For friendlier skies

It's the Stadium Express of sky -- direct flight, one rate and there is no first class. It's JetBlue, and unless you are from the East Coast I am sure you have never heard of it.\nBased out of JFK Airport in New York City, the two-year-old airline company boasts satellite television with 24 channels at every seat, leather seats in every class and the lowest fares in the business.\nReinventing air travel, JetBlue went public last week and its shares soared close to $45 on the Nasdaq, making its stock price surpass that of United Airlines Corporation and US Airways Group…and rightly so.\nIt is about time some airline took a step forward with friendly service, reasonable prices, enough leg room and flights that don't leave you stranded in Memphis, Tenn., for five hours on a Sunday afternoon.\nIt has been reported that major airline executives are predicting a pending doom for JetBlue, saying that the prices it offers with the product it has just isn't feasible. And while JetBlue executives have admitted that the costs will increase as the planes get older, many believe JetBlue will set the standard for air travel, challenging airlines like US Airways and American Airlines to step up to the plate.\nFor a long time now I have been frustrated with the service of many of the leading airlines. Last week a Delta baggage claim agent told me that almost every single flight that week coming into Indianapolis had been delayed by at least an hour. Talk about customer service. \nFlying with many major airlines, I have long sensed that stewardesses feel like I am lucky to be on the plane, rather than they are lucky that consumers like me are continue to fly with them so they can stay employed. There is no uniform standard for customer service. \nJetBlue is making this the norm. Their rigorous hiring process guarantees high levels of customer service.\nThe launch of JetBlue and their expansion is important for many reasons. It brings into question exactly why flights on other airlines are so expensive. I want to know why the standard in the past has been tightly packed seats, ridiculously small overhead bins and rare in-flight entertainment. And why, if there are still seats available on flights, should the price rise to well over a thousand dollars just because it is last minute travel?\nIn looking up a flight on April 19 from New York City to New Orleans returning on the 21st, JetBlue offered a $206.00 round-trip ticket. On Delta.com the "discounted web fare" is $1,158.00 at cheapest, and that is sitting in coach class with a 9 a.m. departure time.\nThe point is that it is time other airlines started doing something about their costs, their service and their standards of excellence. There is no reason why a fare should increase by a thousand dollars simply because it is closer to the departure date. If they can contract companies like Priceline.com to sell the tickets for a couple hundred bucks, they can offer passengers who want to be able to pick their flight times a price far less than $1,000.\nJetBlue is doing everything other airlines should have been doing all along. Frequent flyers must band together and demand that other airlines follow suit, and give us -- and our bank accounts -- more space, some good entertainment and reasonable fares. It will be heaven in the skies, at last.