1. JetBlue Airlines: The Highs and Lows of Crisis Communication
Alice Barbieri
Ted Gournelos (Ph.D., M.F.A.)
COM 100.H1X

2. Background
JetBlue was founded in January 1999 in Long Island, New York by founder David Neeleman.
In 2002 JetBlue announced the first public offering of its initial stock.
JetBlue won consecutive awards:
“Best Cabin Ambiance” in 2010
“Best Airline” in 2011
“Best Domestic Airline” in 2012

3. The 2007 Crisis
JetBlue crisis occurred between February 14th and February 19th 2007.
The crisis began when an ice storm hit the East coast, JetBlue believed the weather would get better, therefore not canceling any flights.
At the peak of the crisis, nine full airplanes waited six hours on JFKs runway with no fresh air, water, food, and information.
The basic problem was the communication system.
JetBlue lost their credibility, and were attacked by the media.
Thankfully David Neeleman owned up to his responsibly recompensing passengers. He also put forth new ideas, such as the passenger Bill of Rights, to rebuild his company image.

5. Literature Review
Seeger — ‘Best Practices in Crisis Communication: An Expert Panel Process’:
Seeger argues that there are 10 principles of image repair.
He emphasizes the importance of honesty, integrity, and Respect towards the public.
The first approach JetBlue took was to panic, but after the crisis they responded with honesty and candor which enhanced their credibility.
Taylor & Perry — ‘Diffusion of Traditional and New Media Tactics in Crisis Communication’:
The importance of using internet in crisis communication.
They identified the difference of effectiveness between companies:
Innovative Media Tactics.
Traditional tactics.
JetBlue did use all possible medians to extend their heartfelt apology.

6. Park, Cha, Kim & Jeong — ‘Managing Bad News in Social Media: A Case Study on Domino’s Pizza Crisis’:
Argue that Twitter in particular can produce bad news, spread it and start a crisis.
Benefits of analyzing social media in crisis, the understanding of sentiments during crisis, and the influence of a corporate apology.
JetBlue decided to join Twitter, a few months after their crisis.
Coombs & Holladay — ‘Comparing Apology to Equivalent Crisis Response Strategies: Clarifying Apology’s Role and Value in Crisis Communication’:
Participants in a study would rather have sympathy, apology or compensation than particular information.
Companies generally prefer to offer a compensation and sympathy as it distracts negativity (Customer centered).
No apology is unethical.
JetBlue did follow Coombs and Holladay strategies.

7. Benoit — ‘Image Repair Discourse and Crisis Communication’:
Theory focuses on message options.
Offers five categories of image repair and coping with crisis:
First three elude responsibility.
Second two help in image repair.
JetBlue used Mortification and Corrective Action (Last two categories) to rebuild their image.
Grunig — ‘Two Way Symmetrical Communication: Past, Present, and Future’:
Patterns:
Asymmetrical: Persuasive and Manipulative, This is what profitable businesses rely on.
Symmetrical: Best Combines the Interest of The Two Parties.
It is hoped for a business to use both. JetBlue used the two-way symmetrical pattern in their crisis.
Turpin — ‘When Disaster Strikes: Communicating in a Crisis’:
Crisis can be turned into a competitive advantage.
Crisis can happen at any moment so every company needs to be aware.
Six common structured steps to recover.
Emotions submerged JetBlue during the ice storm and their lost sense.

8. The Methods Effectiveness
This was JetBlue first crisis.
CEO David Neeleman promptly responded to the crowd, in person.
Kept apologizing to the media, “I am humiliated and Mortified”.
He first asked for forgiveness and then pursued to rebuild their image.
By not loosing time in planning a response, JetBlue was able to gain worldwide attention.
Passenger Bill of Rights:
Most important redemption plan.
There is a monetary compensation.
By promoting this bill, JetBlue learned the importance of the Media.
David Neeleman resigned his position soon after the crisis even though they were able to regain their image.
Won:
‘Recognized for Excellence in Design’ in 2008
‘Customer Satisfaction Honor’ in 2014

10. Results and Discussion
JetBlue showed they truly cared about the satisfaction of their customers.
They used various image repair strategies and media appearances as proposed by scholars following their crisis.
The CEO taking responsibility into his own hands attracted more attention.
The CEO presented new ideas for the customer, no airline has ever done.
Customer centered mentality.
JetBlue was able to regain their customer loyalty and work to be one of the best airlines in the country.

11. Bibliography Bailey, Jeff. New York Times. 2007
Benoit, William, L., 1997.”Image Repair Discourse and Crisis Communication.” Public Relations Review Vol.23 (2):
Coombs, Timothy W “The Handbook of Crisis Communication”
Coombs, Timothy W.,and Sherry J. Holladay “Comparing apology to equivalent crisis response strategies: Clarifying apology’s role and value in crisis communication.” Public Relations Review Vol. 34 (2):
Grunig, James E “Two-Way Symmetrical communication: Past, present, and Future”
Jaram Park, Meeyoung Cha, Hoh Kim, and Jaeseung Jeong. n.d. “Managing Bad News in Social Media: A Case Study on Domino’s Pizza Crisis” Proceeding of the Sixth international AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media.
JetBlue Airways Corp. History. n.d.
JetBlue Airways Corp. Awards. n.d.
JetBlue Airways Corp. Facebook. n.d
JetBlue Airways Corp. Twitter. n.d.
JetBlue Airways Corp. You Tube. n.d.
NPR.2007 Delays, Passengers, and a Bill of Rights.
Taylor, Maureen, and Danielle C. Perry ” Diffusion of traditional and new media tactics in crisis communication.” Public Relations Review Vol.31 (2):
Turpin Dominique, IMD, 2006.” When disaster strikes: communicating in a crisis.” EBF Issue 25, summer 2006:
Seeger, Matthew M “Best Practices in Crisis Communication: An Expert Panel Process.” Journal of Applied Communication Research Vol.34 (3):