The Damage is Done: Now JetBlue’s PR Team Must Clean Up the Mess

There is no question that running an airline is a difficult task; dealing with scheduling, impatient customers, and unpredictable weather conditions can create an extremely stressful situation. JetBlue, whose logo can be seen at the left, is no stranger to this situation considering the breakdown their airlines had about a week ago. Now is the time when JetBlue needs to communicate with its customers and reestablish a sense on trust. I thought it would be interesting to examine how different public relations professionals would handle the JetBlue dilemma. Jeanne Bliss, a customer leadership all-star who has worked for Microsoft, Allstate Corporations, and other businesses, lists the improvements that JetBlue needs to make in her blog MarketingProfs: Daily Fix. She stresses that JetBlue has to accept responsibility for the collapse in communication and reimburse their customers. In BrandSimple, Allen P. Adamson whose managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates advised JetBlue to expand beyond clearing the mess and find a model that will succeed for the growing size of their company. As a student of public relations, I could not find more current of a case study then JetBlue’s cancellation crisis, and I look forward to seeing how they proceed with their crisis management. Bliss and Adamson offer fascinating insight on what JetBlue should do and my comments to their blogs can be found below.

My comment to Jeanne Bliss’ blog:
I believe you have created an excellent outline for JetBule to follow. I agree that the company must take full responsibility for the lapse in communication, and do so in a humbling manner. If I was working for JetBlue, I would focus more on steps nine and ten of the steps you laid out. It will not be enough to say sorry for their mistake; now the company has to ensure that nothing similar to this instance will happen again. Before this past week, JetBlue stood apart from the rest of the bigger airlines who occasionally have horrendous time delays, but not anymore. JetBlue has the daunting task of gaining their customers trust back. I think the company should start a new advertising campaign describing how JetBlue is bigger yet better. The company needs to multitask by apologizing for what happened and by showing how another incident like the one that recently occurred is no longer a feasible option at JetBlue.

My comment to Allen P. Adamson’s blog:
It is true that JetBlue is expanding and they need to create a business plan that works for the growing size of their company. Although in order to do so, I believe JetBlue needs to reflect on their past business model and see what went wrong. JetBlue’s focus was on their brand and the image they portrayed. You said that JetBlue followed its brand’s image and made “flying fun, from its airfares to personnel.” If JetBlue had already established great personnel then why was there so much tension between the personnel and the passengers? The passengers to the right do not look like they are having fun. Granted emotions were high and people get fired up, but the personnel should have been trained to handle the situation. I am sure JetBlue will establish a new way to represent their brand, but they need to ensure that they will live up to what they create. In order to do this and gain the public’s trust again, JetBlue must explain why their original brand image failed in the first place.