JetBlue Passengers Describe Airport Tarmac Ordeal

One of JetBlue's senior execs was once quoted as saying that they outsource alot of operational functions (e.g. heavy maintenance to El Salvador) because management does not consider them to be "core," i.e. important to the customer. This sort of thing, i.e. focusing on the brand and customer "touchpoints," works very well in theory and Wall Street loves the concept (as they did when Valujet was doing something similar), but could it have played a part in the meltdown here?

In other words, since JetBlue does not control as much of its operation in house as other carriers, when something like this affects the system, there are more outsourced vendors and partners in different places to have to reset. Any comments?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FlyingColors

OHG...7M?!
Wow :shock:
Perhaps the wait was not that bad after all :lol:

---

Well, that was for about 3,000 PAX, so around $2,500 per PAX, still not to shabby!

I can't wait to see what B6's stock price does this week.

Can you say "Wow, I never knew a stock price could fall that quickly!!"? ;)

Just heard on the news that JetBlue is saying they will be "80%" Monday and Tuesday, but it will be Wednesday before they are back to normal.

A comment I read on Airliners.Net got me thinking there next A320 delivered should be named:

"Winter Storm Blues"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iberia A340-600

A comment I read on Airliners.Net got me thinking there next A320 delivered should be named:

"Winter Storm Blues"

---

Wow! Good one! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

New York Times:

Quote:

---

JetBlue’s C.E.O. Is ‘Mortified’ After Fliers Are Stranded

February 19, 2007
By JEFF BAILEY

The founder and chief executive of JetBlue Airways, his voice cracking at times, called himself “humiliated and mortified” by a huge breakdown in the airline’s operations that has dragged on for nearly a week, and promised that in the future JetBlue would pay penalties to customers if they were stranded on a plane for too long.

---

Great article, read the rest here.

Noteworthy points:
• Neeleman concedes his management team sucks
• Most jetBlue telephone agents are outsourced housewives working from home part-time in the Salt Lake City area (better than Bangalore I suppose)
• The staff in charge of dispatching crews is only a fraction of the size it should be for the number of employees they have, which left pilots and crews who were able to work unable to reach base to let them know they were available
• A shortage of de-icer is not mentioned

Advertising Age analyzes the effects of this debacle on jetBlue's PR and marketing:

Quote:

---

Management's Misjudgement Gives JetBlue a Black Eye
Passengers Stranded Bruise Carrier's Customer-Service Reputation

By Rich Thomaselli

Published: February 19, 2007
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In today's 24/7 media world even the best brands are only ever one horrible misstep away from a PR disaster. Just ask JetBlue.

[snip]

"They blew it," said Steve Danishek, a Seattle travel-industry analyst. "Now it affects their brand. The cost they would have incurred to unload the planes, while high, they could have written off as goodwill. Now they have no goodwill."

---

The Times article is fascinating, I've never seen a CEO of a publicly traded, service oriented company essentially confess that his team is not up to the task they are quite well paid to do.

I don't know much about B6, but I do know about economics and the accountability of management at public companies and Bethune sort of hits the nail on the head; these guys found themselves out of their league when the proverbial s--t hit the fan because of their background. NYC is not Salt Lake City and this company is far larger and more complex an enterprise than Morris Air or whatever Neeleman ran before. Beyond Neeleman, the impression I get is that most execs at JetBlue are marketing (as opposed to operations) oriented, but please correct me if I am wrong because I am not bashing, I am just making an observation.

Now, as for the stock, the day of the storm, the most influential investment firm, Goldman Sachs, upgraded JBLU to a buy based on improving profit margins. One way profit margins improve is by keeping costs down (the other is by raising prices). I don't think they are in a position to raise fares now, but I think they will take a one time charge for this event, and of course make a few changes. If the stock dips, it might even be a buying opportunity because unless they have to meaningfully rethink their lean, outsourcing-intensive business model and incur new major ongoing costs, it will probably be back to business as usual in a few months.

Jetblue is one of the only airlines at the airport that does there own deicing, right?

As for what they planes didn't come back to the gate (which a few asked, esp. Mike P) the planes were also completely immobile because of the snow and they were literally frozen to the ground.

Similarly trapped at first were the big buses that carry passengers from hardstands, which is a Port Authority thing, not a JetBlue thing.

I'm not trying ot make excuses for JetBlue, but there were several factors that they couldn't control that "buried them" deeper. But, all of this happened because of poor planning.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phil D.

But, all of this happened because of poor planning.

---

Come on, Phil - who expected snow and ice in the Northeast in February? :D

And the downward death spiral begins! (Ducks punches from all angles)

There were lots of circumstances beyond JBU's control, but this comes at a very critical time for the airline. The Airbusses are now 7 years into a mx schedule, the pilots are 7 years up the seniority scale, and the Embraers are still coming.

The airline has been fairly bulletproof so far, and they're a known quantity in their big markets of NYC, South Florida, and Southern California. It's all those secondary markets - the places like Raleigh and Austin and Pittsburgh where this may be a customer's first impression of the brand, and it's not a positive one.

According to CBS Radio, JetBlue has again delayed their return to regular service. Originally they said they'd be running 100% tomorrow morning, but they now expect to cancel about 10% of Tuesday's flights and are aiming for a full return Wednesday — a full week after the storm.