I don't know where to start or what to say. I'm seriously delirious. EVERYONE EMAIL ME ASAP. When CNN asked to talk to me, I was very forthcoming and said I don't know what "the right thing" is. I just know what WASN'T the right thing.
UPDATE: FEB 21 11pm: CHARLIE AND I ARE SCHEDULED TO SEE DAVID NEXT WEEK. I'LL CONTINUE TO POST RELEVANT BLOGS, NEWS AND STORIES. I'LL DO MY HOMEWORK AND RESEARCH THIS WEEKEND. I'D LIKE TO SET UP A AIM CHAT THIS WEEKEND TO HAVE AN OPEN DISCUSSION ABOUT IT. EMAIL ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING. jetbluehostage@gmail.com
SO, As I'm getting ready to start taking your experiences and put them up on the blog, I got this email. I almost puked in my mouth. First of all because I'm easily intimidated by those in power,secondly because I don't know what to say.
I really need your help now.
Desperately yours,
Gen
Hi there Gen,
I’m ---------, a spokesman for JetBlue and I wanted to run an idea by you. I’m sure by now you’ve heard about our Customer Bill of Rights that we announced today, part of our plan for going forward includes involving customers in our decision-making and airline planning. Our CEO David Neeleman would like to talk with you, if you’re interested, about the terrible experiences you faced and how we can work to improve our airline for customers like you. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of good insights, not only from your travel woes, but also from hearing from so many others via your web site. What do you think?
Best,
JetBlue Airways
Corporate Communications
------ ------ Boulevard
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Showing posts with label JFK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JFK. Show all posts
Thursday, February 22, 2007
ON CNN Situation Room. MONDAY FEB 19 4-6pm
Check out Jetbluehostage.com on CNN's Situation Room show.
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Monday, Feb 19th
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Situation Room
4-6pm
Monday, Feb 19th
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David Neeleman TV and Radio Appearances
David Neeleman with David Letterman on The Late Show
David Neeleman with Matt Lauer on The Today Show:
NPR: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED - Delays, Passengers and a Bill of Rights
There is a link to the story on the site
Talk of the Nation, February 19, 2007 ·
The plight of passengers stuck on grounded planes for up to 10 hours last week has prompted new calls for a "Passenger Bill of Rights."
How is the industry responding, and what should be included in the "Bill of Rights?"
Guests:
David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue
Rudy Maxa, contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler and "the Savvy Traveler" on Marketplace.
Kate Hanni, chairwoman and spokesperson for Coalition for an Airline Passenger's Bill of Rights
REMEMBER: SUPPORT NPR, BECOME A MEMBER
David Neeleman with Matt Lauer on The Today Show:
NPR: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED - Delays, Passengers and a Bill of Rights
There is a link to the story on the site
Talk of the Nation, February 19, 2007 ·
The plight of passengers stuck on grounded planes for up to 10 hours last week has prompted new calls for a "Passenger Bill of Rights."
How is the industry responding, and what should be included in the "Bill of Rights?"
Guests:
David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue
Rudy Maxa, contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler and "the Savvy Traveler" on Marketplace.
Kate Hanni, chairwoman and spokesperson for Coalition for an Airline Passenger's Bill of Rights
REMEMBER: SUPPORT NPR, BECOME A MEMBER
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Actual JetBlue Employees Speak
Two actual JetBlue employess wrote in. I'm putting thier blogs in one and all future JetBlue employees can trust me that I'll keep thier identities secret.
Myspace JetblueEmployee Friend, I SWEAR I will respond to you. It's just been sooo crazy. I'm going to try to find the NPR interview. If you find it, please send it along.
Just so you know, I'm meeting with David Neeleman next week, if you have any input you'd like to give, I'm more than happy to listen.
Love,
G
Here is the corrrespondence of the JetBlue employee who contacted me via Myspace.
Date: Feb 19, 2007 6:41 PM
Hi Genieve. I'm one of those "evil" jetBlue people. ;-) Just kidding. Since you're one of my loyal customers, I, as well as all of my fellow crewmembers (who have our own issues with our company -- like any other employee, but still think it's a great place to work) feel your pain and want you to know we're sorry for your troubles.
HOWEVER, as a fellow traveler and fellow U.S. citizen, I take a lot of issue with your webpage and, in the spirit of intelligent discourse (please don't take anything I write personally, nor think I'm trying to diminish your pain... but only to put it into a larger world perspective, something I need to do for myself everyday), have written this "blog" and posted it on the web page.
Now, I'm sending it to your MySpace page. My picture is on my MySpace page because I'm someone who is not afraid to express my opinions and have the guts to put my face out there so you see the person who is writing to you. Once again, I'm deeply sorry for all the trouble and hope you come back to jetBlue. But I think the use of the word "hostage" is actually alarmingly insulting and sophomoric... and here's why:
----------------------------------------------------I'd like to write something to respond to these blogs that I've read.
I'm a jetBlue flight attendant so I can't really talk to the media. It's against the rules of my flight attendant manual to make comments to the media. So, I hope I don't get into trouble.
But I'd like to comment as a citizen of the United States and not as an employee of jetBlue. I'm a fellow traveler, just like you.
I'd just like to say that I think it's terrible whenever anyone is inconvenienced during their travels... especially on my airline. It's not pleasant. I've had it happen to me on Greyhound, on Amtrack, on the old (now long gone -- sad to say) TWA, in L.A. traffic and even on my own airline. It's not pleasant and it's something that makes everyone frustrated.
HOWEVER, last year we all watched in horror as the events of Hurricane Katrina devastated an entire American city and destroyed the Ninth Ward. In 2001, we all watched (and cried) as the horrifying events played out that we'll all always remember. And you know what, jetBlue Airways was in operation during these times and in the case of Katrina, jetBlue crewmembers helped fly our fellow American "brothers and sisters" to shelters in other cities. When the lights went out in New York during the black out, jetBlue stayed in operation, using flashlights to direct our customers to their flights -- that left on time! But we have a very short term memory in this country. One terrible day on the tarmac and seven years of good work is quickly forgotten. And now I'm to consider being stranded on a plane, or in the airport, equivalent to something like Hurricane Katrina???
When Katrina was happening, the media called those people left homeless by the Hurricane "refugees". I was shocked by this verbiage. Now, those individuals stuck on the jetBlue flights are being called "hostages". HOSTAGES! Do any of you have any idea what it is like to be an actual hostage? To be held at gunpoint by a terrorist? To be close to death because someone is pointing a semi-automatic in your face? If you were talking to someone who was trapped in a bank by robbers who could torture and kill them at an moment, would you feel comfortable telling them that you were stuck on a plane -- due to the fact that ice had frozen the wheels to the tarmac and JFK operations were not allowing jetBlue planes to return to gates... because there weren't any to return to and, on top of that, the APUs (those are the parts of the plane that keep the energy pumpin') were breaking down because of the stress to the plane and that's the reason for the technical debacle on the plane AND the driver's employed by JFK (not jetBlue) refused to drive on the ice to pick up passengers to bring them to a terminal that JFK operations stated was already overcrowded so jetBlue couldn't bring passengers to the terminal because JFK operations forbid them to... Does that equate to masked terrorist holding people hostage on a 747???
Were any of you bloggers who were inconvenienced on that day – that are now getting a full refund for your ticket – traumatized by a gun in your face, have no home to return to or did you lose your job? Is being stuck on a runway going to cause you to have nightmares or cause you to go to therapy for the next 20 years because the pain was so great? When I'm stuck in traffic in Los Angeles on the 405 because of a car accident, am I a victim and should I sue the city of Los Angeles for making me miserable? Does the City of Los Angeles owe me money?Some times we Americans – used to always getting our way if we complain enough, threaten law suits or contact the media… or write a blog – tend to think that when things don't go our way and we are put in an extreme situation that we – as privileged Americans – are entitled to have someone pay us for our pain. And even when someone says they will pay for our pain, we feel we should decide how they should pay us back for our pain.
Had you booked a ticket on Delta or American, your flight would have been cancelled and you wouldn't have gotten a refund. You would have had to fly at another time, but you wouldn't have been compensated for your delay -- at all... in no way. In fact, they wouldn't have apologized... at all... EVER!What happened to all of you (including my fellow pilots and flight attendants that were stuck right along with you – and just as miserable as you were) was awful, not cool, uncomfortable, a huge pain in the ass and a really, really, really bad day.That's about it though. See, when you travel it's like buying a lottery ticket: if you get to your destination hassle free -- you win! If you have issues along the way... that's life! But if you get a refund for your troubles... that's amazing! That's when you need to shut the hell up and move on with your life and call it even because you broke even in the situation.
Calling people on the jetBlue plane hostages is an insult to actual hostages the world over; just as calling victims of Hurricane Katrina "refugees" is deplorable. I'm sorry you went through what you went through on Valentine's Day, and I want you to come back to jetBlue so I can give you the jetBlue Experience you've grown accustomed to and we do our best to deliver every day. But as a person who has had many nightmare travel experiences -- even some that were worse than what you went through on Valentine's Day (in countries like South Africa where nobody cared what happened to me nor did they apologize for my awful experience) I can't help but thinking, "We spoiled Americans. We think we're owed everything, don’t' we?" (Myself included).
And in closing, if you really want to be angry with someone, get angry at JFK airport because if jetBlue had gates to return to, none of this would have happened. You can yell and scream at jetBlue all you want, but JFK operations held jetBlue as an airline “hostage” as well.
(Check out the following link for further details)http://ellipses.elliott.org/archives/002024airports_escape.php
He wrote back in response to the NPR Post.
Feb 21, 2007 3:01 AM
I don't know if you felt you wanted to put my blog up on your web page (I didn't see it there -- although it was on the comments section under one of Ruth's original blogs titled: "wrongverbiage")
But I want to clarify that I don't think you're a cry baby. I think you have a legitimate complaint because you went through a bad experience on an airline that taught you to believe it would never do that. I think it's basically a shock to the system -- like being betrayed by a friend. I totally understand that.
