Brad Feld

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JetBlue Needs Winston Wolf

Feb 19, 2007

Last night at dinner Howard, Jason, Amy, Elizabeth, and I were discussing the JetBlue meltdown from last week (that continues today.)  The most bizarre thing to me was the relatively weak response from David Neeleman – the CEO – who is known for being outspoken, direct, and clear minded even in a difficult situation.  This morning’s New York Times finally has a strong quote from him in which he says he is mortified after fliers are stranded.

In this article, Neeleman shows he is very aware how badly JetBlue has screwed up dealing with this situation.  The article states “Mr. Neeleman said he would enact what he called a customer bill of rights that would financially penalize JetBlue — and reward passengers — for any repeat of the current upheaval. He said he would propose a plan to pay customers, after some amount of time, by the hour for being stranded on a plane.”

In addition to finally speaking up, Neeleman is quoted as saying “I can flap my lips all I want. Talk is cheap. Watch us.”

Shortly after reading the NY Times JetBlue article, I came across Sagi Rubin’s post titled A great startup CEO comparable in which he reminded us of the management greatness of Winston Wolf.

“So, pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fucking car.”  I sure hope Neeleman has a Winston Wolf on his team to help him deliver on his promises.