CAL's Gordy B on Jetblue

[norskman2]

$200 for a limo???? Cal Olmypic Limosene or any of the other that advertised in the NYC visitor guides. They charge just a little more for a stretch than a cab ride! Best bargain in town! Save some money and fly more JetBlue!

 

[CRJFlyer]

I don't work for JetBlue....yet =)...but my girlfriend is a flight attendant there... As far as I can tell EVERYONE at JetBlue seems to be happy....they didn't lay off anyone after 9/11 and in fact my girlfriend started f/a class on 9/15 and even caught a ride with another trainee down to Ft. Lauderdale with the big boss himself because they're flight was later than everyone elses..

I think Bethune is just a suit who's stuck on himself thinking that his airline is the best... Every captain and fo i've met or had dinner with at JetBlue has been nothing but nice and never had one bad thing to say about my regional flying A$$...

Top notch company I say....

 

[SpeedBird]

Gordo's comments don't surprise me. He's typical of the current crop of major airline CEO's who don't show much class and public recognition of a competitor that has proven itself rather well over the last two years. The ONLY exception to this is Herb Kelleher who spoke admirably about David Neeleman and jetBlue during a business interview a few months back. That doesn't surprise me either, considering Herb's head and shoulders above all his peers (among the majors). He also knows David Neeleman better than anyone else among the rival gang of CEOs. Therefore, I value his opinion far more than G. Bethune's.

 

[enigma]

Bethune as probabally giving his honest assessment. It just shows that most managers JUST DON'T GET IT. They really don't seem to understand why a company like JB can succeed, so they assume that the other company won't succeed.

regards
8N

BTW, After extended talks with ScareBus, Spirits' owner reported to the MEC, that the rumors of JetBlues "sweetheart" deal were untrue.
Spirit was looking to buy Buses before 9/11 and the owner who is a qualified dc9 captain, was reporting to the pilots on how the talks were going.

 

[jjbiv]

Was Spirit ever owned by Comair or has Ned kept it privately held? I found this on dalpa.com:

Doesn't the Comair purchase of Spirit Airlines show our domestic Scope Clause to be ineffective?

Actually, just the contrary is true. As you will recall, we filed suit in Federal Court last year over ASA's purchase of BAE 146s based on a violation of the status quo. The courts ruled against the status quo issue and remanded the case to the System Board. Since Comair's acquisition, Delta management has already publicly stated that based on the new Scope Clause, these DC-9s cannot and will not be used in a code-sharing environment with Delta. There is a comprehensive flyer out dealing with this subject in more detail.

Are there two Spirit Airlines out there?

joe

 

[Draginass]

Gordo is pretty far off on JB. On the other hand, there's a lot of blind euphoria going on among JB employees. Things are going pretty well now. Let's see what 3 years from now look like. Hopefully ok, but we shall see what happens when the employee, maintenance, and competitive honeymoon is over.

That said, I give JB a better than average chance.

 

[FLpilot]

Jet Blue = flash in the pan. Sure they've got a lot of glitz and glamour and are certainly the darlings of wall street this week. But new airplanes, leather seats, and TV's on the headrests are nothing more than gimmicks. Not that I want to see them fail, but I just don't see them becoming the next Southwest. I think Gordo is right.

 

[Eagleflip]

Interesting point of view, FLpilot, but actually I don't think our inherent strength is based on LiveTV, seats or pretty carpet, nor do the bosses. We get first-time passengers for these reasons (and of course, the low fares), but they return for another reason.

To paraphrase Dave Barger, our President, our real "draw" is attitude. "All we have to do is just be nice to them." That's all. The customer will see the difference between us and them (the other airlines) and we'll build a core group of loyal customers.

Southwest currently has the largest amount of "core" customers among all the Majors--why? Price is one issue, availability is another. I'd submit that they are successful because they operate in an environment where are treated like humans, not just cash cows.

No, the business is not this simplistic, but just being pleasant to folks is simply a way of thanking the customer for their bucks. Not everyone does that; I remember being on a Brand X flight last June where the right brake locked up on taxi back. After trying to get it unstuck for 50 minutes, the Captain decided to drop the rear airstairs and deplane the jet on to a bus. The stairs stuck up, whereupon the F.O. declared in front of everybody "Well, I'M not going to go back there and push on them. They (thumb jerking back to point at the pax) can just stay on the airplane..." He may have been smart not to step on the recalcitrant door, but his statement whittled away customer goodwill.

I'll go out on a limb and say that JB's customer treatment orginates from our corporate culture. All, and I mean all, of my pilot contemporaries remark on how different the culture is at JB than the other carriers they came from. Coming from the AF, I don't know about that. All I do know is that so far, this formula's working. Will that culture survive as JB grows? Management knows this is their toughest challenge and are working on it. I do know that this is a team effort, and I do what I can, when I can, to support that culture. After flight, everybody pitches in to help clean the cabin. The pilots aren't required to do so--and of course sometimes we have other stuff to do--but this small act helps create that "we" atmosphere vice an us/them attitude.

Again, I don't wish anyone or any corporation ill will--success to all will ensure a viable job market for all those in search of their dreams. I simply hope our plans will continue to bear fruition.

And, hopefully, in five years David will be able to take Gordon out to lunch somewhere near Kew Gardens and talk about 'da airline bidness.