I just still think you should change the word "hostage" because I don't believe it's accurate. "Stranded" and "stuck" and "totally inconvenienced" -- yes. But a hostage just reminds so many of something like: the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis... do you kinda get what I'm saying?
I know I haven't responded yet, but I'll find that interview on ATC and put it up too!
This is the JetBlue Employee who contacted me on jetbluehostage@gmail.com
Feb 21, 2007 3:01 AM
To the person that started the blog about being held hostage:
The next time that you feel the you have not been treated fairly by an airline maybe you should go an pick up an application for this airline so you can see what it is like to be screamed, threatened and and treated like garbage by thousands of people because you cannot get to your final destination. Maybe then you will realize that we are all indeed people not things that that you can throw around like a damnit doll. Yes I was there during this whole fiasco so I do understand what this feeling is like.
Outraged by you,
An airline employee
My response to Kenneth
Dear Kenneth L,
I'm sorry you were mistreated by the airline passengers, but I was not one of those people. In fact, I'm just waiting for my video to load on YouTube for you to witness yourself that we were actually quite civilized and nice to all the crew on the plane. We actually walked off the plane with smiles, just exhausted and happy to be getting off the plane.
I'd like to also say that my mother worked for American Airlines for many years and I would never abuse an agent. I'm offended by your sweeping generalizations. You may have been mistreated by a few disgruntled passengers, but ALL the passengers were mistreated by JetBlue. There's no way around that fact.
Your own president admits to the mistakes the company made.
I don't condone abuse to you or from you. I think it's a shame that people resort to that kind of behaviour. Trust me, I don't have to pick up an application and work for your company, I endure enough abuse at my own job. And I decide to stick it out because in the end, I love my job. If you don't love YOUR job, then maybe YOU should quit.
Anyway...stay tuned, as soon as my video comes up, you can witness it yourself.
Outraged by YOU, G
Luckily, Kenneth responded again. :) Here's what he said:
On 2/18/07, Kenneth wrote:
Just as a response I would like to add that yes, I do love my job whole heartedly and in fact I believe that jetBlue is doing everthing within there power to correct and apollogise for this mishap. They have done everything from providing meals, hotels, transportation and offering free flights along with refunds for customers that were not able to get to there destinations. I also feel that both parties have suffered immensly from this mishap.
My Response to Kenneth:
I agree, and I again, I in no way approve of the mistreatment of anyone. However, when i tried to get answer from anyone or anything I was ignored. I didn't push because I knew the whole thing was overwhelming. But the fact is when I asked about the luggage getting sent to us at home they said that we had to wait around for it after already being at the airport for almost 13 hours.
But still, Charlie and I got a meal, and waited patiently for our baggage. It cost us $100 for taxi back and forth to the airport and we won't be reimbursed for it.
Last but not least, my main issue is that I don't believe that us long term trapped passengers should not be treated the same at 3-hour ones, I'm pushing for those of us to be compensated accordingly. I don't think that's asking for much. It's not like we were in a terminal, with the ability to walk about and eat and go smoke etc. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.
I hope it get's better for you over there.
Good luck! G
Myspace JetblueEmployee Friend, I SWEAR I will respond to you. It's just been sooo crazy. I'm going to try to find the NPR interview. If you find it, please send it along.
Just so you know, I'm meeting with David Neeleman next week, if you have any input you'd like to give, I'm more than happy to listen.
Love,
G
Here is the corrrespondence of the JetBlue employee who contacted me via Myspace.
Date: Feb 19, 2007 6:41 PM
Hi Genieve. I'm one of those "evil" jetBlue people. ;-) Just kidding. Since you're one of my loyal customers, I, as well as all of my fellow crewmembers (who have our own issues with our company -- like any other employee, but still think it's a great place to work) feel your pain and want you to know we're sorry for your troubles.
HOWEVER, as a fellow traveler and fellow U.S. citizen, I take a lot of issue with your webpage and, in the spirit of intelligent discourse (please don't take anything I write personally, nor think I'm trying to diminish your pain... but only to put it into a larger world perspective, something I need to do for myself everyday), have written this "blog" and posted it on the web page.
Now, I'm sending it to your MySpace page. My picture is on my MySpace page because I'm someone who is not afraid to express my opinions and have the guts to put my face out there so you see the person who is writing to you. Once again, I'm deeply sorry for all the trouble and hope you come back to jetBlue. But I think the use of the word "hostage" is actually alarmingly insulting and sophomoric... and here's why:
----------------------------------------------------I'd like to write something to respond to these blogs that I've read.
I'm a jetBlue flight attendant so I can't really talk to the media. It's against the rules of my flight attendant manual to make comments to the media. So, I hope I don't get into trouble.
But I'd like to comment as a citizen of the United States and not as an employee of jetBlue. I'm a fellow traveler, just like you.
I'd just like to say that I think it's terrible whenever anyone is inconvenienced during their travels... especially on my airline. It's not pleasant. I've had it happen to me on Greyhound, on Amtrack, on the old (now long gone -- sad to say) TWA, in L.A. traffic and even on my own airline. It's not pleasant and it's something that makes everyone frustrated.
HOWEVER, last year we all watched in horror as the events of Hurricane Katrina devastated an entire American city and destroyed the Ninth Ward. In 2001, we all watched (and cried) as the horrifying events played out that we'll all always remember. And you know what, jetBlue Airways was in operation during these times and in the case of Katrina, jetBlue crewmembers helped fly our fellow American "brothers and sisters" to shelters in other cities. When the lights went out in New York during the black out, jetBlue stayed in operation, using flashlights to direct our customers to their flights -- that left on time! But we have a very short term memory in this country. One terrible day on the tarmac and seven years of good work is quickly forgotten. And now I'm to consider being stranded on a plane, or in the airport, equivalent to something like Hurricane Katrina???
When Katrina was happening, the media called those people left homeless by the Hurricane "refugees". I was shocked by this verbiage. Now, those individuals stuck on the jetBlue flights are being called "hostages". HOSTAGES! Do any of you have any idea what it is like to be an actual hostage? To be held at gunpoint by a terrorist? To be close to death because someone is pointing a semi-automatic in your face? If you were talking to someone who was trapped in a bank by robbers who could torture and kill them at an moment, would you feel comfortable telling them that you were stuck on a plane -- due to the fact that ice had frozen the wheels to the tarmac and JFK operations were not allowing jetBlue planes to return to gates... because there weren't any to return to and, on top of that, the APUs (those are the parts of the plane that keep the energy pumpin') were breaking down because of the stress to the plane and that's the reason for the technical debacle on the plane AND the driver's employed by JFK (not jetBlue) refused to drive on the ice to pick up passengers to bring them to a terminal that JFK operations stated was already overcrowded so jetBlue couldn't bring passengers to the terminal because JFK operations forbid them to... Does that equate to masked terrorist holding people hostage on a 747???
Were any of you bloggers who were inconvenienced on that day – that are now getting a full refund for your ticket – traumatized by a gun in your face, have no home to return to or did you lose your job? Is being stuck on a runway going to cause you to have nightmares or cause you to go to therapy for the next 20 years because the pain was so great? When I'm stuck in traffic in Los Angeles on the 405 because of a car accident, am I a victim and should I sue the city of Los Angeles for making me miserable? Does the City of Los Angeles owe me money?Some times we Americans – used to always getting our way if we complain enough, threaten law suits or contact the media… or write a blog – tend to think that when things don't go our way and we are put in an extreme situation that we – as privileged Americans – are entitled to have someone pay us for our pain. And even when someone says they will pay for our pain, we feel we should decide how they should pay us back for our pain.
Had you booked a ticket on Delta or American, your flight would have been cancelled and you wouldn't have gotten a refund. You would have had to fly at another time, but you wouldn't have been compensated for your delay -- at all... in no way. In fact, they wouldn't have apologized... at all... EVER!What happened to all of you (including my fellow pilots and flight attendants that were stuck right along with you – and just as miserable as you were) was awful, not cool, uncomfortable, a huge pain in the ass and a really, really, really bad day.That's about it though. See, when you travel it's like buying a lottery ticket: if you get to your destination hassle free -- you win! If you have issues along the way... that's life! But if you get a refund for your troubles... that's amazing! That's when you need to shut the hell up and move on with your life and call it even because you broke even in the situation.
Calling people on the jetBlue plane hostages is an insult to actual hostages the world over; just as calling victims of Hurricane Katrina "refugees" is deplorable. I'm sorry you went through what you went through on Valentine's Day, and I want you to come back to jetBlue so I can give you the jetBlue Experience you've grown accustomed to and we do our best to deliver every day. But as a person who has had many nightmare travel experiences -- even some that were worse than what you went through on Valentine's Day (in countries like South Africa where nobody cared what happened to me nor did they apologize for my awful experience) I can't help but thinking, "We spoiled Americans. We think we're owed everything, don’t' we?" (Myself included).
And in closing, if you really want to be angry with someone, get angry at JFK airport because if jetBlue had gates to return to, none of this would have happened. You can yell and scream at jetBlue all you want, but JFK operations held jetBlue as an airline “hostage” as well.
(Check out the following link for further details)http://ellipses.elliott.org/archives/002024airports_escape.php
He wrote back in response to the NPR Post.
Feb 21, 2007 3:01 AM
I don't know if you felt you wanted to put my blog up on your web page (I didn't see it there -- although it was on the comments section under one of Ruth's original blogs titled: "wrongverbiage")
But I want to clarify that I don't think you're a cry baby. I think you have a legitimate complaint because you went through a bad experience on an airline that taught you to believe it would never do that. I think it's basically a shock to the system -- like being betrayed by a friend. I totally understand that.
I just still think you should change the word "hostage" because I don't believe it's accurate. "Stranded" and "stuck" and "totally inconvenienced" -- yes. But a hostage just reminds so many of something like: the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis... do you kinda get what I'm saying?
