sit in those jumpseats. At some airlines the only qualification is to be an employee, at others (like southwest) you have to attend a training class.

APFPilot

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Maybe the pilot was wrong and this story was true, but what makes him entitled to $2 million?

When airlines are airlines stugglging, any judgment will be passed on to the rest of us in higher ticket prices.

4 airlines have already folded the last few weeks.

Edge23

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> The Reuters report sounds like it's a more accurate telling of this story:
[www.reuters.com]

Basically, the guy was flying on a Buddy Pass - free (except for taxes) - and therefore, had the lowest possible standby ranking to get on a flight via standby. He understood this when he decided to fly Buddy Pass. BUT, the flight was sold out. A stewardess, feeling sorry for the guy, said that he could have her seat and she would take the jump seat so that he could get on that flight.

At some point, that arrangement no longer worked. We don't know why - perhaps she wasn't feeling well, perhaps she was pregnant and couldn't actually sit on the jump seat comfortably. Who knows? Either way, she needed to sit in a real seat afterall, and, given her priority in the seating order, she had every right to bump this guy from his seat.

According to reports, she did not force him into the bathroom, nor did the pilot. They forced him to give up his seat, which was their right. He was asked to stand. He only sat in the toilet while the plane was fighting turbulence.

If you fly free, you shouldn't expect to be catered to. He could have waited until the next flight, but he demanded to be on that one, and the attendants did him a favor by even letting him on the plane to begin with.

someone1234

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> to obscure?
@Chongo: Nope.

That's a really hard story to swallow.
@SpecialEd: EW!

Rectilinear Propagation

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I would love to see the lawsuit documents. I smell a crazy self-represented plaintiff.

If someone else comes forward to corroborate this, then fine, but until I see corroboration or that this guy is represented by a lawyer who (one hopes) did an adequate investigation, this just doesn't add up.

Loki_Monster

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @INTPLibrarian: But you know what? If you had refused to leave your seat when asked to, they could have had the feds come and get you at the gate. Because clearly you are a terrorist. The flight crew can do whatever they want when in the air and everyone else just has to bend over and take it or face retribution on the ground.

MissPeacock

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @THINK_before_posting: If you read the linked article it seems pretty clear what happened. The flight attendant decided to let Mutlu have the last empty seat on the plane and use the jumpseat, only to change her mind midflight. But rather than violate company policy and let him have the jumpseat they made him hang out in the bathroom. So your "No way in HELL" seems be the case.

BlondeGrlz is having a BlondeBoyz!

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Bet the leg room was nice.

/not mine

mike

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @coan_net: Sounds like there should be something more to the story - like maybe the flight attendant was not feeling good and needed to sit someplace for a little bit or something.... but no excuse to send a passanger to the bathroom. Dont flight attendants have their own places to sit on a place?

Click on the link at the end of this article to see the original CBS article. The pilot made him give up his seat because the "JUMP SEAT" the stewardess was assigned to was "TOO UNCOMFORTABLE" for her. He was not allowed to sit in the jumpseat since only JetBlue Employees are allowed to use them. I Guess Jetblue Employees aren't allowed to sit in the Bathrooms!

@MissPeacock: I submitted this one as well! What a story!

metaled

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> In other news, I once spent 4 hours in an airplane bathroom on a 14-hour intercontinental flight.

...because I drank 4 mini bottles of wine. Ugh, that was a special kind of hell.

kimsama

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @INTPLibrarian: OK, so according to the article, the flight was 100% full and the unnamed pilot made the statement that the seats for the flight crew could only be used by an employee.

So, the pilot violates the FAA rule that states that passenger seats must have seatbelts INSTEAD of violating corporate policy to only let employees use the special flight crew seats?

I want to be this guy's lawyer if this is true.

durkzilla

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> My wife works for JetBlue so here are some company policies:

Any JetBlue employee can ride in the Jump Seat.

All JetBlue planes currently have 4 jump seats but only fly with three flight attendants (i.e. always an open seat if a different JetBlue employee were to be flying and needed a seat.)

If this were true then why give up your seat if flying on a buddy pass? Easy answer, if you were flying on MY buddy pass and make ANY kind of a scene then *I* would lose all flight benefits.

That being said, there is no way in HELL that JetBlue would seat some poor schmuck in the bathroom. Worst case IF the plane was full that flight attendant MUST have had a seat somewhere and he could use it. Otherwise, if the plane was full and this was a non-working flight attendant going home she would be in line to BUMP the buddy pass person. Buddy passes are the LAST person to get on the flight. They can be bumped for any reason at all since they are flying standby.

THINK_before_posting

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> He was just too pretty to be left in plain site of the rest of the plane.

itsallme

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> If the stewardess was the one uncomfortable in the jump seat, she should have been the one to sit in the bathroom. I know you have to be qualified to sit in a jump seat, but is it really any less safe than sitting in the bathroom during turbulance?

