Jet Blue

casestudy

Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006

All content Ð'© 2005-2006 Denison Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. l www.denisonconsulting.com l Page 1

JetBlue Airways: Developing Leaders in a Fast-growing Start-up

All start-up companies face challenges as they

seek to find their niche, establish a market presence

and develop processes and procedures. Imagine dealing

with the trials of a start-up while coordinating a staff

of 2500+ employees, adding approximately 5-6 new

employees a day while competing in one of the toughest

industries in the world. That is the scenario that faced

JetBlue Airways in 2002.

The brash, low-cost airline entered the market in 2000.

It survived competition from the major airlines, the travel

turmoil following the terrorist attacks of September 11,

2001 and the uncertainty tied to any start-up. JetBlue

sought to re-define air travel by bringing humanity back

to it. This included providing new planes with leather

seats and personal televisions for each passenger. It

also included never overselling flights, focusing on being

on time, updating check-in and boarding procedures

and more. All of these perks were provided despite the

bargain fares provided by JetBlue.

JetBlue made a mark on the airline industry through its

aggressive and unconventional approach which mirrored

the leadership style of its founder and CEO, David Neeleman.

Neeleman created the vision for JetBlue Airways

after experience starting another airline and working at

Southwest Airlines. He jumped into his newest venture

with the support of David (Dave) Barger, president of

JetBlue. David and Dave, as they are known, provide a

vision and leadership that continue to cascade throughout

the organization. They created a company that saw

profits when other airlines were failing, They made over

$1.2 billion in revenue in 2004. By the end of 2005,

JetBlue served 35 “Blue Cities” with a fleet of 77 Airbus

A320’s and an incoming fleet of the new Embraer 190’s.

JetBlue was the first airline to implement paperless cockpit

flight technology and to have 100% e-tickets.

Feeling Growing Pains

As the airline continued to grow, it became more and

more difficult for David and Dave to personally guide and

direct all activities. As the start-up fervor began to wear

off, new problems started to arise. In the first few years,

results of the employee survey indicated that employees

(or rather “crewmembers” as they are called at JetBlue)

had very positive reactions and were pleased with the

work environment. However, in 2002, the tone of the

crewmember survey changed. Specifically, the feedback

indicated that there were some serious problems with

leadership and teamwork.

“As in the past, we will continue to

rely on our JetBlue leaders to guide

our crewmembers as we delight our

customers and pave new roads in

air travel. It is leadership that will

enable us to stay small as we grow,

to continue the unique and special

JetBlue experience that distinguishes

us from any other

company.”

(JetBlue Airways Bluenote, 2004)

All content Ð'© 2005-2006 Denison Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. l www.denisonconsulting.com l Page 2

Facing a Leadership Gap

With the airline growing so quickly, many crewmembers

were hired or promoted without having much supervisory

experience. The lack of experience and guidance

quickly became a problem. Supervisors and managers

were creating a workplace that did not reflect the leadership

spirit that David and Dave wanted to promote. A

memo to crewmembers stated, “As in the past, we will

continue to rely on our JetBlue Leaders to guide our

Crewmembers as we delight our Customers and pave

new roads in air travel. It is leadership that will enable

us to stay small as we grow, to continue the unique and

special JetBlue experience that distinguishes us from

any other company.” (Bluenote, 2004) In order to improve

and expand leadership, they tasked the Learning

and Development (L&D) group with creating