I know I haven't responded yet, but I'll find that interview on ATC and put it up too!
This is the JetBlue Employee who contacted me on jetbluehostage@gmail.com
Feb 21, 2007 3:01 AM
To the person that started the blog about being held hostage:
The next time that you feel the you have not been treated fairly by an airline maybe you should go an pick up an application for this airline so you can see what it is like to be screamed, threatened and and treated like garbage by thousands of people because you cannot get to your final destination. Maybe then you will realize that we are all indeed people not things that that you can throw around like a damnit doll. Yes I was there during this whole fiasco so I do understand what this feeling is like.
Outraged by you,
An airline employee
My response to Kenneth
Dear Kenneth L,
I'm sorry you were mistreated by the airline passengers, but I was not one of those people. In fact, I'm just waiting for my video to load on YouTube for you to witness yourself that we were actually quite civilized and nice to all the crew on the plane. We actually walked off the plane with smiles, just exhausted and happy to be getting off the plane.
I'd like to also say that my mother worked for American Airlines for many years and I would never abuse an agent. I'm offended by your sweeping generalizations. You may have been mistreated by a few disgruntled passengers, but ALL the passengers were mistreated by JetBlue. There's no way around that fact.
Your own president admits to the mistakes the company made.
I don't condone abuse to you or from you. I think it's a shame that people resort to that kind of behaviour. Trust me, I don't have to pick up an application and work for your company, I endure enough abuse at my own job. And I decide to stick it out because in the end, I love my job. If you don't love YOUR job, then maybe YOU should quit.
Anyway...stay tuned, as soon as my video comes up, you can witness it yourself.
Outraged by YOU, G
Luckily, Kenneth responded again. :) Here's what he said:
On 2/18/07, Kenneth wrote:
Just as a response I would like to add that yes, I do love my job whole heartedly and in fact I believe that jetBlue is doing everthing within there power to correct and apollogise for this mishap. They have done everything from providing meals, hotels, transportation and offering free flights along with refunds for customers that were not able to get to there destinations. I also feel that both parties have suffered immensly from this mishap.
My Response to Kenneth:
I agree, and I again, I in no way approve of the mistreatment of anyone. However, when i tried to get answer from anyone or anything I was ignored. I didn't push because I knew the whole thing was overwhelming. But the fact is when I asked about the luggage getting sent to us at home they said that we had to wait around for it after already being at the airport for almost 13 hours.
But still, Charlie and I got a meal, and waited patiently for our baggage. It cost us $100 for taxi back and forth to the airport and we won't be reimbursed for it.
Last but not least, my main issue is that I don't believe that us long term trapped passengers should not be treated the same at 3-hour ones, I'm pushing for those of us to be compensated accordingly. I don't think that's asking for much. It's not like we were in a terminal, with the ability to walk about and eat and go smoke etc. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.
I hope it get's better for you over there.
Good luck! G
Barbados Blog - Hostages On The Runway and JBH.com
It is finally time for a Passengers Bill of Rights that states - Airline passengers cannot be held hostage when their flight gets delayed for hours upon hours - you bet it is.
This isn't the first time this has happened - but hopefully it will be the last!
A JetBlue flight was scheduled to leave New York at 8 a.m. for the island of Aruba, but the only thing passengers got was an 11 hour wait on the runway.
Passengers were stuck onboard with no water, the snack food ran out, the cabin temperature was hot and uncomfortable, and going to the bathroom was more than unpleasant - and under no circumstances were the passengers allowed to leave. Hostages!
Another JetBlue flight that was headed for Cancun was delayed more than eight hours with passengers stuck onboard. Passengers reported that the plane door had to be opened every 20 minutes so they could get some fresh air. Frigid, cold air every 20 minutes.
While these passengers waited to take off, other passengers who had just arrived in New York were also stuck on their planes. A JetBlue flight from Florida landed in New York around 10 in the morning, but passengers were not allowed to leave the plane until 7 p.m.
What actually happened was that a major storm was already forecasted for the Midwest and Eastern coast - that was no secret.
While this storm was raging, the planes still boarded and pulled away from the gates. Many times in this situation the airlines thinking is that "maybe" the weather will get better - and the planes will be in line to take off.
So now we have planes lined up on the runway unable to take off, but if they taxi back they will lose their spot, so they sit. The situation becomes worse as more planes arrive, and the gates start to fill up - then the planes cannot return to the gates.
As the storm continued Wednesday, planes and heavy equipment were literally froze to the ground.
I waited until today to blog about this because I wanted to see what JetBlue would have to say a couple of days after their worst PR nightmare. Their spokesman stated that 250 of 500 flights nationwide were canceled Wednesday, but "fairly normal" service resumed Thursday.
Well, I know for a fact that at least 100 of their flights were still cancelled as of today - so the spin still goes on.
No on can obviously control the weather, but common sense and respect for passengers must start to prevail in the airline industry.
If it is obvious that planes on the runway cannot take off in a reasonable amount of time, then it should be the airlines responsibility to send another mode of transportation (buses, etc) to the plane, and get those passengers back inside the airport.
Of course if the plane cannot leave the runway, then perhaps the flight should be cancelled, and not even leave the gate - this would be the cheaper alternative for the airlines - the flight is cancelled due to bad weather - straight and simple.
Since common sense did not prevail this week, JetBlue not only had to offer a complete refund to hundreds of angry passengers, but for PR's sake, they also offered another free ticket to be used at a later date - that is if some of the passengers want to fly with them again.
But, there's more to be concerned about than inconvenience while being stuck onboard a flight for hours upon end -
Read this article by Diana Fairechild, a former flight attendant. In fact, you just might want to bookmark her site for future reference when traveling.
"SITTING ON THE TARMAC" BY DIANA FAIRECHILDhttp://www.flyana.com/delay.html
Update on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 07:54PM by Linda Thompkins
My, My - Received this e-mail from Anna, one of our blog visitors . . .
One of the JetBlue passengers was so mad they started a "JetBlue Hostage Blog" - and rather than just use the free blogger account domain, they purchased the doman jetbluehostage.com
I know the folkes at JetBlue are loving this one. I wonder if they will keep posting - after all the purpose of a blog is to make consistent postings.
http://www.jetbluehostage.com/
Well Anna I guess we just have to wait & see how long the JetBlue Hostage Blog stays up and running. And yes, it is interesting that the blog owner purchased that domain - just shows how mad & serious they are right now.
Anyone who has been in a similiar situation can appreciate how these passengers fell. I had my "nightmare hostage flight" on the former BWIA airlines where we boarded a flight in Barbados, and spent an entire night, and the next morning on the airplane. Linda
http://barbadostravel.squarespace.com/journal/2005/2/25/back-from-barbados.html
37 Signals Blog - Be the guy....
This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about entrepreneurship, design, experience, simplicity, constraints, pop culture, our products, products we like, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago.
Be the guy with the megaphone and other lessons from a JetBlue meltdown
By Matt
It could have been worse. I could’ve been stranded on the runway for eight hours. Instead, I was stuck at the JetBlue terminal for 12 hours last Thursday before finding out my flight was cancelled. [1]
Here are some communication lessons learned from the fiasco:
Put all your soldiers on the front lines. Jet Blue’s corporate offices are located near JFK so they brought in a bunch of people who normally work there to help out at the terminal. They wore Jet Blue vests and/or badges and wandered around the terminal answering questions, directing customers, and listening to complaints. Granted, a lot of these people didn’t know much more than the passengers but, hey, at least they were there. A lot of customers just wanted to vent and know someone was listening. You need boots on the ground to do the little things. I saw one rep ask an irate customer for a business card so he could follow up with him later. A small step, but it just might save a customer.
Be the guy with the megaphone. The PA system by the gates was pitiful. The volume was feeble and you could barely make out the thin announcements (which were similar to the unintelligible conductor announcements on the NYC subways). People were desperate to know what was going on. Enter megaphone man. Rumor was that he actually worked as legal counsel to JetBlue. He went to each gate with a megaphone and updated all the passengers with the latest info. Then he’d walk toward the rear of that gate and repeat the info again for those who hadn’t heard the first time. It wasn’t always good news. But at least an actual person was there, communicating something clearly.
Have an operator reserve force. A lot of the JetBlue reps on the scene encouraged passengers to call (800) Jet-Blue for more info. The problem was the phone lines were so jampacked there was no way to get through. This forced already irate customers to wait in lines for hours in order to find out information that easily could have been shared over the phone. The result: Anger builds and the people onsite had to deal with it.
Take it personally. When people are stuck on board a plane for eight hours with no clean toilets, they take it personally. And when your company promise is to “bring humanity back to air travel,” you better take it personally too.
The founder and chief executive of JetBlue says he’s “humiliated and mortified” by what happened. He’s taking responsibility and promising real changes. That’s what customers want to hear.
Mr. Neeleman said he would enact what he called a customer bill of rights that would financially penalize JetBlue — and reward passengers — for any repeat of the current upheaval. He said he would propose a plan to pay customers, after some amount of time, by the hour for being stranded on a plane…He says knows he has to deliver. “I can flap my lips all I want,” he said. “Talk is cheap. Watch us.”
Your site is a PR weapon. Neeleman’s emotional response was nowhere to be found at JetBlue.com though. The latest JetBlue news at the site is the addition of 3 blind moose Merlot and Chardonnay to flights. Hmm, is that really the big JetBlue news right now? And the last entry at the CEO’s blog at the site has the title “2007 Takes Off in the Right Direction.”
Granted, there’s a link that says “Operational Interruptions” in the site’s header but it only takes you to a bunch of sterile, boilerplate text (e.g, “JetBlue continues to experience cancellations and delays as a result of Wednesday’s ice storm in the Northeast. Please check the status of your flight online before proceeding to the airport.”)
