Reading Response 4
The video I chose was from a person on the plane who took footage along the way. It is what he called the 14 hour hostage. The URL for the video I chose is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnnJeV-Gtas. The video goes from the beginning from when the passengers were boarding and you can see parts in betwee. You can tell from the video that many of the customers are agitated and concerned about what is going on even when they are boarding. Many passengers were treating the crisis much like a joke at first, then they became more serious as the number of hours become a two digit number. The other video I watched showed much of the same material, with many passengers agitated and confused. I feel the customers were not well informed through out the whole "14 hour hostage"
The audience I will be addressing will be agitated, confused, and probably very angry. I think much of their feelings come from the fact that the communication was very sparse, and so therefore many people were making their own assumptions. Angry would be the number one feeling that I can assume. When writing my letter I want to make sure to be very sympathetic, and also appologetic. I will not tell them I understand how they are feeling, because I don't, but I will try to be on their same level. I think much of the letter will need to be apologetic. I will also try to stay professional, but yet make sure that I am relating to each of the passengers. Also in my letter I will include very specific details about the plan I have to reimburse the passengers, and to make sure that better communication is available for future flights. My letter will be short, but very to the point.
Comments
Jet Blue
Your are right, the audience that you will be writing to is agitated, confused and angry. After watching just a little bit of this video, I felt that not only were the passenger confused, but so was the flight attendant. I know that the Jet Blue crisis was a strain on everyone, but allowing the crew to be in the dark and be confused and not know what to say is completely unacceptable to me in a situation like this. I feel Jet Blue needed to take a minute before they responded so that all of the crew members would know everything so that they limited the confusion. In the case of this video even though the captain is going through his pre-flight, either he or his first officer should be making constant announcements so that the passengers knew exactly what was going on. This may have limited the frustration, confusion and the angriness.
Reply
The video you found is interesting. You can see the confusion on people’s faces as they board the plane. I don’t think I would be very excited to get on a plane if I knew there was probably going to be a delay. I’m sure many people joked at first but as reality set in, so did anger. The customers are rightfully angry because I’m sure a lot of plans were messed up. We really need to remember the looks on their faces and their feelings as we write our letters. I think apologizing is also the best idea. I think it’s very interesting how you brought up the point that you didn’t know exactly what they were going through since you were not on that plane. Your ideas will really help you in writing the letter.
Reply
I like how you plan on writing the context of your business letter. The customers will be very angry and being apologetic is the best way to approach the problem. I agree that saying that you understand what they are feeling will probably make them more upset. No one but the passengers underwent the results of an unplanned weather event. This approach is great to get a positive reaction from the audience. Being very specific and answering any questions that the audience may have will bring about positive results from the audience. The most important thing is to keep the trust of the customers and keep them coming back to jetBlue despite the crisis in February.
In response
You know exactly how the tone of your letter should be. You may want to think about it from a different perspective. If you were having a letter sent to you, what would make you travel with them again? (if you even would, I dont know if I would...) It sounds like you have a good idea on how to draft your letter. You may not want your letter to be too short though, you dont want your audience to think you just threw something together. Professionalism will be a very important aspect. This could make the difference of retaining your customers or not. You did find an interesting video clip. The people convey the perfect message about what they are actually going trough.
Reply
I think you have a very good grasp on the feelings of the customers. They were definitely feeling angry and agitated, as they should be. But, I hadn't really thought about the customers being confused. By using these videos as a tool and way of understanding the feelings of the customers, we get a better idea of how things were being handled. I also think your plan for addressing the customer is very good. I think the customers would expect to receive an apology, explanation, and form of compensation. And I agree that being apologetic will be the most important part.
I agree
I agree that much of the customers’ agitated feelings came from the lack of effective communication. I really liked your video. I could definitely feel how angry and frustrated the passengers were, and even myself felt stuffy watching the cramp space and inconvenient situation. I agree that the customers were agitated, confused, and angry in the flight. There was not any clear announcement about what was going on, but they were just forced to wait. As I had a very similar experience with this event, I could imagine how angry the passengers were. I think it is very important to take a sincere and apologetic tone on the business letter. Also it can make the letter more appealing to show how embarrassed jetBlue is and how unfortunate the crisis was using proper words.
Reply Reading Response Week 4
I agree that the customers on that airplane in the you tube video were agitated and concerned about what was going on even when they were boarding. I don't believe the customers were well informed throughout the whole crisis. The audience is disgruntle customers and being very sympathetic in the business letter was important.