B

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> This story makes no sense whatsoever, and as another person posted in the comments section of this story in the Daily News, the flight in question had about 25 seats open.

Furthermore, it is against FAA regulations to be in any seat without a seatbelt when the fasten seatbelt sign is on, so that would also mean JetBlue violated FAA policy.

Also, if a flight attendant came up to you on a plane and told you to go sit in the bathroom for 2 hours, how many of you would go? Do you think your fellow passengers wouldn't say anything? I find this all very hard to believe.

facted

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Dumpseat.

ElizabethD

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @Chongo:

High five!

ElizabethD

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @durkzilla: @APFPilot: Disclaimer- I'm just sayin' what I heard. I have zero knowledge of the rules.

missdona

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @APFPilot: I think we're using the term "jumpseat" improperly - I'm not referring to a seat in the cockpit behind the pilots, I'm referring to a seat in the cabin that usually is stowed or folded up that the flight attendants use during takeoff and landing...

durkzilla

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> According to another post on this story elsewhere, the stewardess was supposed to ride on the jumpseat but she said it wasn't comfortable so the pilot bumped this guy to the lav.

crackblind

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @durkzilla: @missdona: You have to be qualified to sit in the jumseat.

APFPilot

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @missdona: I'm pretty sure having a passenger spend the entire flight in the bathroom without a seatbelt violates some sort of rule as well. At this point we're just arguing over which rule/regulation JetBlue violated by doing this. If it were that important to the pilot that the flight attendant have the passenger's seat I'm sure he could have granted an override of the airline's policy and allowed the passenger a safe seat in the galley rather than inconveniencing the rest of the obviously full airplane.

durkzilla

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @missdona: I know people that have been seated on the jumpseats on other airlines...

Anks329

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> There are jumpseats for flight crews in various parts of the aircraft, like the galleys. Why not put the extra person there instead of using one of the two crappers available to the coach passengers....

Not everyone is allowed to sit in the jumpseat; someone traveling on an employee buddy pass almost certainly wouldn't. The real question is, why didn't they put the flight attendant in a jumpseat?

44 in a Row

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @durkzilla: Read the article.

I do wonder if he just willingly got up when they told him to vacate his seat, though. I would have made them physically forcibly remove me. (Admittedly, that wouldn't be too difficult, though.)

INTPLibrarian

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @durkzilla: As I heard it, only employees of Jet Blue are allowed to sit in the jumpseats.

I agree with most, there has to be a part missing from this story. It doesn't add up.

missdona

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @SpecialEd:

Are you my long lost twin?

durkzilla

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @AD8BC: He probably had to MacGuyver some ass gaskets.

dorianh49

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> That's a really hard story to swallow. I would like to hear what the pilot has to say about it. The flight attendants have seats with belts and if the passenger seat was needed for some reason, he could have sat in one of those seats. I don't think we have the whole story.

SpecialEd

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Wait, when does a pilot leave the cockpit midflight?

endersshadow

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I can't put my finger on it, but something about this story doesn't smell right.

There are jumpseats for flight crews in various parts of the aircraft, like the galleys. Why not put the extra person there instead of using one of the two crappers available to the coach passengers....

durkzilla

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> What would have happened when the seatbelt light came on and he didn't have one?

AD8BC

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> I'm sure there's way more to this story. Maybe he was showing sympathy to the woman who sat on her toilet so long that her skin grew onto the seat.

theblackdog

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> There is nothing they could have said that would have legitimized me sitting in the bathroom on an airplane.

ChipMcDougal

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> The guy should've just turned the other cheek.

dorianh49

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> They should have played musical chairs for the flight. Good way to pass the 3 hours. . . .

highmodulus

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> What could be the reason a pilot would force someone to sit in the toilet for a Flight Attendant? Was she sick? I doubt a pilot would just force someone into the John without a damn good reason. Buddy ticket or not.

Trickery

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> hopefully we will be privy to more information.

//to obscure?

Chongo

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Sounds like there should be something more to the story - like maybe the flight attendant was not feeling good and needed to sit someplace for a little bit or something.... but no excuse to send a passanger to the bathroom.

Dont flight attendants have their own places to sit on a place?

coan_net

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> But...what happened when other passangers needed to use the restroom? Did they make him get up, leave, then go back in and sit there after someone stunk it up?

AlteredBeast

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> @dorianh49: *applauding* Bravo!!

I sent this bad boy in last night. So happy that it got posted.

MissPeacock

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Now, I'd like to see the nay-sayers blame the consumer on this one. :)

fluiddruid

]]> <![CDATA[JetBlue Forces Passenger To Sit On Toilet For Flight]]> Will this be another story to slip between the cracks, or will it go down in the anals of history? We'll probably have to wait for the hole story.

dorianh49

]]>