The site needs to become the online version of the guy with the megaphone. There should be a letter from the CEO. There should be an apology. There should be details about changes that are going to happen to prevent this from occurring again. If they can’t easily make changes to the current site, they should set up a special crisis site to deal specifically with this debacle. As it is now, the company’s online presence seems disconnected from reality.
[1] Fyi, here’s the gritty details of my day at JFK (others had it worse): There was a big storm on Wednesday. But by Thursday things had cleared up. I had a 1:15pm flight to Chicago. I checked online and the site said the flight had been delayed until 2:15pm. So I arrived at the airport at 1pm. I checked in and the rep told me my flight had been cancelled and I was now flying standby on the 8pm flight. He took my bag and checked it in. He said if I had any questions, to ask at Special Services check-in. I went there and waited in line for over an hour. They told me that the 8pm flight wouldn’t actually leave until 11:45pm. And even then there would only be a 50-50 chance that I would get onto that flight. There were no other flights available until Monday. I decided to wait it out and take my chances. I stuck around the airport and then, at around 10:30pm, they told us the flight had been cancelled. We had to reschedule by waiting in another huge line or calling an 800 number. The 800 number was jammed though and it was impossible to get through. I decided to worry about it later. Now I had to get my bag back. This was another two hour wait. No one knew where the bags would come out or when they would come out. (But they did know that the bags could not be delivered.) Everyone was frazzled. The baggage handlers looked like they had just emerged from a war zone. Finally, at about 12:45am, the bags came out. I headed home. On the way, I tried calling the 800 number again and got put on hold. While on hold, there was a recurring message that said, “JetBlue isn’t the only way to fly…but it ought to be.”
Be the guy with the megaphone and other lessons from a JetBlue meltdown
By Matt
It could have been worse. I could’ve been stranded on the runway for eight hours. Instead, I was stuck at the JetBlue terminal for 12 hours last Thursday before finding out my flight was cancelled. [1]
Here are some communication lessons learned from the fiasco:
Put all your soldiers on the front lines. Jet Blue’s corporate offices are located near JFK so they brought in a bunch of people who normally work there to help out at the terminal. They wore Jet Blue vests and/or badges and wandered around the terminal answering questions, directing customers, and listening to complaints. Granted, a lot of these people didn’t know much more than the passengers but, hey, at least they were there. A lot of customers just wanted to vent and know someone was listening. You need boots on the ground to do the little things. I saw one rep ask an irate customer for a business card so he could follow up with him later. A small step, but it just might save a customer.
Be the guy with the megaphone. The PA system by the gates was pitiful. The volume was feeble and you could barely make out the thin announcements (which were similar to the unintelligible conductor announcements on the NYC subways). People were desperate to know what was going on. Enter megaphone man. Rumor was that he actually worked as legal counsel to JetBlue. He went to each gate with a megaphone and updated all the passengers with the latest info. Then he’d walk toward the rear of that gate and repeat the info again for those who hadn’t heard the first time. It wasn’t always good news. But at least an actual person was there, communicating something clearly.
Have an operator reserve force. A lot of the JetBlue reps on the scene encouraged passengers to call (800) Jet-Blue for more info. The problem was the phone lines were so jampacked there was no way to get through. This forced already irate customers to wait in lines for hours in order to find out information that easily could have been shared over the phone. The result: Anger builds and the people onsite had to deal with it.
Take it personally. When people are stuck on board a plane for eight hours with no clean toilets, they take it personally. And when your company promise is to “bring humanity back to air travel,” you better take it personally too.
The founder and chief executive of JetBlue says he’s “humiliated and mortified” by what happened. He’s taking responsibility and promising real changes. That’s what customers want to hear.
Mr. Neeleman said he would enact what he called a customer bill of rights that would financially penalize JetBlue — and reward passengers — for any repeat of the current upheaval. He said he would propose a plan to pay customers, after some amount of time, by the hour for being stranded on a plane…He says knows he has to deliver. “I can flap my lips all I want,” he said. “Talk is cheap. Watch us.”
Your site is a PR weapon. Neeleman’s emotional response was nowhere to be found at JetBlue.com though. The latest JetBlue news at the site is the addition of 3 blind moose Merlot and Chardonnay to flights. Hmm, is that really the big JetBlue news right now? And the last entry at the CEO’s blog at the site has the title “2007 Takes Off in the Right Direction.”
Granted, there’s a link that says “Operational Interruptions” in the site’s header but it only takes you to a bunch of sterile, boilerplate text (e.g, “JetBlue continues to experience cancellations and delays as a result of Wednesday’s ice storm in the Northeast. Please check the status of your flight online before proceeding to the airport.”)
The site needs to become the online version of the guy with the megaphone. There should be a letter from the CEO. There should be an apology. There should be details about changes that are going to happen to prevent this from occurring again. If they can’t easily make changes to the current site, they should set up a special crisis site to deal specifically with this debacle. As it is now, the company’s online presence seems disconnected from reality.
[1] Fyi, here’s the gritty details of my day at JFK (others had it worse): There was a big storm on Wednesday. But by Thursday things had cleared up. I had a 1:15pm flight to Chicago. I checked online and the site said the flight had been delayed until 2:15pm. So I arrived at the airport at 1pm. I checked in and the rep told me my flight had been cancelled and I was now flying standby on the 8pm flight. He took my bag and checked it in. He said if I had any questions, to ask at Special Services check-in. I went there and waited in line for over an hour. They told me that the 8pm flight wouldn’t actually leave until 11:45pm. And even then there would only be a 50-50 chance that I would get onto that flight. There were no other flights available until Monday. I decided to wait it out and take my chances. I stuck around the airport and then, at around 10:30pm, they told us the flight had been cancelled. We had to reschedule by waiting in another huge line or calling an 800 number. The 800 number was jammed though and it was impossible to get through. I decided to worry about it later. Now I had to get my bag back. This was another two hour wait. No one knew where the bags would come out or when they would come out. (But they did know that the bags could not be delivered.) Everyone was frazzled. The baggage handlers looked like they had just emerged from a war zone. Finally, at about 12:45am, the bags came out. I headed home. On the way, I tried calling the 800 number again and got put on hold. While on hold, there was a recurring message that said, “JetBlue isn’t the only way to fly…but it ought to be.”
I'm In Like Flynn
UPDATE:
I'm meeting with the CEO of JetBlue David Neeleman. I'll see if there is anyway i can document the meeting.
I can't say when as the explicitly asked me to keep his schedule private, but it's coming up so I need your input.
What happened to you?
What would you have done differently?
How would YOU create a consumer advisory board?
What things would you do to make the airline industry a better one.
What would make JetBlue a better for consumers? (I know, JetBlue has been great, until then.)
Email jetbluehostage@gmail.com
Love,
Gen
I'm meeting with the CEO of JetBlue David Neeleman. I'll see if there is anyway i can document the meeting.
I can't say when as the explicitly asked me to keep his schedule private, but it's coming up so I need your input.
What happened to you?
What would you have done differently?
How would YOU create a consumer advisory board?
What things would you do to make the airline industry a better one.
What would make JetBlue a better for consumers? (I know, JetBlue has been great, until then.)
Email jetbluehostage@gmail.com
Love,
Gen
Seth Godin's blog: WORD OF MOUTH GOD. I LOVE YOU.
Potlatch
He's Brilliant. I used to work in the Word Of Mouth Space for Disney. I read all his books and I love this guy. I actually think his reponse is brilliant.
(Taps finger on chin. Inside joke with me and some friends.)
Potlatch
Many people have dropped me a line about JetBlue. Here's my simple prescription:
Potlatch.
This is a Native American term for a ceremony involving dancing, feasting, and the most memorable part: giving someone too much. If I ran JetBlue, I'd go to each of the people affected (and it's not that many) and give each person 40 free round trip tickets. Or maybe 50. More than any person could use for a long, long while. Let them fly with as many friends as they like until they've used up 50 seats.
When the world is focused on your actions, magnifying your response is almost always a good idea. Not panicking is a good idea too, and it seems as though they've got that part covered.
He's Brilliant. I used to work in the Word Of Mouth Space for Disney. I read all his books and I love this guy. I actually think his reponse is brilliant.
(Taps finger on chin. Inside joke with me and some friends.)
Potlatch
Many people have dropped me a line about JetBlue. Here's my simple prescription:
Potlatch.
This is a Native American term for a ceremony involving dancing, feasting, and the most memorable part: giving someone too much. If I ran JetBlue, I'd go to each of the people affected (and it's not that many) and give each person 40 free round trip tickets. Or maybe 50. More than any person could use for a long, long while. Let them fly with as many friends as they like until they've used up 50 seats.
When the world is focused on your actions, magnifying your response is almost always a good idea. Not panicking is a good idea too, and it seems as though they've got that part covered.
JetBluesCorporate Meltdown
Barbara's Blog
Barbara Ehrenreich comments on working in America
JetBlue’s Corporate Meltdown
The lucky JetBlue passengers were the ones whose flights were cancelled last week. They were fortunate enough to remain stranded in well-heated airports with restrooms and food courts. As for the unlucky ones, hundreds of them were trapped for as many as 10 hours in planes on the tarmac, with overflowing toilets, dwindling supplies of drinking water, and of course no food when the pretzels ran out. So far there have been no reports of cannibalism aboard immobilized JetBlue flights, but, with the company’s post-ice storm PR campaign in full swing, who knows?
I could do 10 hours on the tarmac, provided I had a sufficient supply of Xanax and protein bars. But with children? JetBlue’s CEO David Neeleman has nine of them. Would he dare risk a family vacation in the Caribbean if any of them are in the challenging 0 to 10 age range? According to CNN, parents on stranded planes were ripping up t-shirts to make diapers for their babies. And how many times can you read Curious George out loud anyway?
