There are two points that bear noting as the Jet Blue story continues to play itself out. One is that even a great unique value proposition can become an Achilles' Heel. The second is that catastrophe often brings out true character in companies just as it does in individuals. You can buck up and figure out where you made your mistake or you can shave your head and get a new tattoo.There's a saying that perfection is the enemy of the good -- when you have a strength in a certain area you can overfocus and it becomes a weakness. Jet Blue has worked its way up over the last seven years to become the eighth-largest domestic airline by having, among other things, the least number of cancelled flights. In that micro-macro shift we all need from time to time, avoiding cancellations is now a lesser piece of the low-fare customer-service strategy that can keep them on their 25% growth path. The announcement of a loss expected for the first quarter is offset by a minor effect predicted for total earnings this year.
David Neeleman, Jet Blue's CEO, has beat congress to the punch in their drafting of a passengers bill of rights with his Customer Bill of Rights. The bill reaffirms Jet Blue's commitment to "superior service" by spelling out a range of compensation from $25 to $1000 and free travel for delays of various lengths and overbooked flights. Neeleman's youtube video promise on the JB home page creatively spins one of the "challenges that comes along" into an advantage, not in a crazy giveaway but in a measured response of transparent sincerity. His emphasis in the three-minute diatribe is on employee flexibility and accessibility, as well as beefing-up staffing in general. In Neeleman's words, "This will be an aberration..."
