Originally Posted by thrufru

The screenshot of a completely unverified text message that contains zero identifying information to authenticate it that Josh Hjemvick posted to X was irresponsible and alarmist for no reason and the idea that anyone gives it credit is absurd.

Just for clarity, the situation in Ecuador is basically an offshoot of prison gang violence erupting into the streets and not a coordinated assault by a "cartel". While the TV station attack was unusual even in countries where prison violence spills out, the perpetrators were subdued almost immediately. As for kidnappings, it doesn't appear that civilians have been targeted at all. This went down yesterday, and JetBlue cancelled the two GYE inbounds yesterday and today. Tonight's flight to UIO is currently showing as scheduled.

Before anyone launches into a tirade and speculates about whether or not that is the safe thing to do, remember that the airport in GYE is virtually in the heart of the city, while UIO is well outside city limits. UIO is surrounded by open space that is much easier for security forces to secure making operations there safer to resume.

I'm not quite sure how any of us expect JetBlue Management or the Safety & Security team to have foreseen the violence and unrest that exploded yesterday when the government of Ecuador was unprepared for it. It seems like they're taking every precaution to keep the crews that are in country safe until they can be evacuated. I'm not quite sure what more anyone thinks they could possibly do. It's not like they'd send in an extraction team.

Most of us who have flown internationally understand that occasionally things can get a bit dicey, especially when it's not something we're used to in the U.S. We were warned of the risk when we accepted this job and we are reminded of it every year in recurrent.