JetBlue Employee Surprised by Seasonal Cancellation of Portland Flights

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Brian Rountree, Flight Attendant for JetBlue, This Afternoon in Portland.

“Pulling out of Portland flaberghasted me.  I honestly thought we were making enough money to stay here,” said Brian Rountree, an eight (8) year flight attendant for JetBlue this afternoon in the Old Port, of Portland.

Several days ago JetBlue announced that it was terminating service between Portland and New York starting January in of 2019.  Service will be reinstated after Memorial Day of 2019 according to Rountree.  He said the 20,000 company employees received notice just hours before the news was made public.

“It’s no secret that Delta doesn’t like JetBlue,” said Rountree, a California native.  “So Delta ramped up service from JFK to Portland. There were too many empty seats on JetBlue in Portland.”  Rountree, a former eleven (11) year employee of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department, said he was aware of the empty seats on JetBlue flights.  It was on one of his flights that he met his Portland girlfriend, Heather.  Because of the company’s no-furlough policy, no employee will lose his/her job over this change.

In fact, Rountree predicts that sometime next year, JetBlue will ;provide service to Europe.  They’ve been talking about it for a few years now and I believe it will happen soon,” Rountree said.  Jet/Blue is eighteen (18) years old.