JetBlue apologizes with Bill of Rights

Diane Clarkson | February 22, 2007, 03:41 PM

In years to come, David Neeleman will be a Crisis Management case study of What To Do. After last week’s nearly 1100 canceled JetBlue flights and thousands of stranded passengers, it’s been a tough week for the JetBlue CEO. But Neeleman’s acknowledgment, regret and actions have earned him kudos from crisis management experts.

JetBlue sent a email to all of their customers. It began “We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry.” The letter has been hailed as sincere and criticized as sappy. I admit, I initially leaned towards the sappy impression. But in the last few months, every flight I’ve been on has been delayed. In Toronto, I waited hours while fuel was siphoned from the tank after accidentally being over-filled for a New York bound flight. In December, weather and flight delays caused me to lose two days of my Christmas holiday. I’ve spent hours in airport lounges, hundreds of dollars on taxis back and forth to the airport, and had Christmas Eve dinner at a TGIFriday at Newark Airport. No one said they were sorry to me. I would have liked an “I’m sorry”.

JetBlue has now introduced as Customer Bill of Rights offering credits, vouchers or refunds graduated based on the length of the delay if caused by a situation within JetBlue’s control or “Controllable Irregularities”.

There are some questions around the Bill of Rights content. Given the domino effect nature of airline delays, it’s not clear what exactly will constitute a credit-generating delay. JetBlue promises to deplane passengers if an aircraft is delayed for more than five hours which I still find inadequate.

Additionally, there are some industry concerns about its implementation including the potential costs, competitive pressures, and pressures put on pilots or mechanics to avoid these penalties.

But JetBlue’s Customer Bill of Rights has sparked conversations about customer rights – and that is long overdue.