1

Hindusthan College of Engineering And Technology

Approved by AICTE, New Delhi and Accredited with ‗A‘ Grade by NAAC
(An Autonomous Institution, Affiliated to Anna University, Chennai)
Othakalmandabam Post, Coimbatore.

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

SUB CODE & NAME: 16BA3312/
GLOBAL WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

INTERNAL COMPONENT / ASSIGNMENT

Name : ROSHNI ROY

Register no : 19206045
Semester : III
Batch : 2019-2021

Date : 15/10/2020
 2

JETBLUE AIRWAYS: A CASE STUDY ON REORIENTING CULTURE

FOR BETTER BUSINESS RESULTS
Abstract
JetBlue‘s operational challenges were in no way associated with the skill or ability of the
airline‘s people. Rather, it was a situation of good people working very hard at executing
inefficient processes, which created outcomes that only confused and derailed an already
overtaxed system.Thunder and snowstorms ground every airline from time to time. Any hiccup
in the system — an isolated weather incident, mechanical problems with a single aircraft, or a
last-minute crew re-scheduling — create ripple effects that can result in a major operational
meltdown. JetBlue, which recently celebrated its 10th year in business, was particularly
vulnerable to this. By 2015, the airline was operating at full throttle with 500 daily flights to 50
destinations under a complex labyrinth of systems that had developed organically in response to
rapid growth, but which ultimately lacked the infrastructure necessary to sustain what had
become a massive operation. In 2006 alone, JetBlue opened 16 new cities — a record among air
carriers. Expansion to international destinations, the addition of a second type of aircraft in 2017,
complex route networks, and external changes in the operating and regulatory environment
added new intricacies to an already complicated situation. Snowstorms and unexpected
thunderstorms only exposed the weaknesses in the system.

1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To know about the organization.
 To determine the following organizational culture in the firm.
 To analyze the operational issues in the firm.
 To make SWOT and PESTEL analysis of the firm.
 To recommend solutions.

2. Introduction
JetBlue Airways Flight 15 taxis to the runway at JFK International Airport bound for Fort
Lauderdale. Customers enjoy the ―JetBlue Experience‖ in their comfortable leather seats
equipped with personal televisions. Although thunderstorms throughout the afternoon caused
 3

several delays, JetBlue‘s people were working together to minimize the impact to Flight 15 and
to ensure a safe operation — the company‘s first value. All afternoon in the System Operations
Center (SOC), the nerve center of the airline, decisions were being made based on data flow
from streamlined processes to help ensure that the approaching thunderstorms would not cause
performance issues in the operation. Back on board Flight 15, few customers realize the
complexity of the operation behind the scenes as a multitude of teams worked a myriad of
logistical issues to keep more than 600 flights across the Americas moving on time.

3. Company Profile
JetBlue Airways, stylized as jetBlue, is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh
largest airline in the United States by passengers carried. JetBlue Airways is headquartered in the
Long Island City neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens; it also maintains
corporate offices in Utah and Florida. JetBlue was incorporated in Delaware in August
1998.David Neeleman founded the company in February 1999, under the name "NewAir".

In 2019, it ranked #399 financially on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States
corporations by total revenue. JetBlue operates over 1,000 flights daily and serves 100 domestic
and international network destinations in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and
South America. JetBlue is not a member of any of the three major airline alliances but it has
codeshare agreements with 21 airlines, including member airlines of Oneworld, SkyTeam, Star
Alliance, and unaffiliated airlines.

4.The Organizational Culture adopted by the Company

Culture Is the DNA of the Company:
On last year's list of the best companies to work for in the U.S., JetBlue secured an impressive
spot in the top 25, coming in at number 21. In 2017, however, the low-cost airline buckled its
seat belt, secured its tray table and soared all the way up to the number 3 spot.

The company‘s focus on community service, its dedication to diversity and a family feel among
colleagues have all received praise from employees. But perhaps one employee summarized it
best: ―The culture in JetBlue is like no other. They really value their employees and their
 4

customers.‖The word ―culture‖ is bandied about a lot these days. But at JetBlue it goes much
deeper than providing great snacks and game rooms to employees. At the very start of the
company, the founders put the firm‘s mission in the forefront, identifying the five JetBlue core
values: safety, caring, integrity, passion and fun. The JetBlue core values are realized in
interesting ways.

From interns to the CEO, everybody at JetBlue is a "crewmember", while managers, directors
and executives are ―crewleaders.‖ A philosophy of ―servant leadership‖ keeps crewleaders in
close contact with crewmembers. We have a very open plan office here in Long Island City, and
the offices are all in the center. We do not have the windows. We let our team sit by the
windows." Crewleaders also get hands-on to make sure their teams are successful. Senior leaders
can also be seen working shifts on planes and in airports, tagging bags or helping customers
carry their luggage. ―We help check customers in at the airport. We're serving food at barbecues
on holidays for our crew, or running food to the gates at Thanksgiving,‖

The importance of “giving back”

A wider sense of community is also crucial to JetBlue‘s distinct culture, where ―giving back‖ is
an important value. Not only do employees go on team volunteer outings (planting trees in Long
Island City, for example), but they can also enjoy the company‘s annual celebration recognizing
team members who‘ve logged 150+ hours of service in the past year.The company‘s
commitment to service also involves directly giving back to employees. In fact, JetBlue has its
own nonprofit: the JetBlue Crewmember Crisis Fund, which is dedicated to delivering financial
assistance to employees in need.

