Brand Experience Lab Presentations Blog: Featured US!

Brand Experience Lab Presentations

February 19, 2007

www.jetbluehostage.com

Nothing says "I love you" like being held hostage on a frozen plane with the man you love, 99 strangers, 4 other people you happen to know, 4 screaming babies and 3 rambunctious kids running about, nothing but chips and soda for sustenance, faulty power, unreliable direct TV and overfilled sewage system for 11 hours.

That's the header for a new web site that went up after the weather fiasco that seemed to really take a toll on Jetblue. Once the darling of the airline industry, they took a huge hit last week when a seemingly small amount of snow took their whole schedule and seems to have shot it all to hell! As we said in Everyone's a Critic, people won't hesitate to share their bad experiences with the world if you give them the opportunity. And they seem to be particularly harsh when you set the bar high, as JetBlue has done. While many flights were delayed last week, JetBlue was either hit much harder then everyone else, or they weren't prepared for what happened. But given all of the press the airlines received last year when they had people waiting for this long, you wouldn't think that someone like JetBlue would make the same mistake again so quickly.

And, as you can expect, our elected officials jumped in to help! As reported by the Seattle Times:

The strandings revived calls for Congress to enact an airline customer-rights law.

Rep. Michael Thompson, D-Calif., said Thursday he planned to introduce a bill that would address delayed flights, time on the tarmac, cancellations and lost or damaged luggage.

The airline industry beat back a similar push for legislation in 1999 after agreeing to adopt a voluntary customer-service initiative.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Thursday she will introduce a bill to give passengers the right to get off the airplane if it's been on the ground for more than three hours past its scheduled departure time.

"No one should be held hostage on an aircraft," she said.

Expect to see more of this story in the future! But remember, if you're not delivering on the story you tell, someone's ready to start a web site to trash you!