Pinelands HS Seniors Unstuck from Orlando, Back Home Safe

When your kids are growing up, you know it's important to get some "real world" experiences.

Getting stuck in an airport is not the kind of experience you really want them to have, though.

That's what happened this weekend to seniors from Pinelands Regional High School in Little Egg Harbor, who found themselves stuck in Orlando, Florida.

Social media posts indicated that the Pinelands' Senior Class Trip was thrown a wrench Saturday when Jet Blue Airlines cancelled flights for the group due to weather. That left about 170 kids and chaperones without flights, hotels, or anything else.

The group was looking at the prospect of spending the night (and maybe longer) stuck in the airport in Orlando.

Several parents reached out on social media, expressing their displeasure with the situation.

Get our free mobile app

The story does have a happy ending. A Pinelands High School parent messaged me this morning:

"By the grace of God they were able to get on a charter flight and all arrived safely this morning. A big shout out to the class advisers and chaperones and to Central Regional HS for supplying 5 school buses to transport everyone from Newark back to Pinelands."

Here's another message I received about what the big save:

"We were able to get everyone home safely. Our travel agent contacted the CEO of Jet Blue directly to get a flight out of Orlando. The Central Regional Superintendent arranged to have 5 buses pick up our students from Newark. It was a long night for everyone!"

A post on the Pinelands School Facebook page shared the good news:

Somebody has a GREAT TRAVEL AGENT!