1. Valentine's Day 2007 caused a major operational crisis for JetBlue Airways when a winter storm hit the New York area and JetBlue's hub airport. Hundreds of passengers were stranded on planes on the tarmac for up to 10 hours, and hundreds more waited in vain at the terminal as over 1,000 flights were cancelled in the following six days. 2. Key factors that caused the crisis included JetBlue's fast growth, lean cost structure with no cancellation system or emergency response plan, incompetent weather forecasting, and reliance on its strong customer service reputation without systems to handle a crisis. 3. After the crisis, JetBlue took steps to win back customers like establishing a Customer Bill of Rights

1. A case study on 2007 crisis
1

2. 2
Acknowledgement
A work is never a sole effort of a single person. I would take this moment
to thank people who have directly or indirectly contributed in this work.
I would like to extend a heartfelt gratitude to our Marketing of Services
teacher _______________ for the involvement and encouragement. AND
I would like to express my appreciation for all the members of the group
for such enthusiasm , dedication and efforts to bring this work into live.
We tried to make this work precise and informative and focus mainly on
Service Failure issues. I hope it would be helpful.
THANK YOU

3. Introduction to the scenario.
3
Valentine’s Day 2007 changed the course of history for JetBlue
Airways. The upstart low-fare airline – which had enjoyed
unprecedented acclaim from customers and industry
observers since its launch in 2000 – suddenly found itself in
the midst of a major operational catastrophe. A winter storm
that enveloped the New York metropolitan region and
JetBlue’s hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport left
hundreds of the company’s passengers stranded aboard planes
on the tarmac, some for as many as ten hours. Hundreds more
waited in vain in the terminal for flights that the airline would
eventually cancel. The flight disruptions at JFK plunged
JetBlue’s entire operation into chaos, forcing the carrier to
cancel more than one thousand flights over a six day period.

4. Major factors that caused the crisis
4
•A fast growing company
•Lean and mean cost structure
•Emergency handling failure
•Incompetence weather
prediction
•Customer service reputation

5. 5
A fast growing company
Faulty
information
system
Weak
management
process
Zero
experience
•No cancellation system
•No established chain of
command for emergency
•Had no idea how
to deal with crisis
as throughout there
main focus was to
attract customers.
•No coordination
among crew
member and base
employees
•No system to
handle crisis

6. How the situation could have
been salvaged?
6
•Shoe string communication
•Competent Operational Decisions
•Trained human resource
•Differential budget

7. 7
What they did after the crisis that
helped them win back the customers!
•Customer Bill of Right(feb 21)
•A public apology
•Reimbursement policy (full refunds,
compensations and round trip free
vouchers)
•Better service plans
•Operating process Evaluation
•Creating formalized structure

8. 8
What if these crisis would occur
in India. How prepared are
Indian airways!
So we have taken the
example of one such
low fare Indian carrier
which is quite popular
for its low fare and on
time services –
IndiGo!!

9. 9
Points of distinctions
IndiGo JetBlue
Founded 2005 1998
Commenced operations 4 august 2006 11 February 2000
Fleet size 179 255
Destinations 52 102
Employees 14604 2100
Net income Rs. 22.45 billion
US$ 330 million
US$ 1.147 billion
Services •Low cost carrier
•Hello 6E the in-flight
magazine published by
indigo
•No complimentary meals
•No in-flight
entertainment
• low cost carrier
•Complimentary meals
•Leather seats
•LED display behind
every seat
•Spacious leg rooms
•Free wifi throughout

10. 10
REFERENCES
•An update from David Neeleman. (2007, March 20). Retrieved
December 18, 2007, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zyRKa3Cxk0
•Services Marketing 6th edition by Valarie A Zeithaml ,Mary Jo Bitner ,
Ajay Pandit.
•https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/jetblues-valentines-day-crisis

11. THANK YOU
11