Pilots to the rescue!
First off, the JetBlue Valentine’s Day Massacre of 2007 wasn’t nearly as bad as the real St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (click here for the brutal details!). I feel better now that is off my chest and you all know something about the mob life.
Now, let’s talk about the fact that two JetBlue pilots paid $360 of their hard earned pilot bucks to travel in a taxi from New York to upstate Newburgh in an effort to help the airline recover from a crisis in February 2007. After hundreds of flights were cancelled and millions of dollars were lost after some bad weather rolled in on Valentines Day 2007, what caused two pilots to go out of their way in order to help the airline? Did they get some huge bonus? Were they trying to suck up to the boss? Or, more importantly, had JetBlue created an image, brand, and reputation that the pilots bought into?
I think the most likely cause of the pilots doing this was they truly felt part of the JetBlue culture and were drinking the “Blue Juice”. The leadership at JetBlue instilled a corporate culture of devotion to service and created a strong sense of values. The flight crews weren’t thinking about saving the CEOs job (good thing because that sure didn’t work) during the crisis but were merely doing what they thought was right. What they thought was right was based on the core beliefs of the airline. The flight crews did everything in their power to keep the customers happy as some of them sat on the tarmac for 9+ hours. Had this value system not been instilled prior to the crisis it is likely it would’ve been much worse. I know a few non-JetBlue airline pilots and I definitely know there is no way they would buy pizzas, travel long distances in a cab, or personally try to solve corporate problems without a large incentive as the crews of JetBlue did.
JetBlue suffered financially for trying to keep flying that Valentine’s Day in 2007 when the weather told them not to, however, it served as a wake up call. Rather than buckle under the pressure they put in place corrective measures that enhanced their reputation. JetBlue initiated the Passenger Bill of Rights which became an industry standard thanks to Congress. Overall, they saved their reputation by taking action. Where others have recently been slow in apologizing**cough** United **cough**, JetBlue moved fast and recovered. They also don’t break guitars!
Ultimately, two pilots in a taxi did very little in the grand scheme of things to help the airline recover from the crisis. However, the fact that JetBlue established a values system that promotes their reputation is amazing. As a wise man once said, “Reputation is a capture of your values.” I commend JetBlue for recovering from this crisis and continuing the positive “Jettitude”. Their reputation took a hit during the Valentine’s Day Massacre but their values, training, and culture absorbed it and kept them wings level.
