JetBlue CEO Neeleman
He just wants to run the company: "It's belts and suspenders," Neeleman says. "If your suspenders fall off, your belt keeps your pants up. You have to have contingency plans for everything. My job is to make sure no one ever forgets what happened."
Related StoriesWill customers forgive JetBlue? That depends in part on how it weathers future storms, literal and otherwise. (Snowstorms in February and March passed smoothly.) One thing's for sure: If Delta or American introduced a customer bill of rights, as JetBlue has done, it wouldn't have nearly the same impact. Customers give JetBlue another chance because it has consistently done right by them before.
No, Neeleman doesn't kick me out of his office. He talks for another 15 minutes about how he's fixing systems, training personnel, hiring a veteran COO, using the incident to make JetBlue a better airline. When the interview ends, Neeleman does something that surprises me, although it shouldn't. He says he's sorry for snapping.
Apology accepted.
Comments from the Fast Company Connection, a reader panel. Read more here.
Challenges and mistakes are inevitable; how others view them depends on the response. We want businesses to deliver on what they say.
Ryan Loefler
Grabill, Indiana
Wieland
Under huge pressure, Neeleman took the punishment standing up and said all the right things--a difficult situation well-handled.
Bryan Hayes
Chicago, Illinois
Hyatt Hotels
Neeleman didn't take enough blame. If systems weren't built, that's his fault; he should think about turning over operations to someone else while he promotes the vision and hands out snacks. What this reflects is a culture of disempowerment. Employees didn't feel authorized to take commonsense actions and management didn't know what was happening.
Brian Cassell
Annapolis, Maryland
DVC LLC
Neeleman reacted well and is doing the right thing. The customer bill of rights will go a long way to restoring trust and confidence.
Jo-Ann Little
Middletown, Connecticut
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
Recent Comments | 3 Total
February 8, 2008 at 11:43am by jeff hardy
After the PATCO, air traffic controller's, strike in 1981 individual airlines or the industry as a whole should have taken the initiative then to pursue a pax bill of rights during a very hectic period in air travel. What Neeleman accomplished is noteworthy and ensures that paxs will return to the gates. What are the other airline seniors doing now to improve their relationship with customers?