English 420Y - Business Writing Online

After reading several articles about the JetBlue crisis, I found it rather difficult to assess the way the company handled the situation. At times it seemed like the company did a good job, but at others it seemed to me like they could have handled it a lot better. It is understandable that the terrible weather that occurred at JFK airport would cause many delays, as it did. However, I feel that a company in the airline business should have some sort of a bad weather plan, because it is always a factor in the business.

There have been many other instances of companies having mishaps and causing big errors. Each of these potentially could have cost the company. Many companies have been able to learn for other company’s mistakes and change potentially devastating events to turn into the time to shine. It seems like the smart idea to have a plan in mind when dealing with a crisis. It is important to act swiftly and show that they care. I have heard of situations where a company has had to deal with a crisis, and did a very good job, and got praised for the media for it.

After reading the articles on the JetBlue crisis, I was very surprised that a large airline could experience that big of problems. Obviously no one can predict the weather or truly be prepared for every situation, but one might think that an airline could have emergency weather procedures and compensation for customers. Delays always happen but the confusion that followed really hurt JetBlue. They really did not have any good plans in place and their actions did not help the situation.

All of the JetBlue readings were very insightful and made a great point about the situation. At first, I thought JetBlue went about the situation in the right manner, but as I read more and more articles, I thought otherwise. Especially in the article, Managing Communications in a Crisis, it made a valid point on how companies need to plan in advance for situations that may arise in the future. The examples provided in the text really stressed how important it is to plan ahead and what disasters can develop if a company does not plan ahead.

I thought all of the readings for this week were very interesting and brought up good points for consideration. I believe the JetBlue crisis was handled very well and it was good to see the different things that the company did to make sure that this kind of event would not happen again. It was nice to see that someone was actually doing the right thing in handling an event such as the one that they had. It seems that we are hearing more and more everyday about companies trying to cover themselves and not being ethical to their consumers.

From my readings and previous knowledge of the JetBlue crisis in February, I think JetBlue could have handled the crisis in a more effective way. In the article, Managing Communications in a Crisis – Chapter 3: “Stakeholders and Audiences”, one of the main points was planning ahead and being prepared for the worst. The article gave examples of the results of companies that planned ahead and those that didn’t plan ahead. With an airline company, like JetBlue, I would think there would be many types of plans for all worst case scenarios, especially dealing with airplanes and weather.

After reading a few articles about the JetBlue crisis, I think the company was downright wrong it their decision making. Not thinking things through long enough did more harm than good in the long run. I read how travelers were stranded in planes for hours on the tarmac because the company did not want to pay the gate fees they would have paid had the planes been waiting at the gates. That sounds like a selfish company not putting their customers first.

Do I think JetBlue handled the situation effectively?