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Case Study, Jetblue: Bringing Humanity Back to Air Travel

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What really happened during JetBlue’s Valentine’s Day meltdown that left thousands of passengers stranded in New York?

CIOInsight.com offers this detailed explanation of what went wrong behind the scenes. (I spotted it on the Cranky Flier blog.) It’s rather geeky and full of annoying pop-up ads inserted in the text, but interesting nonetheless. It strikes me that the article hits upon a more fundamental problem in JetBlue’s decision-making process, one that has nothing to do with computer systems or staffing levels.

While most other airlines canceled dozens of flights in preparation for the storm, JetBlue management opted to wait it out. The airline’s policy is do to whatever it can to ensure a flight is completed, even if it means waiting for several hours. According to chief executive officer David Neeleman, the airline sent outbound flights to the runway at JFK at about 8 a.m., to be ready to take off as soon as the weather let up, while incoming flights arrived and filled up the gates. But instead of improving, the freezing rain and sleet continued. Under federal aviation guidelines, planes cannot take off in ice pellet conditions. Soon, planes and equipment were literally freezing to the tarmac.

By 3 p.m., the airline gave up hope of getting the planes sitting on the runway off the ground and began calling in buses to bring passengers back to the terminal. But by then, the damage was done.

So, following its own policy, the airline put passengers on planes and sent them onto the runway, knowing they couldn’t go anywhere. Sure, “they’d be ready to take off as soon as the weather let up,” except the weather didn’t let up. JetBlue basically mortgaged customer satisfaction on a bet against a colossal ice storm, and the weather won.

One thing airlines consistently say when the subject of delays comes up is that they can’t be responsible for the

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