THE BUSINESS PROBLEM
Until the Valentine’s Day storm of 2007, JetBlue Airways (www.jetblue.com) had been a success story. Although the company had been in operation only since 2000, by the end of 2006 it had posted $2.4 billion in revenue, and it operated 500 daily flights to 50 cities.
On that day, freezing rain and sleet virtually shut down northeastern airport. While most other airlines cancelled dozens of flight in preparation of the storm, JetBlue management opted to wait out the bad weather. The airline’s policy was to do whatever it could to ensure that a flight was completed, even if it meant waiting for several hours. Consequently, the airlines sent outbound flights to the runway at John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York City at about 8.00 a.m., to be ready to take off as soon as the weather permitted, while incoming flights arrived and filled up the gates. But instead of improving, the bad weather continued. Under federal aviation guidelines, plans and equipment were literally freezing to the tarmac.
By 3.00 p.m., JetBlue gave up hope of getting the planes sitting on the runway off the ground, and it began calling in buses to bring passengers back to the terminal. By then, however, the damage was done. Airport terminals, particularly at JFK, were filled with passengers who still expected to get on their flights. They were now being joined by hundreds of infuriated passengers who were getting off their planes. Some JetBlue passengers were left stranded on plans for as long as 11 hours.