Posted on 03/18/2007 12:43:56 PM PDT by restornu
JetBlue Airways recently made headlines after the worst operations breakdown in its seven-year history led to more than 1,000 canceled flights. There’s been just as much good news about the way chief executive David Neeleman responded to the crisis - by bending over backward to admit failure, accept responsibility, apologize and compensate customers for their inconvenience.
Everyone from public relations experts to aviation analysts is praising Neeleman for doing things that are largely unheard of in corporate America.
While many chief executives would have ducked for cover or dispatched a spokesman, Neeleman appeared on David Letterman’s show and said, “I’m not making excuses. We made a mistake. We put our crew members and our customers through hell, and we have solutions for this.”
The next morning he appeared on national news shows, apologized profusely and unveiled a Customer Bill of Rights guaranteeing compensation to passengers whose flights were canceled. He admitted being “mortified and humiliated.”
Humility doesn’t come easy to chief executives, as we know from recent corporate scandals. This is where Neeleman’s Mormon faith comes into play.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expects its members to serve in lay ministry positions typically held by paid clergy. There’s no exception for chief executives. Neeleman spends 10 to 15 hours per week working directly with individuals who have made mistakes and are seeking redemption. That experience gives him a feel for what it’s like to be on the wrong side of trouble.
The result is a chief executive who doesn’t let pride prevent him from publicly admitting mistakes and asking forgiveness. It also explains his habit of frequently serving as a flight attendant or a baggage handler for his company’s flights.
Neeleman is one of a handful of Mormons who have reached the pinnacle of the business world, and all behave much differently from the average chief executive. Two years ago I began interviewing him and several others who share his faith for a book about how their religion influences their approach to business.
Like the others, Neeleman has benefited from good parents, a strong work ethic, honesty, smarts and timing. But those qualities aren’t unique to Mormons. What is unique, besides lay ministry, is that Mormon men are expected at age 19 to spend two years in a full-time unpaid service mission.
Neeleman spent his mission in the slums of Brazil, where he learned to speak Portuguese. He also learned what it feels like to serve people who are less fortunate. This was a key influence on Neeleman’s decision to create JetBlue [JBLU] on the premise of making customers king.
Another important aspect of Mormonism is tithing, a commandment that requires church members to give up 10 percent of gross earnings. This is a great insulator against greed, which has been the downfall of executives at Tyco, Enron, WorldCom and other companies.
Tithing also conditions people to be driven by things besides wealth. So it was a simple reflex for Neeleman to make his Customer Bill of Rights retroactive to cover all passengers inconvenienced in last month’s storm - a decision that cost his company approximately $30 million.
JetBlue is led by a guy, conditioned by Mormonism, who isn’t driven by money. Just look at his salary: He earns $200,000 annually. It gets more unusual. Neeleman donates his entire salary to a catastrophic fund that’s been set up for JetBlue workers who fall on hard times. Not every board chairman can afford this level of charity, but giving up any income to fund an employee benefit is virtually unheard of in a world where most chief executives make many times Neeleman’s salary.
It may be unreasonable to expect a chief executive who isn’t spending many hours a week ministering to act this selflessly. But anyone can ask the question that Neeleman asked himself when this crisis struck: What is the right thing to do?
CTR
Impressive; what can I say.
While that's commendable, I'm sure his stock, which isn't mentioned, is earning a nice lifestyle.
Video
What do the CEOs of JetBlue Airways, Dell Computers, Deloitte & Touche, and Madison Square Garden have in common with the CFO of American Express and the former Dean of Harvard Business School? As shown in this one-of-a-kind business book, they are all devout Mormons. They rarely work Sundays, come home for dinner, and do chores around the house. Yet, they compete very successfully against workaholics who routinely put in seventy to eighty hour weeks.
How do they do it?
http://www.jeffbenedict.com/
I sure hope it is, because I LOVE JetBlue!! I keep writing into their website asking them to put Gulfport/Biloxi airport on their itinerary! We're fixing to move there, and that would mean that the three of our kids who have grown and gone, or are in college, could fly home for visits easily. Sure, they could fly into New Orleans, but who wants to go there? ;o)
Hmmm. Makes me think I'll have to look into their stock price. Might be down after that kerfuffle!
Would you perfer he lived on nothing?
He still cancelled my sons flight Friday! He finally got home Sat after driving to another airport and using another airline!
too bad that soros was a major source of funding for them....
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&WTmodLOC=C3-News-2&symbol=NPSP.O&storyID=2007-02-15T003436Z_01_N14420013_RTRIDST_0_SOROS-HOLDINGS-UPDATE-1.XML&type=qcna
That's what the author of the article was trying to imply.
