Air travel
doesn’t have to be a total downer. Sure, you practically have to sell your kidney for
a bag of peanuts on some airlines, and all screaming babies should really be
given sleeping pills magically soothing candy. But, with some much needed good will, JetBlue is making skies friendly again with its Flying it Forward program.
Following pretty
much the same concept as Helen Hunt gem Pay It Forward, JetBlue’s new program is
a passed series of free flights, all gifted down the line from one deserving recipient to the next.
A
Chicago local was the first to benefit from the program, when JetBlue agreed to fly her to a conference in
New York for free with one stipulation: that she give a flight to someone else in
need. Over the last five months, Flying it Forward has gifted 10 people flights
to eight cities so they can do things like paint murals, build neighborhood
libraries, and even attend a family reunion.
"These stories speak for
themselves," Morgan Johnston, a JetBlue communications manager, told The
Huffington Post. "We want people to talk about these stories and start
thinking about what they'd do if they had the ability to travel."