Neeleman has admitted to being “humiliated and mortified” by his company’s post-storm meltdown (one might wish that his status included “fired.”) But JetBlue’s outbreak of passenger abuse reflects larger problems in corporate America. One is a premium on youth at the expense of experience. According to Aero News, this may have had something to do with the company’s decision, shortly after the storm, to push planes off to the tarmac rather than canceling flights, as the older airlines did. JetBlue’s approach certainly succeeded in clearing some boarding areas of noisy, disgruntled passengers, but a stun gun might have been more humane.
“There’s a lot more gray hair at older airlines than there is at JetBlue,” Aero News quoted Tim Sieber, general manager of the Boyd Group, an aviation-consulting firm. But youth is part of JetBlue’s branding, even if it means having no one around who’s ever seen snow.
The other widespread problem is a simple shortage of employees. Since the late eighties, corporate America has pursued the beautiful dream of an employee-free company. Imagine: no payroll except for the top executives, no benefits to provide, and of course no unions! So the pattern has been that every time a company downsizes, its stock rises and its top managers drool over their burgeoning portfolios.
Since 9/11, the airlines in particular have been shedding employees like unwanted ballast, with predictable results. As the New York Times reports, there’s been an industry-wide “thinning of staff,” meaning that in bad weather, airlines often “do not have enough people…” Which might be OK if bad weather hadn’t become so routine that it’s crowding out all other news on CNN.
The budget airlines are especially skimpy when it comes to human employees. In late 2006, Neeleman announced plans to reduce its number of full-time employees per plane from 93 to 80. He should rethink that, since the major reason JetBlue couldn’t get back off the ground after the Valentine’s Day storm was that it lacks the personnel to connect crews to their flights. Pilots and flight attendants remained stuck in their hotels while passengers slept on airport floors.
Neeleman might also want to rethink the paltry passengers’ “bill of rights” JetBlue is offering as part of its effort to regain customer trust. What it’s missing is the crucial right to be freed from an airplane that isn’t going anywhere at all. According to a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the industry’s major trade group, such a right would “impose[s] inflexible standards on a carrier's operations” – just as laws against kidnapping place a terrible burden on ransom-seekers.
If I get stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours, I plan to use my cell phone to call Homeland Security. Let’s face it, JetBlue and the rest of you: Anything more than three hours on the ground isn’t an airline delay, it’s a hostage situation.
February 20, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink
Barbara Ehrenreich comments on working in America
JetBlue’s Corporate Meltdown
The lucky JetBlue passengers were the ones whose flights were cancelled last week. They were fortunate enough to remain stranded in well-heated airports with restrooms and food courts. As for the unlucky ones, hundreds of them were trapped for as many as 10 hours in planes on the tarmac, with overflowing toilets, dwindling supplies of drinking water, and of course no food when the pretzels ran out. So far there have been no reports of cannibalism aboard immobilized JetBlue flights, but, with the company’s post-ice storm PR campaign in full swing, who knows?
I could do 10 hours on the tarmac, provided I had a sufficient supply of Xanax and protein bars. But with children? JetBlue’s CEO David Neeleman has nine of them. Would he dare risk a family vacation in the Caribbean if any of them are in the challenging 0 to 10 age range? According to CNN, parents on stranded planes were ripping up t-shirts to make diapers for their babies. And how many times can you read Curious George out loud anyway?
Neeleman has admitted to being “humiliated and mortified” by his company’s post-storm meltdown (one might wish that his status included “fired.”) But JetBlue’s outbreak of passenger abuse reflects larger problems in corporate America. One is a premium on youth at the expense of experience. According to Aero News, this may have had something to do with the company’s decision, shortly after the storm, to push planes off to the tarmac rather than canceling flights, as the older airlines did. JetBlue’s approach certainly succeeded in clearing some boarding areas of noisy, disgruntled passengers, but a stun gun might have been more humane.
“There’s a lot more gray hair at older airlines than there is at JetBlue,” Aero News quoted Tim Sieber, general manager of the Boyd Group, an aviation-consulting firm. But youth is part of JetBlue’s branding, even if it means having no one around who’s ever seen snow.
The other widespread problem is a simple shortage of employees. Since the late eighties, corporate America has pursued the beautiful dream of an employee-free company. Imagine: no payroll except for the top executives, no benefits to provide, and of course no unions! So the pattern has been that every time a company downsizes, its stock rises and its top managers drool over their burgeoning portfolios.
Since 9/11, the airlines in particular have been shedding employees like unwanted ballast, with predictable results. As the New York Times reports, there’s been an industry-wide “thinning of staff,” meaning that in bad weather, airlines often “do not have enough people…” Which might be OK if bad weather hadn’t become so routine that it’s crowding out all other news on CNN.
The budget airlines are especially skimpy when it comes to human employees. In late 2006, Neeleman announced plans to reduce its number of full-time employees per plane from 93 to 80. He should rethink that, since the major reason JetBlue couldn’t get back off the ground after the Valentine’s Day storm was that it lacks the personnel to connect crews to their flights. Pilots and flight attendants remained stuck in their hotels while passengers slept on airport floors.
Neeleman might also want to rethink the paltry passengers’ “bill of rights” JetBlue is offering as part of its effort to regain customer trust. What it’s missing is the crucial right to be freed from an airplane that isn’t going anywhere at all. According to a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the industry’s major trade group, such a right would “impose[s] inflexible standards on a carrier's operations” – just as laws against kidnapping place a terrible burden on ransom-seekers.
If I get stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours, I plan to use my cell phone to call Homeland Security. Let’s face it, JetBlue and the rest of you: Anything more than three hours on the ground isn’t an airline delay, it’s a hostage situation.
February 20, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink
The View From the Seven and a Halfth Floor
Apology 2.0
This video probably marks the first time that a CEO of a major corporation has issued a public apology via YouTube. This is certainly one of the most unique uses of the user-produced web ("Web 2.0") that I have seen. This also marks the only time in recent memory when I can remember a CEO issuing such a public apology without having personally committed a grievous offense (i.e. massive fraud, participated in illegal activities). Then again, jetBlue has always done things a little bit differently (free TV, blue potato chips, sensible airfares and change policies that other airlines have been forced to match), and most people in New York and California (the last two places I've lived) can't imagine life without them.
Let's hope they're sincere, and that the events of the past week (which canceled my cousins' vacation, amongst thousands of others), were a once-in-a-lifetime problem.
UPDATE: Web 2.0 cuts both ways. Somebody has already registered the domain name www.jetbluehostage.com, and has posted blog entries and youtube videos of her 11-hour ordeal.
This video probably marks the first time that a CEO of a major corporation has issued a public apology via YouTube. This is certainly one of the most unique uses of the user-produced web ("Web 2.0") that I have seen. This also marks the only time in recent memory when I can remember a CEO issuing such a public apology without having personally committed a grievous offense (i.e. massive fraud, participated in illegal activities). Then again, jetBlue has always done things a little bit differently (free TV, blue potato chips, sensible airfares and change policies that other airlines have been forced to match), and most people in New York and California (the last two places I've lived) can't imagine life without them.
Let's hope they're sincere, and that the events of the past week (which canceled my cousins' vacation, amongst thousands of others), were a once-in-a-lifetime problem.
UPDATE: Web 2.0 cuts both ways. Somebody has already registered the domain name www.jetbluehostage.com, and has posted blog entries and youtube videos of her 11-hour ordeal.
Hustler Of Culture and Other Friends
I miss my friends in LA. I miss you guys so fucking much.
If I was just going to Miami, or someplace else that didn't have all the people I love, JetblueHostage.com would have never happened.
Me Missing Home+Valentines Day+Stranded in NYC+In the middle of a snowstorm=JetBlueHostage.com
thanks to all my muses.
From Hustler of Culture
Jet Blue Hostage
My friends Gen and Charlie missed dinner with us on February 15th. This is the reason why...
From Sabrina-
Dear Mr.Neeleman:
I used to live with www.jetbluehostage.com and she is no joke. You better give the lady what she wants since you f**** her and chucky over otherwise I see jetblue going out of business for sure. Myspace is a powerful thing. Here is some advise: Give all her LA Myspace friends a free RT ticket to NYC to see her since she couldnt hang out with us. I am sure that will do.. for now?!
Sincerely yours,
Sabrina
PS: And thanks Mr.Neeleman (is that DUTCH??) for f**** up my Valentines day too as we were all scheduled to get mesmerized by meth addicted strippers at jumbos clown room!!!!!!!
From Kristi-
Feb 14, 2007 4:32 PM
you two were what i was looking forward to for valentines day!!
this just goes along with my whole stance on v day anyway...it's lame.
black hearts to you on this oh so joyous occassion.
From Little Ash
Feb 15, 2007 4:00 PM
A post-Valentine's Day poem:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
JetBlue can bite me
For kidnapping you.
xoxo
From The BEAUTIFUL Juliette (Happy birthday Angel)
Feb 15, 2007 12:04 AM
Tough Cookie!!! I hope you are in your bed and not starving holding your pee on the F'in runway!! You are my one and only Valentine and I'm sorry that your day got fuct and that your plans got jacked...BUT....thats why you belong in LA...NO SNOW AND BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!
From Jessika-
Feb 19, 2007 9:35 AM
miss ya! heard you were coming home, I was excited, then u didnt now Im sad :( when r u gonna grace us with your beautiful face?
If I was just going to Miami, or someplace else that didn't have all the people I love, JetblueHostage.com would have never happened.
Me Missing Home+Valentines Day+Stranded in NYC+In the middle of a snowstorm=JetBlueHostage.com
thanks to all my muses.
From Hustler of Culture
Jet Blue Hostage
My friends Gen and Charlie missed dinner with us on February 15th. This is the reason why...
From Sabrina-
Dear Mr.Neeleman:
I used to live with www.jetbluehostage.com and she is no joke. You better give the lady what she wants since you f**** her and chucky over otherwise I see jetblue going out of business for sure. Myspace is a powerful thing. Here is some advise: Give all her LA Myspace friends a free RT ticket to NYC to see her since she couldnt hang out with us. I am sure that will do.. for now?!
