Flight Finally Arrives at Westchester Airport 15 Hours Late

HARRISON, NY — JetBlue Passengers trying to get from Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to Westchester County Airport (HPN) had a much longer travel day than they expected.

Flight 814, originally scheduled to arrive at the airport in Harrison on Sunday night, instead arrived Monday afternoon, more than 15 hours behind schedule. A JetBlue spokesperson says the passengers were not aboard the aircraft for the bulk of the lengthy delay.

The airline said weather in Florida was behind the unusually long delay, causing the flight, which was supposed to depart Fort Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Sunday night, to not leave the gate until after 10 a.m. Monday morning. Once the weather cleared, the crew scheduled to fly the aircraft had already exceeded the number of hours allowed by the FAA before a mandatory rest period was required, further extending the length of the journey for passengers.

“As you’re probably aware, Florida experienced dangerous weather conditions yesterday resulting in mandatory ground stops and forced cancellations and delays of many flights to and from the state,” JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski told Patch. “Flight 814 is among these flights impacted, and these customers are among those we worked to re-accommodate. When these weather-related system impacts occur, we are faced with repositioning crew, as most previously assigned crewmembers end up reaching their legally allowable duty hours. We appreciate our customers' patience as we work as quickly as possible to resume normal service.”

The flying time for the Fort Lauderdale to Westchester County Airport flight normally clocks in at just under three hours. In this case, passengers spent more than five times the amount of time to cover that same distance.