JetBlue Flight Delays Could Help Push Airline Industry Forward

Washington, DC, February 20, 2007 -- Richard Levick, President / CEO of a prominent crisis communications firm, was interviewed on CBS Evening News and Early Morning News regarding the recent JetBlue incident, saying he believes there is an opportunity for JetBlue to lead airlines to a new level of customer service. He praised JetBlue’s crisis response efforts that included offering refunds to customers for the extensive delays but would like to see JetBlue work on their risk management efforts, dealing with anticipated problems before they occur.

More information regarding Richard Levick’s reaction to the JetBlue incident can be found at http://www.levick.com/resources/topics/issues/jet_blue.php

For those who do not know, this past Valentine’s day, JetBlue passengers were on planes that sat on the runway for up to 10 hours at a time. Despite a winter storm that could not be helped, most people were not happy with the long amount of time they were on the planes. JetBlue offered refunds and other perks to customers, but despite these actions passengers still compared the long delays on the runway to hostage situations.

Passengers on all airlines experienced delays and cancelled flights, yet JetBlue is the airline making it into the news for the excruciatingly long runway delays, cancellation of all flights, and long wait to claim baggage. It was not that JetBlue could have prevented the cancelled flights, rather that they did not have a better risk management plan in effect for the problems of ice storms before they occurred.

Before February 14th’s incident, JetBlue along with Southwest set the airline tone for good customer service. JetBlue was named the number one J.D. Powers customer-service oriented airline among low-cost carriers. Now JetBlue may be taking airline customer-service to an even higher precedent as issues such as passenger rights, getting planes off the ground on time, and employee empathy are addressed.


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Levick Strategic Communications protects brands and reputations during crises and high-stakes litigation. Honored as Crisis Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report in 2005, Levick wins the hearts and minds of key audiences with comprehensive campaigns on behalf of clients on high-stakes communications such as high-stakes litigation and crisis PR / communications. Find a complete arsenal of vital communications tools at http://www.levick.com including books, newsletters, and helpful articles.

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Richard Levick

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Levick Strategic Communications

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