Sincerely yours,
Sabrina
PS: And thanks Mr.Neeleman (is that DUTCH??) for f**** up my Valentines day too as we were all scheduled to get mesmerized by meth addicted strippers at jumbos clown room!!!!!!!
From Kristi-
Feb 14, 2007 4:32 PM
you two were what i was looking forward to for valentines day!!
this just goes along with my whole stance on v day anyway...it's lame.
black hearts to you on this oh so joyous occassion.
From Little Ash
Feb 15, 2007 4:00 PM
A post-Valentine's Day poem:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
JetBlue can bite me
For kidnapping you.
xoxo
From The BEAUTIFUL Juliette (Happy birthday Angel)
Feb 15, 2007 12:04 AM
Tough Cookie!!! I hope you are in your bed and not starving holding your pee on the F'in runway!! You are my one and only Valentine and I'm sorry that your day got fuct and that your plans got jacked...BUT....thats why you belong in LA...NO SNOW AND BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!
From Jessika-
Feb 19, 2007 9:35 AM
miss ya! heard you were coming home, I was excited, then u didnt now Im sad :( when r u gonna grace us with your beautiful face?
The Affari Edge Blog
The Affari Edge Blog
Discussion about advertising, marketing, and public relations…
Jet Blew: How a great airline handled a public relations catastrophe
First, let me say that I have not flown on Jet Blue, but I know people who have. It is a great airline and has repeatedly been recognized for outstanding customer service. They do know how to operate an airline, and they do it well.
Or did until last week. Cupid shot an arrow throught their reputation.
On Valentine’s Day, a snowstorm hit the Northeast US. Airports closed. Airlines canceled flights, Jet Blue among them - although later than most.
As the storm started breaking, airlines started flying again. Except for Jet Blue. It seems that they had some rather major internal communications problems. Their pilots and flight attendants were scattered all over the place - and Jet Blue didn’t really know where. They had too many airplanes in other places. The New York Post reported Jet Blue had 52 plans parked at JFK Thursday morning, and the airport closed the runway - so Jet Blue couldn’t get their planes to other airports, stranding passengers.
So pilot-less planes were loaded with passengers who waited. And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And… well, you get the picture. Some planes sat on the tarmac for 10 hours or more.
It didn’t help that usually responsive customer service personnel were not able to give out information. Or FAA rules hogtied what Jet Blue personnel could do (such as having to wait four hours before givng food and water on planes sitting on the tarmac).
So what happens to people like this? They blog. JetBlueHostage.com was started by a woman (Genevieve) stranded for 11 hours at JFK:
JET BLUE: A VALENTINE’S DAY HOSTAGE CRISIS
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.
In one week, she has 87 posts. 87. They range from news articles about the situation to posts about other Jet Blue hostages. There are even two posts from a Jet Blue employee — one basically chastising Genevieve for starting her blog. Other bloggers posted as well, and linked to Genevieve’s post.
Wow.
Days after the snowball started, the CEO - David Neeleman - finally tried to get in front of it. He admitted the mistakes. He taked about his airline’s internal shortcomings. He was “humiliated and mortified” by what has transpired. The New York Times has a great article about his mea culpa.
He is offering refunds and more cash to those affected. Jet Blue paid for hotel stays and free meals. The only information about this on the official website were press releases and an “operational interruption” notice.
Could they have handled this better? Absolutely. Neeleman almost admitted as much.
Now I will admit that I am not a crisis management specialist. I realize that what I find in news reports and blog posts does not represent the totality of what Jet Blue has done and will do. But I can say there are three things I would have done differently.
1) When internal communications breakdown, external communications need more transparency. Passengers should know as much as possible. Most of the negative reactions fr0m passengers stemmed from the inbility of Jet Blue staff to give any information.
When a CEO has to come out and admit that his company has some internal problems, his stockholders will not like what happens to the stock price. Shares of JetBlue had actually risen at the end of last week, and the market is closed today for Presidents’ Day. I will be watching the shares tomorrow, but if all flights return to flying the long-term impact will be negligible.
2) Provide a mechanism for feedback other than yelling at Jet Blue employees. Imagine if, instead of having an irate passenger starting her own blog, JetBlue had started a forum or blog where customers could vent. Yes, the comments would be negative - but the company could see earlier just how big the snowball is getting… and would know how their customers are reacting.
It would let the company know both where and how to communicate information. It would also allow them to dispell rumors and provide accurate, clear information - instead of embedding the information in their press release section, hoping media outlets will communicate for them.
3) Open the internal communications structure. Neeleman noted that he had pilots sending him emails asking what to do. If those same pilots and/or flight attendants could use on-line communications tools such as forums or blog comments, it might have expedited some of the staffing problems. These tools need not be public-facing, but social media technology can be utilized for internal communications.
Only time will tell what the effects will be on Jet Blue. They will be spening money on better training. They will undoubtedly be spending money on communications and reservations systems. A lesson has clearly been learned, and they will - once again - be back to among the best customer-service airlines in the world. It is just interesting to see how this situation has been handled.
Discussion about advertising, marketing, and public relations…
Jet Blew: How a great airline handled a public relations catastrophe
First, let me say that I have not flown on Jet Blue, but I know people who have. It is a great airline and has repeatedly been recognized for outstanding customer service. They do know how to operate an airline, and they do it well.
Or did until last week. Cupid shot an arrow throught their reputation.
On Valentine’s Day, a snowstorm hit the Northeast US. Airports closed. Airlines canceled flights, Jet Blue among them - although later than most.
As the storm started breaking, airlines started flying again. Except for Jet Blue. It seems that they had some rather major internal communications problems. Their pilots and flight attendants were scattered all over the place - and Jet Blue didn’t really know where. They had too many airplanes in other places. The New York Post reported Jet Blue had 52 plans parked at JFK Thursday morning, and the airport closed the runway - so Jet Blue couldn’t get their planes to other airports, stranding passengers.
So pilot-less planes were loaded with passengers who waited. And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And… well, you get the picture. Some planes sat on the tarmac for 10 hours or more.
It didn’t help that usually responsive customer service personnel were not able to give out information. Or FAA rules hogtied what Jet Blue personnel could do (such as having to wait four hours before givng food and water on planes sitting on the tarmac).
So what happens to people like this? They blog. JetBlueHostage.com was started by a woman (Genevieve) stranded for 11 hours at JFK:
JET BLUE: A VALENTINE’S DAY HOSTAGE CRISIS
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.
In one week, she has 87 posts. 87. They range from news articles about the situation to posts about other Jet Blue hostages. There are even two posts from a Jet Blue employee — one basically chastising Genevieve for starting her blog. Other bloggers posted as well, and linked to Genevieve’s post.
Wow.
Days after the snowball started, the CEO - David Neeleman - finally tried to get in front of it. He admitted the mistakes. He taked about his airline’s internal shortcomings. He was “humiliated and mortified” by what has transpired. The New York Times has a great article about his mea culpa.
He is offering refunds and more cash to those affected. Jet Blue paid for hotel stays and free meals. The only information about this on the official website were press releases and an “operational interruption” notice.
Could they have handled this better? Absolutely. Neeleman almost admitted as much.
Now I will admit that I am not a crisis management specialist. I realize that what I find in news reports and blog posts does not represent the totality of what Jet Blue has done and will do. But I can say there are three things I would have done differently.
1) When internal communications breakdown, external communications need more transparency. Passengers should know as much as possible. Most of the negative reactions fr0m passengers stemmed from the inbility of Jet Blue staff to give any information.
When a CEO has to come out and admit that his company has some internal problems, his stockholders will not like what happens to the stock price. Shares of JetBlue had actually risen at the end of last week, and the market is closed today for Presidents’ Day. I will be watching the shares tomorrow, but if all flights return to flying the long-term impact will be negligible.
2) Provide a mechanism for feedback other than yelling at Jet Blue employees. Imagine if, instead of having an irate passenger starting her own blog, JetBlue had started a forum or blog where customers could vent. Yes, the comments would be negative - but the company could see earlier just how big the snowball is getting… and would know how their customers are reacting.
It would let the company know both where and how to communicate information. It would also allow them to dispell rumors and provide accurate, clear information - instead of embedding the information in their press release section, hoping media outlets will communicate for them.
3) Open the internal communications structure. Neeleman noted that he had pilots sending him emails asking what to do. If those same pilots and/or flight attendants could use on-line communications tools such as forums or blog comments, it might have expedited some of the staffing problems. These tools need not be public-facing, but social media technology can be utilized for internal communications.
Only time will tell what the effects will be on Jet Blue. They will be spening money on better training. They will undoubtedly be spending money on communications and reservations systems. A lesson has clearly been learned, and they will - once again - be back to among the best customer-service airlines in the world. It is just interesting to see how this situation has been handled.
FlightWisdom and JBH.com
JetBlueHostage.com is five days old today.
The little blog that could.
Thanks for your support and attention and contributions.
Flight Wisdom
Jetblue Will Lose Millions from Winter Incident
“I don’t blame our customers for being upset with this,” David Neeleman, CEO of Jetblue commented about the recent events plaguing the airline. For Saturday and Sunday, it pre-cancelled 23 percent of its schedule in order to reset their operation. That includes all flights to and from: Austin, Bermuda, Charlotte, Columbus, Houston, Jacksonville, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh/Durham, and Richmond.
One flyer has created a blog for the “Jetblue Valentine’s Day Hostage Crisis” at Jetbluehostage.com. Jetblue has, either way, certainly not made anything better. Although other airlines have cancelled many flights, Jetblue’s response to this weather crisis is proving to have been a massive disaster. On Thursday night, Jetblue closed out all flights, no longer accepting check-ins and actually had the police close the counters for them.
If they don’t fix this problem soon, no one will be flying them. Despite the fact that other airlines have and did delay passengers and cancel flights, only Jetblue’s situation is getting an intense level of press.
