JetBlue Airways was founded in 1998 and grew rapidly to become a major low-cost airline known for good customer satisfaction ratings. However, in February 2007 a major winter storm caused extensive delays and cancellations at several airports, with some JetBlue planes sitting idle on tarmacs for over 6 hours. This breakdown in operations severely damaged JetBlue's reputation due to a lack of communication with stranded passengers. In response, JetBlue published a new Customer Bill of Rights to compensate customers for travel problems and establish communication standards during flight disruptions.

2. JetBlue Airways Corporation, often stylized
as jetBlue, is an American low-cost airline. The
company is headquartered in the Long Island city.
JetBlue was incorporated in Delaware in August 1998.
David Neeleman founded the company in February
1999, under the name "NewAir.”
JetBlue was one of only a few U.S. airlines that
made a profit during the sharp downturn in airline
travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

3. In October 2005, JetBlue announced that its
quarterly profit had plunged from US$8.1 million
to $2.7 million largely due to rising fuel costs.
Regardless, the airline continued to plan for
growth. It was announced that 36 new aircraft
were scheduled for delivery in the year 2006.
For many years, analysts had predicted that
JetBlue's growth rate would become
unsustainable.

4. JetBlue went from startup company to
powerhouse of the sky in 2007 with overall
growth in terms of destination and size.
The company boasted in customer satisfaction
and provided practical and luxury amenities to all
passengers.
JetBlue seemed to be at the top of its career,
ranking “highest in customer satisfaction among
low-cost airlines in 2006 and among all major
airlines in the United States in 2005” (Argenti,
2009, p.99).

5. It seemed JetBlue could do no wrong until winter
weather conditions got the best of them on
Valentine’s Day 2007.
Officials at JetBlue made a false accusation that the
winter storm weather forecast would change.
After the break in the storm failed to appear and the
company declined to make cancellations.
Planes backed up from all directions, passengers,
luggage and cargo were stuck for 6-9 hours.

6. Some customers waited to board planes that
would soon be cancelled, while others waited for
a take-off that would never happen.
JetBlue failed to effectively communicate the
message to the customers.
According to Argenti, “Nine of the
airline’s jets sat idle on the tarmac for more than
six hours before passengers were successfully
offloaded and taken to the terminal” (Argenti,
2009, p.101).

7. On February 15, airport personnel had to call police to help control
the crowd at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The endless ground delays were starting to aggravate the clients
and they were not being informed of the “big picture”.
The deterioration of JetBlue’s reputation continued when additional
flights were cancelled and luggage was declared missing.
Multiple operation failures and an overall communication
breakdown invited the media to have a heyday.
Newspapers and broadcasters worldwide were publishing headlines
scattered with words of JetBlue’s mishap, which increased the
damage done to their reputation.

8. JetBlue decided to be proactive and fix the problems
they created instead of letting the damage fester and
get worse.
The JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights was
published in 2007, which established industry
standards and corresponding compensation for
hardships endured by JetBlue clients.
According to Neeleman, “The airline had to do
something novel, something impressive, something
no competitor has ever done before to make amends
to its customers”

9. To better communicate with internal stakeholders, Jet
Blue should have implemented an internal
communication program.
Extensive employee training would be needed in
order to properly utilize these communication
alleyways.
This will allow for pilots to know the status of
operations pertaining to their plane and other planes.

10. Pilots and boarding staff should update customers
on the current status of plane operations every half
hour, or when a new revision to the plan has taken
place.
A phone call must be made to other JetBlue
locations that would be directly affected by the
alterations at the primary airport.
Headquarters from there can have a better
understanding of the situation taking place, and can
manage any other movements that must be made
in order for the changes to run smoothly.

11. Customer information centers should be set up to
answer phone calls pertaining to alterations in flight
plans.
Information should also be posted on the company
website for customers to check if they so desire.
Communication during the crisis should have
continued with the plan stated above.
Sending out apology emails about delays and
situations where waiting was widespread would also
be helpful in maintaining customer loyalty.