David Neeleman, the founder and storm-tested chairman of JetBlue Airways Corp., came to Manhattanville College last week as a guest of the college”™s Center for Ethics to speak about his company”™s handling of its public relations disaster in the wake of an ice storm that left the New York City-based airline”™s flights grounded and its operations in chaos for a few days last February.
Neeleman in his low-key, casual manner did talk about that “perfect storm” of bad weather and even worse publicity, describing JetBlue executives as “ashamed” and “mortified” by the event. He also talked about the disconnect between money and happiness, his time in a Brazil slum as a young Mormon missionary, the ethical pressures felt by public companies expected to show a profitable bottom line, the urgent need for a national energy policy and how tough it is these days to be in the oil-dependent airline business.
Between digressions, he paused as an airplane droned over the Purchase campus. “Listen to that lovely sound,” he said, drawing laughs and smiles from his audience.
Responding to the Valentine”™s Day-plus-two snafu, JetBlue paid $38 million to compensate stranded travelers for their canceled and delayed flights, Neeleman said. As the public face of the tarnished company, Neeleman did 28 live media interviews in rapid damage control. By the end of that disastrous week, JetBlue had in place a Customer Bill of Rights.
“I feel that we are a better company because this happened to us,” Neeleman said. “You learn through difficulties.”
In May, Neeleman stepped down as CEO of the airline he launched in 1999 and was replaced by JetBlue President Dave Barger. Neeleman did not mention that in Purchase but said most company directors agreed with his $38 million decision on behalf of customers as “the right thing to do. We still have a working relationship,” he said.
“Our business has changed dramatically,” he said. JetBlue”™s annual fuel oil costs now are $1 billion. Paying for that rise requires ratcheting up fares for customers, he said, undermining the company”™s low-fare policy.
“It”™s really a challenge,” he said. “I am looking forward to doing something else one of these days.”
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