Digg it
The little blog that could.
Thanks for your support and attention and contributions.
Flight Wisdom
Jetblue Will Lose Millions from Winter Incident
“I don’t blame our customers for being upset with this,” David Neeleman, CEO of Jetblue commented about the recent events plaguing the airline. For Saturday and Sunday, it pre-cancelled 23 percent of its schedule in order to reset their operation. That includes all flights to and from: Austin, Bermuda, Charlotte, Columbus, Houston, Jacksonville, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh/Durham, and Richmond.
One flyer has created a blog for the “Jetblue Valentine’s Day Hostage Crisis” at Jetbluehostage.com. Jetblue has, either way, certainly not made anything better. Although other airlines have cancelled many flights, Jetblue’s response to this weather crisis is proving to have been a massive disaster. On Thursday night, Jetblue closed out all flights, no longer accepting check-ins and actually had the police close the counters for them.
If they don’t fix this problem soon, no one will be flying them. Despite the fact that other airlines have and did delay passengers and cancel flights, only Jetblue’s situation is getting an intense level of press.
Digg it
Social Media Today co-Founder knows us
It was left as a comment from one co-founders of Social Media, Jerry Bowles.
Thanks for noticing us little guys.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/2805
JetBlue may not blog, but it is transparent
by Shel Israel on 19 February 2007, 15:04 PM
Categories : Public Relations - Companies - Blogs
First off, I'm extremely happy that my horrendous travel schedule did not deliver me to the Northeast last week. Second, I'm a JetBlue fan, even if most routes I'm taking condemn me to United and American Air most of the time.
JetBlue is a young company, who just revealed the first blemish on the face of its seven-year history, and it was a pretty ugly one that left people locked on unventilated planes on the JFK tarmac for up to 10 hours. My wife is claustrophobic. Had we been on that flight it would have been extremely hardon her.
Still, I had to wince when through Personal Bee, I was directed to Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed, where Paul says that the airline company's lack of information to the public could easily have been a case study for Naked Conversation's. If the book were being written now, I'm sure we would be all over this case. Paul might see it going into "Blogging in a Crisis," or perhaps "Doing it Wrong," but he would be surprised to see us put this one into "Doing it Right."
Paul, you may have missed the startling Page One interview in the New York Times with David Neeleman, founder and CEO of JetBlue, who described himself as "humiliated and mortified," with how JetBlue customers were treated and how his organization melted down.He admitted that part of the problem, was the low-cost model upon which JetBlue is built and he publicly aired additional problems, such as flight attendants being unable to reach the company to find out if a flight was on or off.
This is transparency and it is a case study for how a CEO can use it. Using a blog would have been a better communications tool, but I think it's important to remember that like a hammer, a blog is just a tool.
JetBlue has sinned, it has suffered and it has repented. The guy at the top probably ignored a whole bevy of lawyers telling him not to admit any kind of culpability. He says they'll do better and next time the suffering passengers will be compensated.
Naked Conversations began with the statement that we live in a time when most people don't trust corporations. Personally, I trust this one because of Neeleman's comments. I will be surprised if they do not do better next time.
And, by the way, when the communications officer at JetBlue, reads ths post, they should pay heed that a blog woiuld be a most efficient commnications tool when your next crisis takes place.
Thanks for noticing us little guys.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/2805
JetBlue may not blog, but it is transparent
by Shel Israel on 19 February 2007, 15:04 PM
Categories : Public Relations - Companies - Blogs
First off, I'm extremely happy that my horrendous travel schedule did not deliver me to the Northeast last week. Second, I'm a JetBlue fan, even if most routes I'm taking condemn me to United and American Air most of the time.
JetBlue is a young company, who just revealed the first blemish on the face of its seven-year history, and it was a pretty ugly one that left people locked on unventilated planes on the JFK tarmac for up to 10 hours. My wife is claustrophobic. Had we been on that flight it would have been extremely hardon her.
Still, I had to wince when through Personal Bee, I was directed to Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed, where Paul says that the airline company's lack of information to the public could easily have been a case study for Naked Conversation's. If the book were being written now, I'm sure we would be all over this case. Paul might see it going into "Blogging in a Crisis," or perhaps "Doing it Wrong," but he would be surprised to see us put this one into "Doing it Right."
Paul, you may have missed the startling Page One interview in the New York Times with David Neeleman, founder and CEO of JetBlue, who described himself as "humiliated and mortified," with how JetBlue customers were treated and how his organization melted down.He admitted that part of the problem, was the low-cost model upon which JetBlue is built and he publicly aired additional problems, such as flight attendants being unable to reach the company to find out if a flight was on or off.
This is transparency and it is a case study for how a CEO can use it. Using a blog would have been a better communications tool, but I think it's important to remember that like a hammer, a blog is just a tool.
JetBlue has sinned, it has suffered and it has repented. The guy at the top probably ignored a whole bevy of lawyers telling him not to admit any kind of culpability. He says they'll do better and next time the suffering passengers will be compensated.
Naked Conversations began with the statement that we live in a time when most people don't trust corporations. Personally, I trust this one because of Neeleman's comments. I will be surprised if they do not do better next time.
And, by the way, when the communications officer at JetBlue, reads ths post, they should pay heed that a blog woiuld be a most efficient commnications tool when your next crisis takes place.
Short Shout-Outs Count Too
Joe Ditzel: Comedian, Author, Bad Golfer.
Great Blogger. (That's my comment)
The World Is Wide
JetBlue Hostage BlogSaturday, February 17, 2007, 7:13:18 PM | Just A Traveler
I just blogged about an article I read on JetBlue, and today a friend sent an e-mail that one of the passengers started a blog. Now that's a PR nightmare!!! - just a traveler
Great Blogger. (That's my comment)
The World Is Wide
JetBlue Hostage BlogSaturday, February 17, 2007, 7:13:18 PM | Just A Traveler
I just blogged about an article I read on JetBlue, and today a friend sent an e-mail that one of the passengers started a blog. Now that's a PR nightmare!!! - just a traveler
IBM (!!!!) Corporation - Todd "Turbo" Watson blog
GOOD GRIEF - IBM Corporation has noticed us.
Todd "Turbo" Watson - IBM Corporation
Monday February 19, 2007
Harvick Gets the Checkered Flag, JetBlue Gets a Black Eye
How 'bout the crazy ending to that Daytona 500 yesterday?
Man oh man, that reminded me of my former days in rush hour on the West Side Highway (although Mopac here in Austin runs a close second)!
Kudos to Kevin Harvick for making his brilliant white flag end around forever-a-bridesmaid driver and second place finisher Mike Martin.
Harvick went from 34th to 12th in the opening 12 laps, then spent much of the rest of the race in the top 10 before making his charge in the Super Bowl of stock car racing.
Of course, if you think the idea of driving an average of 160+ MPH around an oval track for 500 miles won't get you anywhere, perhaps you should call JetBlue, which suffered a major black eye this past week after Jack Winter swept through the northeast and threw JetBlue's operations into a tailspin.
I'm slated to head to New York City tomorrow myself on JetBlue, but all flights in and out of Austin, Richmond, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, Charlotte, and Raleigh/Durham, and a whole bunch of other cities were cancelled over the weekend and today.
If I don't show up to your meeting in NY, now you'll know why.
I spent the weekend trying to get through to one of their agents to find out the status of my flights, but to no avail. Their 800 # recording basically told me to take a hike, and their Web site wasn't much more help, as I couldn't seek the status of a flight more than a day out.
And the company is taking a full-on citizen journalist beating in the Blogosphere. On around February 17, "JetBlue" mentions on Technorati skyrocketed, with crazy-mad and disgruntled travellers putting up sites like JetBlueHostage.com
Ouch. And here to think, all I wanted was a flight to JFK and maybe a bag of peanuts.
Anyhow, I'll keep you posted about my own travels. Get it? Posted? Jet Blue blogger?
Yeah, well meanwhile, remember this great video about Web 2.0? Searchblog's John Battelle tracked down its author, Dr. Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, for an in-depth interview.
Dr. Wesch explains what inspired him to make the video, but also goes on to discuss the implications and opportunities he believes digital technology presents to our world:
"It might enable us to truly see one another once again and all the ways we are interconnected. It might help us create a truly global view that can spark the kind of empathy we need to create a better world for all of humankind....[But] if we don't understand our digital technology and its effects, it can actually make humans and human needs even more invisible than ever before."
It's pretty inspirational stuff, actually.
However, before we all break into "Kum-Ba-Yah" and save the world, let me just state for the record I'd first like to have a computer with an operating system that only crashes on holidays and weekends.
I'm just sayin'.
Todd "Turbo" Watson - IBM Corporation
Monday February 19, 2007
Harvick Gets the Checkered Flag, JetBlue Gets a Black Eye
How 'bout the crazy ending to that Daytona 500 yesterday?
Man oh man, that reminded me of my former days in rush hour on the West Side Highway (although Mopac here in Austin runs a close second)!
Kudos to Kevin Harvick for making his brilliant white flag end around forever-a-bridesmaid driver and second place finisher Mike Martin.
Harvick went from 34th to 12th in the opening 12 laps, then spent much of the rest of the race in the top 10 before making his charge in the Super Bowl of stock car racing.
Of course, if you think the idea of driving an average of 160+ MPH around an oval track for 500 miles won't get you anywhere, perhaps you should call JetBlue, which suffered a major black eye this past week after Jack Winter swept through the northeast and threw JetBlue's operations into a tailspin.
I'm slated to head to New York City tomorrow myself on JetBlue, but all flights in and out of Austin, Richmond, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, Charlotte, and Raleigh/Durham, and a whole bunch of other cities were cancelled over the weekend and today.
If I don't show up to your meeting in NY, now you'll know why.
I spent the weekend trying to get through to one of their agents to find out the status of my flights, but to no avail. Their 800 # recording basically told me to take a hike, and their Web site wasn't much more help, as I couldn't seek the status of a flight more than a day out.
