“Look, this isn’t about the $18 ticket money anymore. This is about being able to hold bad… “Look, this isn’t about the $18 ticket money anymore. This is about being able to hold bad filmmakers responsible! This is just like when we got our money back for ‘BASEketball!'”

Stan from “South Park” may have said it best.

In America, we expect to be compensated when we are cheated. And while this line of thought may not apply to movies just yet, it has been incorporated into many aspects of American life. When we receive inadequate health care, we sue; when we purchase something faulty, we can return it; when french fries are undercooked, we ask for a refund.

So, when an airline is responsible for a string of cancellations and delays, disgruntled passengers should expect the same type of treatment.

This is JetBlue’s new strategy.

The strategy, however, is in part the airline’s desperate attempt to win back passengers after bad weather conditions grounded its planes – with passengers inside – at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport for up to 10 and a half hours last week.

The delays at JFK may have been a blessing in disguise, though, since they have caused the airline to re-examine its customer service policy. Yesterday, JetBlue released a customer bill of rights that promises stranded passengers vouchers ranging anywhere from $25 to the full amount of the ticket, according to the Associated Press.

The delays covered by the customer bill of rights include airplanes unable to taxi to the gate within 30 minutes and flight departures delayed by a minimum of three hours. The airline also promises a full refund to passengers whose flights are cancelled within 12 hours of their departure.

With spring break only a couple of weeks away, it won’t be long before thousands of Pitt students flock to Pittsburgh International Airport, hoping for smooth traveling to their destinations of choice. But it is inevitable that at least one of our flights will be delayed, cancelled or some combination of both.

For years, we have put up with the stress of flying, which typically comes hand in hand with bad customer service and unexpected – and sometimes unexplained – cancellations and delays. We put up with this because in general – aside from teleportation or some form of time travel – flying is the fastest way to get from one place to another. And when bad weather strikes, we assume that it is not the airline’s responsibility to compensate us for the hassle.

Not so, anymore. While we can’t hold airlines responsible for bad weather, we should hold them responsible when they do not have a system in place for stranded flight crews and passengers. We should also hold them responsible when they make the choice to operate flights during a snow and ice storm, which JetBlue did last week.

Delays and cancellations are inevitable, but airlines shouldn’t be exempt from the same type of customer service we receive in all of our other factions of life. How hard is it to send an e-mail notifying a passenger that his flight is cancelled or delayed? They have our names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Heck, they could probably steal our identities if they wanted to.

JetBlue may have learned the value of customer service the hard way, but we hope that other airlines can learn from the JetBlue disaster and work to improve the quality of air travel for every passenger in the future.