Jet Blue Airlines Case Analysis

GROWING PAINS

Introduction:

The case provides an analysis of the strategies and operations of JetBlue Airways as a new entrant in the U.S airline industry.

Company profile

JetBlue Airways, an American low-cost airline, headquartered in Forest Hills, New York started flying out of John F. Kennedy Airport in February of 2000.

Industry situation

During a time where Airlines were losing money and going bankrupt a small airlines rose and basically grab the market. While the industry was less concerned about the comfort and satisfaction of the passengers the Jet Blue concentrated on convenience of the customers. It’s business model was to provide a comfortable and cost efficient form of traveling. With its new planes, low fares, non-unionized labor, and an effective business model, JetBlue caught the big share of the market. Besides, they started caring about the small details as friendly flight attendants, good snack and etc. that made it extremely popular. This is exactly where Jet Blue created it’s competitive advantage.

Jet blue problems

At a glance, everything seemed all right, since ice storm hit New York City and caused an enormous crisis for Jet Blue. The first problem was management; Jet Blue by following it’s strategy of rarely cancellation flights despite the bad weather conditions, went into the noticeable problem for the passengers. They were more interested in making a profit than in ensuring they had systems that could handle an increased amount of transactions if needed. Following are the problems I have concluded:

      • A basic problem was JetBlue’s communication system.

      • The department responsible for allocating pilots and crews to flights was too small to handle the extra workload.

      • There wasn’t any system to manage the lost, or unclaimed baggage.

      • Another problem was the reservation system; the system was so overwhelmed that customers were unable to get through to human agents to check on a flight

JetBlue...