JetBlue’s Crew Member First Approach: A Cultural Analysis
Akeem Caballero - COM 9625
Fall 2012
C.U.N.Y Baruch College, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
M.A. Corporate Communications
Overview
Using annual reports from the last 3 years, press articles, white papers, and an
employee contact, this report is an analysis of JetBlue’s corporate culture and will
address the issues and explanations for JetBlue’s corporate environment, as well as
illustrate the reasons for JetBlue’s successes.
Identifying JetBlue’s Business Culture
JetBlue’s culture is very clear and straightforward. It believes that values drive all
the activities of the business which will help with the overall development of the
organization. As Ann Rhoades, Director of JetBlue Airways said, “JetBlue did not want
a mission statement nobody reads. They want words that allow everybody to talk
together. Having shared values makes decision-making much easier.” Perhaps this
revelation came shortly after the economic downturn of 2009 when JetBlue wanted to
refocus this strategy by “creating shareholder value and conservative, high liquidity
financial management” which resulted in a positive cash flow for the first time since
JetBlue’s introduction to the airline industry in 2000 (Rhoades, 2009).
JetBlue has five core values that differentiate it from its competitors, like
Southwest Airlines and the like. These five values are safety, integrity, caring, fun and
passion. Safety comes first as it is the goal of the airline to provide just that itself, a safe
airline. Integrity, apart from believing it’s the only way to do business, illustrates
JetBlue’s value of instilling a sense of integrity in everything it does. Caring values show
how much the company puts value on understanding and respecting its customers. The
value of fun has an important role in JetBlue’s vision. The airline company hires, trains
and rewards its crew members to share and protect its vision and guarantees that
employees enjoy their jobs so the customers enjoy their JetBlue experience. And finally,
passion is the key that helps make JetBlue’s products and services the absolute best in
the industry.
Together these five core values not only help set JetBlue apart from the
competition, but also they exemplify everything the company does from its advanced
customer service, and environmental and social responsibilities initiatives, to its superior
products and its marketing and branding. As an example of how JetBlue’s internal
culture rolls out externally to the consumer, the airline company as been ranked
"Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low-cost Carriers in North America" by J.D.
Power and Associates for eight years in a row. That is, more than half of the company’s
lifespan. (JetBlue, 2012)
Working for JetBlue
On JetBlue’s careers website, a few things are important to take note of. They
highlight the diversity, the benefits, and even give examples of work life through
testaments from crew-members (not employees). As figure 1 illustrates, JetBlue Crew
members receive a package of benefits the company describes as “superior.” As for
diversity, “Diversity is one of JetBlue's strengths and a foundation of the company's
creative and innovative spirit. It's a fundamental part of the JetBlue experience,” that
enables the company to better anticipate, understand and meet the needs of their
customers.
Figure 1
One of JetBlue’s crew members responded to a few questions and provided the
following comments regarding the culture, work environment and knowledge of the
values, etc., at the company. He said,
“JetBlue's corporate communications strategies definitely do
align with their actions and how they treat their crew
members. JetBlue is all about service, comfort, and value
and they deliver it to their crew every day. As a JetBlue
employee, I get to fly everywhere the airline goes for free
and for major international trips like to China, India, etc...I
pay around $300-$400 on JetBlue's sister airlines. My
friends and family also get amazing discounts on their
flights! And post-Hurricane Sandy, JetBlue brought in tankers
so all of its employees always had gas. We know it's
because they want us to come to work but it was definitely
still a great perk. I also get great vacation time - 3 weeks per
year and I also accrue additional vacation days for every
week I work. I've been an employee at JetBlue for 11 years,
so I guess that says a lot.”
Indeed it does. Considering the testament above, one must consider, how does this
internal culture affect the consumer? In a nutshell, the consumers and just as happy.
