JetBlue's critics should take a chill pill

JetBlue Airways Corp. (Nasdaq:JBLU) is getting beaten up in the press because passengers were left stranded for hours on planes that never took off from their runways because of the snow storm that's pounded the Mid-Atlantic region.

About 10 flights were "significantly delayed" with passengers aboard them at the airline's home base at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the company said. More than 250 out of 505 flights were canceled. The media is reporting horror stories of honeymoons delayed, sweltering cabins and unpleasant bathrooms.

Responding to the outrage, JetBlue called the delays "unacceptable" and offered a full refund and a free roundtrip ticket to customers delayed onboard any aircraft for more than three hours. That seems to be more than fair compensation to passengers who shouldn't have expected that flying would be that fun during bad weather.

I'm sure JetBlue, a Wall Street darling, is sincerely sorry for upsetting people and should find ways to prevent this from happening.Today's bad publicity would have been much worse if the company hadn't acted quickly and decisively to respond to the criticism. Other companies should take note.

Lucky for JetBlue shareholders, there was some good news today as well. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from neutral to buy. The shares rose almost 4 percent., indicating that Wall Street is expecting the storm of bad publicity to blow over fast.