The first JetBlue Airways flight to Bermuda in six days arrived late yesterday afternoon as the low-cost airline began to resume a normal schedule after a torrid week that ended with the company grounding all its flights as it tried to recover from disruption caused by the severe winter storms that hit New York and much of the north-east US last week.

A JetBlue aircraft that had been parked at Bermuda International Airport since Valentine’s Day left the Island late on Sunday after being unable to return to New York’s JFK Airport because of the heavy snow and then encountering radio problems that kept it grounded for an additional two days.

The airline company had tried to keep as many of its flights operating through the severe weather by juggling schedules and destinations, but ended up with aircraft stranded in different locations and unable to fulfil normal schedule duties, aircrew being in the wrong places and pilots unable to fly because they had exhausted their permitted flying hours and needed to take mandatory rest periods.

In a bid to put things back in order the company cancelled flights at the weekend in order to put things back on schedule.

Bermuda Airport managing director Jim Howes, said: “JetBlue temporarily suspended flights from New York because of the problems at JFK due to snow. They resumed their flights to Bermuda on Monday. That flight arrived four hours late.”

Mr. Howse said he expected the JetBlue schedule to now resume as normal .

The plane that was parked at the airport since arriving last Tuesday finally left without passengers late on Sunday.

“That aircraft came in on Tuesday, and then all flights were stopped on Wednesday. It was to fly back on Friday but then they discovered the aircraft had radio problems. It flew back as an empty ‘ferry flight’ on Sunday,” said Mr. Howes.

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