JetBlue Passenger Response
Submitted by mmmcdona on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 10:13.
After watching the provided video, I was shocked about the conditions the passengers had to deal with. I have read many articles about this crisis; I just assumed some details were a little exaggerated. Even though the guys in the video were being somewhat humorous (probably trying to entertain themselves after being stranded in an airport for hours), it made me understand the horrible environment the passengers were dealing with. After viewing many videos and reading many passenger blogs, one particular website stuck out to me. The website, www.jetbluehostage.com, is a website one passenger began soon after the crisis. Her website received so much attention that even the CEO, David Neeleman, contacted her directly to set up a meeting with her. One specific blog on this website was very touching. A woman was traveling with her 75 year old mother and her 18 year old daughter, who was suffering from a rare bone disorder and had to get neurosurgery. Her daughter’s wish was to go to the Price is Right before her surgery, which is where they were headed on February 14, 2007. This family had left for the JFK airport at 7:30 a.m., and at 11:00 p.m., the airline was still telling them they would definitely take off that night. Unfortunately, the plane never took off, and it wasn’t scheduled to leave again until after their February 15th tickets were already expired. This story put another perspective into my thoughts. Not only were they dealing with the terrible airport conditions, there was a deeper pain they were suffering from as well. It made me understand that some people were in desperate need for their flights to take off. Even though the weather conditions couldn’t have been prevented, the passengers could have altered their plans if they were informed sooner of the cancellation of their flights.
In my letter, I plan on addressing all of the passengers affected by the JetBlue crisis. My letter will consist of an apology from JetBlue, the offering of full refunds and vouchers to the affected passengers, and a reassurance that a crisis like this will never take place again. This letter will require a lot of thought and research, considering we have viewed the crisis in so many different contexts. There were so many point of views in this situation, but I believe it is best to focus on the needs of the passengers. The angry passengers, the distressed passengers, and the ones who didn’t mind too much, will all be addressed. Most of these passengers understood why the planes couldn’t take off, they were just upset with the poor conditions, such as no food and cold waiting area, and the way the situation was handled. I plan on being concise and sincere in my letter while sounding calm and professional. It is important to be calm and professional to let the passengers know that the situation is being handled in the appropriate manner.
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Reply to Morgan
Morgan,
I was also shocked about what seemed like extremely exaggerated conditions of the JetBlue incident. These conditions were not exaggerated one bit by looking at different websites, blogs, news articles, and videos covering this incident. I could not imagine how horrible it must have been for the people involved. Before I read your reading response, I had not looked at the website that you provided. After I looked at the webpage, I can see what customers of JetBlue were feeling and what they went through. This website gave me new insights to the situation which will help me address the customers of JetBlue throughout the project.
Reply
Looking at all of these websites and videos really helps on what kind of information to put into our letters. It’s hard to get the right tone unless you know how audience’s mood is. In addition to looking at the videos and websites it is also helpful to put yourself in the customer’s shoes. It’s hard to write towards an audience unless you can feel what they are feeling so I have found it helpful to use words that I personally would respond to. Using the websites and videos and using the correct words will make a solid letter to the upset customers.
response
I understand the situation must have been horrible especially for those with such conditions like you mentioned in your post. I think they deserve to be upset and angry. I don’t think this is the case with the people who are so obsessed about the ‘JetBlue hostage’ incident who actually go out of their way to post blogs, videos, and provide links to other similar Web sites. One example is the lady on www.jetbluehostage.com who keeps posting blogs under the title ‘F**K you very much JetBlue.’ It really sound like she is such a bitter person and really has a strong negative opinion about JetBlue when the situation did not really impact her severely. It turns out that her boyfriend who had been away for a while since he played for the national soccer team and who were scheduled to come home and see her that night was unable to see her on time on Valentine’s Day. She was so upset because of this and kept posting negative blogs about JetBlue. While on the other hand, JetBlue had spent millions of dollars to express their apologies and to compensate these passengers, people like these who make it hard for public to regain their trusts in JetBlue. Why can’t they just get over it?