26 April, 2022

JetBlue aims to reliably and consistently deliver that JetBlue Experience beloved by customers.....



New York's hometown airline JetBlue is all set to deliver a series of investments to reliably deliver the JetBlue experience during what is expected to be a busy summer. According to the airline,  it wants to focus on hiring and training, efforts to reduce customer support call volume and hold times, proactive aircraft maintenance efforts, and facilities/infrastructure readiness during the summer, which will see a reduction in the number of flights being scheduled for summer. 

Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer said: "We let our crewmembers and our customers down in April, and we must perform better. The investments we’re making will help reduce delays and cancellations during the busiest travel period.  -  We want customers who love the JetBlue experience to have confidence we will deliver it to them this summer,” 

The airline has been badly hit over the last few months with staff shortages due to sickness and poor service on the ground. Many passengers have expressed dissatisfaction with the carrier over its service and the short notice cancellation and flight disruptions. Jet blue hopes the reduced schedule will offer more of a buffer and flexibility to recover from disruptions, this will put less stress on its crew resources as well as ensuring backups when things do go wrong.

JetBlue originally planned to grow capacity this year by 11 to 15 percent compared to 2019. Now, with its reduced schedule, JetBlue’s capacity will grow zero to five percent compared to 2019. Most importantly, JetBlue is reducing its summer schedule by more than 10 percent from its original plan, and scheduled aircraft utilization will be down 10 to 15 percent compared to 2019.

“JetBlue is a growth airline, and we want nothing more than to bring our unique combination of low fares and award-winning service to more customers,” Geraghty said. “However, by taking a more conservative approach to growth, we can bring resiliency to our operation and ensure our crewmembers – who are the best in the industry – come to work each day set up for success.”

Accelerating staffing and training to support the schedule


JetBlue is moving forward with hiring efforts to staff up for the summer, including 5,000 new crewmembers in New York. The airline’s recently expanded training facility in Orlando is operating at maximum capacity.  “We are well aware of the staffing challenges that many companies are facing, but it’s been incredible to see how many job seekers want to work at JetBlue,” Geraghty said. “Our differentiated brand and culture continue to attract the best talent, and we have expanded our training facilities to get our new hires on the job as soon as possible.”

In addition to general staffing, JetBlue is working through a backlog of pilot training and re-certification flights after delays from Omicron. Volatile pilot attrition is also creating a need for additional recruiting and training capacity. JetBlue has increased its pilot training team and simulator capacity to meet this demand.

“Ensuring we have a strong pipeline of pilots remains a focus, and we are expanding our innovative JetBlue Gateways program this year to support that effort,” Geraghty said. “We are having incredible success attracting a diverse set of candidates to join our Gateway Select program, which trains individuals with little or no flight experience, and we launched new pathways for current crewmembers and their families to become JetBlue pilots.”

Addressing customer call volume and hold times


Since the fall, JetBlue has brought on board more than 1,100 new hires into customer support and continues to increase hiring and training while bringing on outside support to help manage call volume. By this summer, JetBlue expects to have its largest-ever customer support team, which it hopes will cut down on waiting times.  In addition, it is adding staff for its digital tools to help customers, including online chat capabilities and support via iMessage. Plus the airline is improving self-service capabilities on its website.  “The best way to reduce long hold times is to eliminate the need to call us in the first place, and a more reliable schedule with fewer delays and last-minute cancellations will help improve that,” Geraghty said.

“Many customers have been waiting for two years to travel again, and our goal this summer is to offer an incredible experience,” Geraghty said. “Unfortunately, weather and air traffic control delays will always be part of air travel, and we are doing everything we can to manage them better for our crewmembers and customers. Our plan makes responsible investments to prepare us for these challenges and restore trust in JetBlue.”





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