JetBlue Installs Napping Pods For Weary Travelers At JFK Airport

You know the feeling: your head is full of stuffing, your feet are dragging, and you just need to find somewhere to rest your tired bones after a long flight and before you get on another plane. If you don’t have access to an airline’s lounge, there are limited options for napping at most airports: snoozing upright in a chair or perhaps tucked away in a corner on the ground. JetBlue is offering another choice with new napping pods at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

JetBlue has installed EnergyPods at its home base and they’re ready for nappers, the airline announced this week. The 20-minute “JetNap” experience is free, and can be undertaken in any of the four new pods available at the JetBlue Terminal 5 concourse. It’s the first commercial airline to introduce EnergyPods to U.S. travelers, the company says.

The pods are made by a company called MetroNaps, a “Fatigue Management Solutions” business that specializes in “workplace rest facilities.” Once the 20 minutes of sleep time is over, “nappers are gently awakened with a combination of lights, music and vibration.”

“At JetBlue, we are always focused on making the most comfortable experience for our customers, both on and off the plane,” said Icema Gibbs, director of corporate social responsibility. “We are thrilled to be the first commercial airline to bring EnergyPods to our terminal and give customers the chance to nap, recharge and reenergize so they can leave feeling refreshed to take on whatever journey awaits them.”

Though JetBlue touts the pods as offering “a private, soothing and comfortable environment, ideal for snoozing,” with a privacy visor to ensure “serene seclusion as soothing rhyme from the built-in speakers reduce background noise,” at least one reporter who has tried the pods so far disagrees.

“JetBlue’s new nap pods are a nightmare,” wrote Elizabeth Rosner of the New York Post, saying the only way she could have fallen asleep in it would be if she was spitting out Ambien.

“There are kids climbing all over the machine, the leather feels cheap — and they placed the things right next to the bathrooms, not the brightest idea,” she said.

As for that “privacy visor,” she says it was ineffective at blocking out the array of airport smells, lights, and sounds.

If you find yourself slipping into one of these new pods on your way through JFK, please drop us a line about your experience by emailing us at tips@consumerist.com.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist