Jet Blue

JetBlue

Introduction

With so many competitors and more and more businesses and individuals trying to cut costs, airline companies must be on point with their operations in order to give their passengers the best experience possible. With so many other options, customers will quickly move on to the next airline to use on their next business trip or vacation. Many different factors create positive experiences for flyer: on-time arrival, on-time departures, friendly airline employees, and customer service, among others. Are Jet Blue’s operations designed to give customers that good experience?

JetBlue Background

JetBlue Airways was founded in 1999 by David Neeleman, who in his words started the company to “bring humanity back to air travel.” JetBlue is a low-cost airline, aimed at customers who may have otherwise used alternate travel such as bus or rail. Efficient scheduling and low distribution costs resulted in low operating costs, allowing the company to offer lower than average airfare. Even with their low-cost aim, the airline still offered some amenities, such as leather seats on their Boeing A320 and Embraer 190 aircrafts and individual TVs with DIRECTV programming. JetBlue currently flies to 60 destinations in 12 countries, including many islands in the Caribbean. A key aspect in the company’s operating system is its modified point-to-point route structure, which offered direct flights between select cities served by the airline, without having to transfer planes. This model varied significantly from the major airlines’ “hub-and-spoke” model, which identified a few “hub” airports with many in and out flights as well as a start for other smaller destinations.

To support their ability to continue to offer low fares, JetBlue’s reservation system is primarily based on their on-line system, or through their customer service representatives. Further, JetBlue’s customer service representatives are spread across the country at their in-home...