Consumer Effects of JetBlue’s Culture
JetBlue’s strategy of using a crew member first approach has an overall effect on
the success of the business and the retention of it’s employees. This strategy, referred
to as, internal branding, “translates this insight [ the cultural values] into a strategic idea
that strives to put the external marketing strategy of a company in sync with its internal
values and behavioral practices. It includes promoting the main corporate brand to the
employee base in a fashion that makes them understand the connection between brand
promise and brand delivery. (Leberecht, p.8) 2003 CEO, David Neeleman, said that the
company “believe that they know how to hire people that like people...hire great people,
training them well and spending extra money on training and giving people the right
tools to work with...” (Neeleman, 2003).
JetBlue exhibited early on it’s safety values when it signed an agreement with
Medaire Inc., which enabled crew members to immediately consult with land-based
emergency physicians anytime a passenger fell ill on board a flight. JetBlue's Web site
featured a section called "in-flight Health" which offered tips on what to do if flying
caused ear pain and how to prevent deep-vein thrombosis, a rare condition that
occurred when blood clots formed in the leg and pelvic veins.
The company’s integrity policy had great effect on the consumer as well. “When
JetBlue's security department violated company policy and released passenger data to
a U.S. Defense Department contractor, Neeleman took personal responsibility for the
incident. He e-mailed, called, or wrote letters to some passengers whose information
had been released and sent out free airline tickets. Neeleman hired the financial
advising firm Deloitte& Touche to analyze and further develop the carrier's privacy
policies.”
What about the value of fun? Well, at JetBlue's JFK terminal, employees had
access to George Foreman grills, which they used for barbecues. In 2002, passengers
could hit yellow punching bags to relieve stress. The bags were tagged with such
humorous sayings as "Forget where you
parked?" and "Left the iron on?" For the
2012 elections, the company ran a
campaign titled Election Protection. The
campaign worked by giving away 2,012
free one way flights out of the country to
bitter political partisans who wanted to
flee the country if their supported
candidate lost the elections. This can be
allotted to the value of caring as well.
(Figure2)
Figure 2
JetBlue’s caring values can also been seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
“JetBlue sponsored the distribution of 25,000 meals by joining forces with some of New
York City's finest food trucks to deliver hot meals to those hardest hit by the
storm” (Kronsberg, 2012).
Passion is exemplified in the employees demonstrated passion for work and the
company's products. Consider the following unbelievable scenario: Once, a passenger
who had landed at JFK could not board a connecting flight to Italy because she had left
her passport at home in Buffalo. A JetBlue customer service agent telephoned a
colleague in Buffalo who went to the woman's home, collected her passport, and put it
on a flight to JFK. The passenger was able to depart for Italy. Managers cared about
employees. When employees in Burlington, Vermont, complained that there were not
enough health care providers in their area, the company added a second health
insurance plan.
Effect of JetBlue’s Corporate Culture on The Bottom Line
Based on the most current annual report from JetBlue Airways, “culture involves
our people and we believe ours is one of our key differentiators in the airline
industry...We strive to maintain our strong and vibrant service-oriented company culture
built around our five key values” (JetBlue, 2011) In the report from the previous year, the
company referred to the year as “A Building Year.” Culture’s role in this build out was
crucial as it was done solely by way of the input of the frontline crew members. After
celebrating their 6th JDPower & Associates award, the company launched an initiative
titled “Culture is Service.” This was done by asking “frontline crew members what [they]
should be doing differently to maintain [their] leadership position in customer service,
and how [they] can better earn customer loyalty” (JetBlue, 2010).
Summary of Findings
Overall we can see how this simplistic approach has paid off for JetBlue Airways.
By implementing a culture that encompasses the entire function of the business, they
were able to successfully attain their values and build upon it for enhanced
effectiveness. JetBlue’s crew member first approach uses its values of being caring,
passionate, fun, safe, and having a sense of integrity means that the core function of
the business operates as a strategy for internal and external brand recognition and
awareness. From “superior” benefit packages, to annual perks and laid back
environments, JetBlue does a great deed in setting the bar in the airline industry with a
reputable corporate culture that bleeds from the core of the business to its customers. If
any knowledge is to be acquired from this analysis, perhaps consider the simple pointof-view of JetBlue’s director of Operations “Having shared values makes decisionmaking much easier.” With that one will acknowledge that that running an airline isn’t
easy, but the decision making process can be if you implement a shared-value
approach.
Resources
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