Instant Feedback - Part 2

Crisis is the unexpected. The article is relevant, but I only see a finger pointed at JetBlue. How did the Airport react? I think you can point fingers at one company, but working with crisis everyday there is a long line of decisions that impact how you can respond. I feel the Brand Management of JetBlue has been protected by addressing vs. pretending it didn't happen. Although, I wasn't someone stuck on a plane for 11 hours!

Rick Olson
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Customer loyalty, the intangible asset that can truly sustain a company. Others may desire it, and some may try to measure it, but only the most human of companies will actually achieve it. We all know when it's fake. Neeleman, and JetBlue, should weather the storm just fine. He's human and customers know it.

Valerie Ann Leduc
Burrillville, Rhode Island

David Neeleman absolutely did the right thing by appearing publicly and apologizing. The Event has damaged JetBlue's brand, but the extraordinary response is what will bring JetBlue back and better than ever.

Steve Monte
Community Solutions
San Jose, California

David Neeleman certainly did the right thing for taking responsibility for the problems. Refreshing to see a CEO do that. The brand has been damaged slightly, but will most likely recover and prosper with its corrective measures. It will certainly be an airline I check first when I need to fly.

Mike Marrone
Niagara Falls, New York

David Neeleman did all the right things. In this day of questionable, poor, or sloppy customer service, it was refreshing to see the CEO stand up and show the pain he felt. I hope that every industry follows this story and learns from the lessons that David shares as he continues the journey we call customer service. Service is truly the backbone of every organization, private and public.

LindaHouts
Corpus Christi, Texas

David Neeleman did the right thing in how he responded in the immediate aftermath of the Valentine's Day debacle. Experience is a tough teacher, presenting the test first and then the lesson. Neeleman, based on what your article describes, has proven himself to be a star pupil. The customer bill of rights deserves special mention as both a seminal and welcome advancement for the airlines industry. JetBlue may have been shaken by the Valentine's Day debacle, but, thanks to the visionary and positive actions undertaken by Neeleman, not shattered.

Robert Cullen
Baltimore, Maryland

David Neeleman did the right thing. What was the right thing? It wasn't the apology nor admitting fault. It was connecting with his customers. He pushed to make it right and developed a bill of rights for his customers. He put himself in their place and didn't like what happened. So he became proactive to prevent it in the future. Connection was the right action.

Too often people try to control a crisis rather than survive and learn from a crisis. To survive such a crisis you need to have crisis leadership in place. What is that? Organizations that handle crisis well have trained all their people down to the ones in the trenches to make the right decisions. David should not have had to go sleepless for days to handle this mess. His people should have been trained to do so. (Much better prepared next time.)

He did the right thing in learning from the crisis and immediately putting actions into place so his personnel can handle such an event in the future. He may be apologizing for the inconvenience but he accepting the responsibility to change so it won't happen again.

Too many companies apologize and do nothing. JetBlue is apologizing and working to avoid it in the future. A big difference.

Phil Clark
Clark & Associates
Lees Summit, Missouri

David Neeleman did the right thing. He does what his gut tells him to do. He reacted to the crisis in a caring manner. That's all the public wants to see. They want to see that JetBlue still cares about the customer before, during and after a crisis.

Jack Scalfani
GiveMe Foods
Buena Park, California

David Neeleman did the right thing. In the long run the storm may have helped JetBlue. He certainly got a lot of attention from the press regarding how he is responding to the problems which may increase ridership in the long run.

Margot Kaplan
Chicago, Illinois