And the company is taking a full-on citizen journalist beating in the Blogosphere. On around February 17, "JetBlue" mentions on Technorati skyrocketed, with crazy-mad and disgruntled travellers putting up sites like JetBlueHostage.com
Ouch. And here to think, all I wanted was a flight to JFK and maybe a bag of peanuts.
Anyhow, I'll keep you posted about my own travels. Get it? Posted? Jet Blue blogger?
Yeah, well meanwhile, remember this great video about Web 2.0? Searchblog's John Battelle tracked down its author, Dr. Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, for an in-depth interview.
Dr. Wesch explains what inspired him to make the video, but also goes on to discuss the implications and opportunities he believes digital technology presents to our world:
"It might enable us to truly see one another once again and all the ways we are interconnected. It might help us create a truly global view that can spark the kind of empathy we need to create a better world for all of humankind....[But] if we don't understand our digital technology and its effects, it can actually make humans and human needs even more invisible than ever before."
It's pretty inspirational stuff, actually.
However, before we all break into "Kum-Ba-Yah" and save the world, let me just state for the record I'd first like to have a computer with an operating system that only crashes on holidays and weekends.
I'm just sayin'.
Stop the insanity
They got back to me.
YAY! I was beginning to think it was a false email. I started looking into if people could fake an email address with a real jetblue.com extention.
So it's for real now people. Send me your thoughts.
jetbluehostage@gmail.com
Love,
Gen
YAY! I was beginning to think it was a false email. I started looking into if people could fake an email address with a real jetblue.com extention.
So it's for real now people. Send me your thoughts.
jetbluehostage@gmail.com
Love,
Gen
DADLabs JetBlue Haiku Contest
The entire DadLabs production crew recently spent 18 hours in the jetBlue terminal at JFK. It was Valentine's Day.
So we're bitter. But when life gives you lemons, make poetry.
So we are inviting you, creative DadLabs passengers, to help us shake our puny fists at the man. Submit your poetry that decries/commemorates the recent airline meltdown in the comments here. The bitter editors at DadLabs.com will then select the best poem in each division and and award it a $50 gift certificate at our DadLabs store.
Our poetry contest has two divisions:
The jetBlue Haiku
Show the airline your 5-7-5
Or
Enter our "Roses are Red/I Flew jetBlue" category with a variation on the famous verse.
http://www.dadlabs.com/humorous/jetblue_haiku.html
So we're bitter. But when life gives you lemons, make poetry.
So we are inviting you, creative DadLabs passengers, to help us shake our puny fists at the man. Submit your poetry that decries/commemorates the recent airline meltdown in the comments here. The bitter editors at DadLabs.com will then select the best poem in each division and and award it a $50 gift certificate at our DadLabs store.
Our poetry contest has two divisions:
The jetBlue Haiku
Show the airline your 5-7-5
Or
Enter our "Roses are Red/I Flew jetBlue" category with a variation on the famous verse.
http://www.dadlabs.com/humorous/jetblue_haiku.html
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
From Genevieve to the "Haters"
Dear You, (and you know who YOU are.)
I hate that I have to write this. For the past few days, Ruth has been my legal companion, but tonight she was my confidante. Today, I needed to trade my 15" monitor for a movie screen. (Bridge of Terabithia. Thumbs down if you are old enough to have your own driver's license.)
Before I left the house I got a shocking email that David Neeleman (CEO of JetBlue)wanted to talk to ME. (Even now my stomach gets unsettled when I type it.) I, of course, blasted it out to my friends. When I was called by CNN, I also reached out to my friends. Both times, the man who was my very first friend in Los Angeles deflated me saying that I "flipped my wig" and that he doesn't support this endeavor and therefore couldn't be happy for me, he even mentioned that people around the world were dying (which surprisingly wasn't the first that someone said that to me since this blog began.) Both times I went from UNREAL HIGHS to tears.
I'm writing to you. I'm also writing to the people who have written to jetbluehostage@gmail.com and called me a crybaby or other things, with nothing else to say. I've made a point to put up ANY emails that contribute to this blog, so for you hate-mailers (and there's been so very few, actually there has only been FOUR, out of over a hundred emails) I'm sorry I didn't put your POV up. It's really pointless. If you have an opposing view, explain it. I'll put your email up. This isn't a one-sided community.
The People are dying in Africa and around the world bit:
(As Ashley says) yes, there are people dying in Africa, and instead of doing something about it on your own, you're writing to a blog you don't care about.
The You're a Drama Queen and you flipped your wig bit.
I hardly contribute to this blog. HARDLY. I've only written about my pre-plane boarding experience and have been too busy to even write about anything else. I'm grateful that the general population and the media have provided me with enough content that I don't have to relive my experience.
The What's the big deal, so you didn't go to LA stop overreacting bit
I'm going to paraphrase what Ruth said to me. I will never be as eloquent as her, so forgive me if I'm missing some of her finer points. There were two, TWO customers who had ONE bad experience at ONE Doubletree hotel. They started a blog that had hundreds of thousands view it. Doubletree was mortified. They had to change their name after the scandal and after reparations were made to the two disgruntled guests.
This whole JetBlue debacle included over a thousand cancelled flights. We're talking about over 150,000 customers affected. NOT TWO. If this site is an over dramatic overreaction, why did so many people find refuge on this and the many other blogs that were started after this mess? So if this is an overreaction or in any way over dramatic, then you're insulting not just me, but hundreds (yes hundreds) of thousands of people.
Anyway...I have yet to properly reply to the Jetblue employee blog. I SWEAR I'LL GET TO YA. It's just that the insult today hit home. It's easy to not take stuff personal when it's 4 people hiding behind an email address, but when it's one of your closest friends, it is personal.
Last but not least, I'd like to say that the most beautiful thing of this whole blog is this. It's restored my faith in our voice. When I was in college I protested EVERYTHING. I was living near and working in Berkeley Ca. so you can imagine. But after a while, I threw my hands up thinking there would be no change, not in my lifetime. But how beautiful is it that someone like me, just looking for someone like you all, could start a blog, be on CNN, meet the president of JetBlue all in four days. Because of a BLOG.
The ironic thing is, my unsupportive friend recently got a job working for another friend who happened to be on the same Jetblue flight 351 on V-Day. He got a job as an online editor. It was his first real job after mowing lawns at UCLA and doing random jobs here and there. You know how he got the job? It started with HIS BLOG. The irony of it all.
Love,
Gen
PS-You're welcome for all the extra page views and unique visitors.
I hate that I have to write this. For the past few days, Ruth has been my legal companion, but tonight she was my confidante. Today, I needed to trade my 15" monitor for a movie screen. (Bridge of Terabithia. Thumbs down if you are old enough to have your own driver's license.)
Before I left the house I got a shocking email that David Neeleman (CEO of JetBlue)wanted to talk to ME. (Even now my stomach gets unsettled when I type it.) I, of course, blasted it out to my friends. When I was called by CNN, I also reached out to my friends. Both times, the man who was my very first friend in Los Angeles deflated me saying that I "flipped my wig" and that he doesn't support this endeavor and therefore couldn't be happy for me, he even mentioned that people around the world were dying (which surprisingly wasn't the first that someone said that to me since this blog began.) Both times I went from UNREAL HIGHS to tears.
I'm writing to you. I'm also writing to the people who have written to jetbluehostage@gmail.com and called me a crybaby or other things, with nothing else to say. I've made a point to put up ANY emails that contribute to this blog, so for you hate-mailers (and there's been so very few, actually there has only been FOUR, out of over a hundred emails) I'm sorry I didn't put your POV up. It's really pointless. If you have an opposing view, explain it. I'll put your email up. This isn't a one-sided community.
The People are dying in Africa and around the world bit:
(As Ashley says) yes, there are people dying in Africa, and instead of doing something about it on your own, you're writing to a blog you don't care about.
The You're a Drama Queen and you flipped your wig bit.
I hardly contribute to this blog. HARDLY. I've only written about my pre-plane boarding experience and have been too busy to even write about anything else. I'm grateful that the general population and the media have provided me with enough content that I don't have to relive my experience.
The What's the big deal, so you didn't go to LA stop overreacting bit
I'm going to paraphrase what Ruth said to me. I will never be as eloquent as her, so forgive me if I'm missing some of her finer points. There were two, TWO customers who had ONE bad experience at ONE Doubletree hotel. They started a blog that had hundreds of thousands view it. Doubletree was mortified. They had to change their name after the scandal and after reparations were made to the two disgruntled guests.
This whole JetBlue debacle included over a thousand cancelled flights. We're talking about over 150,000 customers affected. NOT TWO. If this site is an over dramatic overreaction, why did so many people find refuge on this and the many other blogs that were started after this mess? So if this is an overreaction or in any way over dramatic, then you're insulting not just me, but hundreds (yes hundreds) of thousands of people.
Anyway...I have yet to properly reply to the Jetblue employee blog. I SWEAR I'LL GET TO YA. It's just that the insult today hit home. It's easy to not take stuff personal when it's 4 people hiding behind an email address, but when it's one of your closest friends, it is personal.
Last but not least, I'd like to say that the most beautiful thing of this whole blog is this. It's restored my faith in our voice. When I was in college I protested EVERYTHING. I was living near and working in Berkeley Ca. so you can imagine. But after a while, I threw my hands up thinking there would be no change, not in my lifetime. But how beautiful is it that someone like me, just looking for someone like you all, could start a blog, be on CNN, meet the president of JetBlue all in four days. Because of a BLOG.
The ironic thing is, my unsupportive friend recently got a job working for another friend who happened to be on the same Jetblue flight 351 on V-Day. He got a job as an online editor. It was his first real job after mowing lawns at UCLA and doing random jobs here and there. You know how he got the job? It started with HIS BLOG. The irony of it all.
Love,
Gen
PS-You're welcome for all the extra page views and unique visitors.
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