A lot's been said about the JetBlue Valentine's Day storm debacle and CEO David Neeleman's mucho mea-culpas, but for us here at Surprise Central, Chuck Salter's piece in this month's Fast Company summarizes why Neeleman was crucified and vilified in a manner way beyond any of his aviation peers:
"Delta is not JetBlue. Neither is American. The fact that those airlines stranded customers during the storm isn't Surprising. They simply met the public's low expectations."
He's endured a rough ride, but I guess Neeleman should be proud that one of his big Pow! moments is the time he actually screws up.
Kinda reminds me of something I heard from the mouth of Meadowlark Lemon, the legendary leader of the Harlem Globetrotters many moons ago. He was attempting a shot from one end of the basketball court to the net at the other end. He tilted, launched the ball from his hip, and watched as it sailed through the air, hit the rim and bounced over the backboard.
As the crowd "Awwwwww"ed in disappointment, Meadowlark cracked a huge smile and chirped:
"Well, I finally missed!"