JETBLUE VDAY CRISIS CASE ANALYSIS

JetBlue Airways Company profile:

 Founded in 1999 by David Neeleman.

 "Bringing the humanity back to air travel"
 Immediate industry rise.
 2002 - Marketer of the Year.
 2007 - 52 destinations, 600 daily flights.
 "Home base" - JFK International Airport.

Problem:

 February 14, 2007 - major snowstorm at JFK.

 Loaded passengers, conditions too poor for takeoff.
 Some left for 10 hours on runway.
 Lack of communication between JetBlue employees.
 17 of 156 flights left JFK.
 Canceled/Delayed flights for a week (2,000 total).
 Tens of millions of dollars.
 Angry passengers, reputation damages (media).
 Did not live up to "customer-focused" philosophy.
Customers affected:

Four years after the JFK snowstorm, JetBlue had to contend with another
snow incidence in October 2011 that led to the diversion of six flights with
700 passengers.

For more than seven hours passengers and crew were left in a snowstorm
on the tarmac at Hartford Connecticut without water, food, and toilet
facilities.

In the face of this crisis, it took the airline 24 hours before it could make an
official statement and to apologize.

Measures taken by Jet Blue:

 Immediate public apology and reparations

 Full refund, Free round-trip ticket
 Visible leadership (Neeleman) took full responsibility.
 Television appearances, Internet blogs, Newspaper interviews
 Customer's Bill of Rights