There Oughta Be a Law …
… but at least a passengers’ bill of rights is a start. That’s JetBlue Airways’ answer to disrupting the lives of hundreds of customers because of a nasty winter storm. CEO David Neeleman, a master of PR, has been telling anyone who would listen, “I’m sorry.” Now he’s backing it with a customer bill of rights, which for the most part offers money or free travel for inconvenience, depending on how many hours you’re stuck in a JetBlue airplane.
Give him credit; United and American didn’t respond quite as graciously, or humbly, when they suffered similar snafus in their systems due to weather. But then, Mr. Neeleman’s folksy approach serves his small airline well in the public’s mind, while United and American tend to personify ‘corporate.’ Let us not forget, however, that both of the larger carriers have the mass to withstand such storms, and to recover much more rapidly.
American Airlines now says it won’t allow passengers to sit imprisoned in their aircraft for more than four hours – guaranteed. James May, president of ATA, in a USA Today editorial tells America that it’s just not that simple, this fight against mother nature. And he offers the very valid justifications, most notably safety, as to why the public should be sympathetic to the airlines’ plight.
Personally, four hours is a lousy benchmark. The airlines’ response is technical, operational. It needs to be about setting a new customer service standard. Some say, there oughta be a law. Airlines, it seems, should be able to figure this out for themselves. And they need to set a standard.
Two hours sounds about right. Thanks for reading. jfi
John,
As a reminder, JetBlue pledges five hours verus American’s four-hour strategy. Most flights that get returned in bath weather situations will be cancelled, leaving passengers stranded in unexpected airports, so there is a down side too. Nationwide, in the past six years, only 330 aircraft have been held by airlines over 5 hours, out of 88 million flights. It doesn’t happen very often. For American, this was one of the first such instances in 80 years of flying. Unlike other airlines, American has worked hard to avoid bankruptcy…and it is working hard to improve customer service and the overall customer experience as part of its efforts for 2007.