As people begin heading off on summer travels, they’re likely to encounter a common issue plaguing flyers—delays.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics, out of 6.8 million flights in 2023 nationwide, nearrly 1.4 million were delayed. “That’s about 20.2% of all scheduled domestic flights in the country. Meanwhile, 87,943 fights were canceled, about 1.3% of the total,” author Christopher Adams reported for KXAN. Furthermore, a recent study from Amadeus suggested that these levels of flight disruption were expected to remain high in the coming year.
While some of these delays are understandable, others can cause travelers to question what exactly is going on behind the scenes. Some have accused airlines of lying about the reasons for delays, an idea validated by flight attendants, while others have simply wondered why exactly their flight is departing significantly later than expected.
Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after sharing her flight delay story.
Many flights, many delays
In a video with over 221,000 views, TikTok user Rox (@millennialrox) shares a peculiar experience she and her colleagues had flying JetBlue out of Boston Logan International Airport.
“I came here with three colleagues, right? And all three of us had different departure times,” she starts. “One colleague had his flight with JetBlue at 3:30, I initially had my flight with JetBlue at 10:30 p.m., and then my other colleague had a flight out at 8:30 p.m with KLM.”
All of the flyers, she said, encountered issues that could not be attributable to weather.
“The first colleague at 3:30 was delayed by two hours because they said that something was not working properly. There was a part missing, so they were just stuck on the runway, just at a standstill waiting for something to be fixed,” she says.
“My second colleague, his flight at 8:30, he left at 10:30. He was stuck on the runway for two hours with no AC. No AC,” she continues. “The engine wasn’t starting. Then, they had to call for parts to come and fix the plane, whatever the case may be.”
“My plane—right now, it’s 11 o’clock. We were supposed to fly out at 10:30, and the pilot just came out of the plane…and said that 80 of their TVs are not working,” she states.
This reasoning behind the delay sparked outrage amongst passengers.
“Everyone is, like, in an uproar. Like, ‘who the f*ck cares about the TVs? We want to get out of here!’” Rox exclaims. She goes on to note that many at the airport had been waiting since the day prior, as a previous flight had been canceled.
“So people are frustrated. They’re angry, and it’s like, what the heck is happening?” she asks. “And the pilot said they have to check to see who turned off those TVs, if they did turn them off, if it’s a malfunction, or what’s happening, so on and so forth.”
“It’s fishy,” she adds. “I don’t know. It’s kind of strange that three planes today had a malfunctioning issue—two with JetBlue, maybe more, I don’t know, but from just me and my other colleague with JetBlue and then my other one with KLM, very strange.”
Can flights be delayed because of broken TVs?
Several commenters speculated that, while the broken TVs may have been part of the reason for the delay, it was likely not the TVs that were directly at fault. Rather, the airline could have been worried that the issue with the TVs was indicative of a larger issue.
“The issue of the TVs might be a symptom of a bigger problem,” as one commenter stated.
“Logan is nototrious for 2-3 hour delays. Also as a Flight Attendant there are other concerns if the tvs are out and it could be related to the AC or Engine Cooling,” offered another.
Additionally, according to The Weather Channel, Boston Logan Airport is among the 10 largest airports with the most weather-related delays. Furthermore, many airlines are still facing staffing shortages, which could lead to increased delays and longer repair times for mechanical issues.
That said, it appears that the actual number of mechanical issues on flights is consistent with previous years.
@millennialrox not me freaking out #jetblue #bostonloganairport ♬ original sound – Call me Rox ✌️
Commenters share their flight delay stories
In the comments section, users offered their own flight delay horror stories.
“It took me 10 hours to get to Florida on jet blue,” said a user. “They are losing it.”
“I flew jet blue a couple weeks ago out of Boston and it was delayed 2 1/2 hours,” added another. “They said they had to get a plane out of the hanger from being repaired.”
“My jet blue flight from Logan was canceled last Wednesday. Could not reschedule it until three days later,” stated a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to JetBlue via email and Rox via Instagram direct message.
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