That's all well and good, but do you suppose he could "help people" by buying AMERICAN airplanes?...
Just a thought.
I don't think so I am sure like you the reader has common sense and he live off of other revenu.
The last thing they need right now is more destinations.
Can't control who buys stock it is an open market!
The old Dave Thomas philosophy " Just do what's right"
I am sure if he had to drive to another airport so did other passengers from on other airlines at that airport could not fly out than as well!
Oh, he did it? And the storm and snow had nothing to do with the cancellation?
Actually Soros was a major initial funder of Jet Blue - the CEO went to straight to him.
That's why I've never liked them.
With all due respect to the LDS people on FR, I would never allow this kind of article to be published about myself. I would be embarrased to be seen wearing my religion on my sleeve, so to speak. I do not believe that it is proper to use one's religion as a selling point for one's business, sort of a violation of the 3rd commandment about taking His name in vain. Mr. Neeleman should let his ethics stand alone. Those who care will know that he is living up to the principles of his religion.
JetBlue cancelled in the morning..his flight was in the afternoon. The wouldnt offer him another flight out til Tuesday..he is in college and needed to be back by Sunday.
I've seen double postings, sometimes triple, but just damn!!
You deserve some sort of reward! lol
>While that's commendable<
Would you do the same?
Sorry you feel that way I like positive things I hope you do to and I am sure you have some positive stories to share!
I think Jetblue got a lot of bad press and if one is trying to improve it is there something wrong sharing that side too!
I agree the LDS stuff could have been tone down but what I am to do, it all part of the story!
How would you keep someone from publishing such an article?
Freedom of the press and all that.
Didn't I just say it's commendable?
You know, with all the self promoting Muslims and athiests out there, I have NO problem with hearing about a good Christian guy and how his religion helps him be better.
LOL I love your tagline you must listen to Rush!:)
Wow...six times...that's some serious emphasis (on a good point).
Mormon "faith". Lol!
He should do that, since his entire company exists as welfare for French aerospace workers. JetBlue doesn't buy ANY American aircraft.
Exactly, I don't give two craps about his "faith". He supports the French over American workers, and contributes very significantly to our trade deficit.
I tend to agree. Just do what you have to do and not turn it into an opportunity to sermonize or let others do so. I know that if I were to say "I'm just doing the Christian thing" I would mess up in a big way on the very next day and it would discredit anything good I did. So it is safer not to say much! On the other hand I think it is great that he is practicing his values.
Just a thought.
I was just listening to John Newhouse on his latest book "Boeing vs Airbuses"The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business
Boeing Versus Airbus is a fascinating, informed, and insightful tale of success, and failure, in the turbulent, do-or-die world of the aircraft industry. From the author of the classic study of the aviation industry, The Sporty Game, a new book that chronicles the high-stakes rivalry between the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers—companies that will bet the house on a single airplane.
Long one of America’s most successful and admired corporations—and its biggest exporter—Boeing struggled to maintain 50 percent of the market share for commercial aircraft after being overtaken by the European upstart Airbus in the late 1990s. But Airbus did not remain on top for long. By 2006, the company suffered from mismanagement and had adopted the kind of complacent, risk-averse culture that had once characterized its competitor.
Incorporating interviews he conducted throughout the industry—with everyone from company leaders, past and present, and Wall Street analysts to design engineers and factory workers—John Newhouse takes us inside these two firms to help us understand their struggle for supremacy in a business based as much on instinct as on economics. He examines the critical issues that Boeing has faced in recent years, including its difficult merger with McDonnell Douglas, its controversial move from Seattle to Chicago, and a series of corporate scandals that made front-page news. And he analyzes the troubles that have beset a once ascendant Airbus, notably an institutional structure aimed at satisfying the narrowly focused interests of its European stakeholders.
Newhouse also explores the problems that now face Boeing and Airbus alike: potential competition from China and Japan, the challenge of serving burgeoning Asian markets, and the need to undo years of mismanagement.
Boeing Versus Airbus is a fascinating, informed, and insightful tale of success, and failure, in the turbulent, do-or-die world of the aircraft industry.
For me I understand it more who could build the type of Plane for the type of service Neeleman wanted to provide for affordabe rates airline.
There was a void that needed to be filled!
Nahh, I seldom get the chance. I got it off a bumper sticker on I-75.
Thanks! I have new lenses in my eyes, but they don't work up close, so I pushed the wrong button. Sorry! Aging hits us all sooner or later.
As compared to yours, LOL
I agree.
Meant to include you on #42.
If the item you need is not being produced at cost you can afford one must shop elsewhere. It would take Boeing years to set a factory and would have to also recoup their cost!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1802874/posts?page=38#38
and I asked, "Would you do the same?"
Would you?
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