Essay About Leadership Style Of Its Founder And David Neeleman

Jet Blue
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Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006
All content Щ 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 Щ 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