Coronavirus News: JetBlue salutes health care workers with NYC flyover

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Thursday, May 7, 2020

JetBlue salutes health care workers with NYC flyover

JetBlue planes flew over New York City to salute health care workers and first responders on Thursday.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- JetBlue planes flew over New York City to salute health care workers and first responders on Thursday.

The flyover happened at 7 p.m. as part of the Clap Because We Care movement.

The flyover included the airline's three New York-themed special jets honoring the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), New York Police Department (NYPD) and all who live in and love New York (I LOVE NY/Empire State Development).

The low-flying planes took off from Kennedy Airport, fly along the south shores of Queens and Brooklyn, loop up over New York Harbor, then over Brooklyn and Queens, soar over Long Island Sound then continue down over the Bronx and the west side of Manhattan before returning to New York Harbor, passing just off Staten Island on their way back to Kennedy.

"JetBlue's mission of inspiring humanity is stronger now more than ever," said Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer, JetBlue. "We applaud the healthcare workers who are helping us get through this challenging time and inspiring humanity along the way. This is an opportunity for us to fly it forward and show our appreciation for the heroic efforts of medical professionals, first responders and public servants - not just here in our home of New York but around the country as well."

Additionally, the airline announced that through May 15, customers can nominate a JetBlue Healthcare Hero for the chance to receive a roundtrip flight for two for future travel. They're giving away the flights to 100,000 healthcare workers.

To kick off the program, JetBlue is donating pairs of roundtrip flight certificates for 10,000 health care workers at the Mount Sinai Health System, including their Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island campuses, as well as at NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health care system in the United States with more than 70 locations across the city's five boroughs.

Customers can submit a brief description of why they are nominating their healthcare hero at jetblue.com/healthcarehero.

Also, JetBlue is providing its almost 23,000 crew members with round-trip flight certificates to gift to the health care heroes in their own lives.