JetBlue Airways chief executive David Neeleman has taken the unusual step of issuing a video plea to customers via the YouTube website, apologising for the Valentine's Day network collapse that left thousands of passengers stranded.
In the scripted piece-to-camera (below), Neeleman says steps have been taken, enshrined in a "customer bill of rights" to ensure the airline's systems are robust enough to cope with severe weather and other issues. JetBlue is to introduce an emergency call up system for its 2,000 part-time home-based reservations agents to ensure its low-cost customer services network does not collapse as it did on 14 February when poor weather in New York left thousands of passengers stranded for hours.
The call-up plan, which will be incentivised with double pay, is part of an operational overhaul that will also see the carrier train headquarters staff to assist its New York JFK check-in and ramp workers during ‘code red’ days when normal staffing levels cannot cope with the passenger and baggage traffic generated by major delays as well as refine a policy that has seen the carrier continue operations during poor weather when other, mostly legacy, airlines ground their aircraft.
A new crew scheduling system is also being installed today and tomorrow to replace the current phone-in procedure adopted by the airline when it launched seven years ago. Problems with the current system resulted in all 11 of JetBlue’s Embraer 190 routes to be cancelled until yesterday to allow crews to assemble with the correct rest requirements.
Also, in an attempt to repair the damage caused to its reputation by stranding passengers on aircraft for over eight hours on February 14 during a cold snap across the USA’s east coast and the resulting breakdown of its network that caused the airline to cancel 1,096 of its near 3,500 flights planned for the six days to 19 February, JetBlue unveiled its passenger bill of rights that codifies a compensation scheme for passengers that will refund tickets and issue travel vouchers of between $25 and $100 for severe delays in departure and arrival.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
