JetBlue Cancels RDU, Other Weekend Flights

NEW YORK — JetBlue, still reeling from a snowstorm that forced hundreds of canceled and delayed flights, said Saturday that 23 percent of its weekend flights would be canceled as it tries to get back on schedule, including all flights in and out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

The discount airline company said that 23 percent of their flights on those two days were grounded so  aircraft can be repositioned and flight crews could reset their operating clocks. Further cancellations may occur on Saturday and Sunday, JetBlue officials said.

"JetBlue is taking this aggressive, unprecedented action to end rolling delays and cancellations, and to operate a new schedule reliably," the New York-based carrier said in a statement posted on its Web site.

A JetBlue representative said the company attempted to contact passengers on affected flights via e-mail or phone to inform them of the cancellations. However, representatives were unable to obtain contact information for all customers booked on the flights.

Beyond the cancellation at RDU, all flights to and from the following cities have been cancelled on Saturday and Sunday:

Flights to other JetBlue destinations may be impacted as well. All customers are advised to check their flight status online on JetBlue's Web site. Passengers on canceled flights also obtain a refund or JetBlue credit through the Web site or by calling 1-800-JETBLUE.

JetBlue's problems began Wednesday when its operations at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport were overwhelmed by the snow and ice storm. With dozens of grounded jets and not enough gates to unload passengers, some flights were stranded on the tarmac for up to 10 hours.

The airline said it tried to get its system back to normal by selectively canceling flights Thursday and Friday, but long delays continued because of constraints.