A commitment to diversity
Based in New York City and serving a diverse customer base, JetBlue‘s leaders understand the
importance of seeing this diversity reflected among its crewmembers .To support an inclusive
culture, the company has several crewmember resource groups, including Blue Conexión, Vets
in Blue, Jet Pride and Women in Flight.
 5

5. Preparing for Departure: The Need for Change

After a particularly stormy summer in 2010, with near daily operational difficulties in the
airline‘s main hub of New York City, a dedicated team of frontline employees (known as
―crewmembers‖ at JetBlue), came together to tackle the challenges of irregular operations
(IROPs) and to find effective and lasting solutions to improve the way the airline canceled
flights, restored regular service, and communicated within the organization and to customers
before, during and after service-disrupting events. The effort was dubbed ―IROP Integrity‖ and
was one of four strategic initiatives set by the Executive team, aimed at enhancing the
airline‘s operational performance.

The very nature of the problem — the high degree of complexity of flight operations — meant
there were no easy solutions for JetBlue and that no one crewmember, no one leader, and no one
department at the airline knew precisely how to address this multidimensional issue. Targeted
solution teams had been formed over the years to solve issues (or challenges) for their piece of
the travel experience, but the airline needed a holistic approach to solving the issues.

Such a large-scale problem demanded a large-scale solution and, by design, more than 200
crewmembers at JetBlue were officially involved in IROP Integrity. Prior efforts were top-down
in nature, and typically were limited to the area of the organization led by that Vice President or
other leader. Fundamental to the new approach was a reliance on the ―wisdom of crowds‖ to
leverage the knowledge of the people closest to the work for ideas and a focus on creating a new
 6

system that would enable crewmembers to work more effectively and efficiently as a team when
confronted with delays and cancellations.

This new, frontline, employee-driven approach relied on the collective expertise of

crewmembers from all major operating groups and key departments, including the SOC, Crew
Services, Airports, Reservations, Pilots, Flight Attendants, & Information Technology. If an
issue or operational process was determined to play a part in the way the airline canceled,
recovered, and communicated during irregular operations it was deemed within the scope of the
initiative. No part of the operation was left untouched.

The goal of IROP Integrity was to turn JetBlue‘s operation from a liability into a competitive
advantage. Crewmembers were told that there were two ways to be the best at irregular
operations: Move the hub from New York, where external elements (both man-made and Mother
Nature) would always challenge the operation, or own that space and become the best airline at
handling irregular operations.

6. Pushing Back from the Gate: Creating the Coalition for Change
The primary focus of IROP Integrity was to build a culture of cooperation and shared
responsibility among departments that would help the airline react quickly and effectively during
irregular operations. New relationships were forged across department lines, which improved
communication and organizational alignment. With new relationships came new empathy for the
―shared pain‖ in other departments that enabled IROP Integrity teams to, for the first time,
effectively use techniques like process mapping on a large scale. One such example was
Maintenance Routing, a sub-team of Technical Operations who resided in the SOC.

Before IROP Integrity, SOC would identify flights to cancel due to a weather event based on
aircraft and crew balancing. This may have been the right decision for that day‘s operation, but it
nearly always resulted in a ―mini-IROP‖ three days later for the Maintenance teams, with aircraft
out of position for mandated or mandatory inspections or work. Once this additional element was
added to the SOC‘s decision-making process, ―downstream‖ IROPs were reduced. Breaking
down the barriers between departments was the first step to tackling the complex issues that had
 7

stymied the organization for so long.Crewmembers had seen other efforts fizzle and fade in the
past due to the lack of global scope, and doubted IROP Integrity could actually deliver. The
executive sponsor acknowledged these feelings head-on and challenged people to be skeptical
but not to be cynical. As crewmembers saw that the organization was serious about addressing
the operational situation by dedicating proper resources and providing laser-focused executive
attention to it, skepticism turned into optimism.

7.Climbing to Altitude: Building Momentum for Large-Scale Change

The fundamental belief used throughout was that the frontline crewmembers were the ones who
really knew what was actually taking place during IROPs because they had hands-on experience.
This principle informed every design decision, including not to involve operational consultants
in the diagnostics phase. gothamCulture was retained to assist the core team in data analysis
through the cultural prism. The success of the entire initiative hinged on the process by which
frontline subject matter experts were engaged to not only identify what didn‘t work but also to
play an active role developing executable solutions that considered all of the stakeholders
affected by each situation.

Accordingly, frontline crewmembers who played a role in handling IROPs were the focus of all
of the data collection, including interviews, focus groups, surveys, and process mapping
sessions. Techniques designed by gothamCulture were shared with crewmember leaders, who
then led team sessions to gain insight from the frontline experts.Thousands of issues and
challenges were identified through the crewmember-led sessions.The only way to get from the
current state to the desired future state was to engage these same crewmembers in working to
close these gaps themselves. Had the recommendations been left to executives, the change might
have stalled due to limited time availability, approval processes, and the perception that this was
yet another top-down approach to change.

This strategy ensured that the results spoke for themselves— a key refrain when pushed for ―PR‖
support was ―talk is cheap; actions speak louder than words.‖ Word-of-mouth updates from
crewmembers working on the initiative were leveraged to keep people informed of high-level
progress and to ensure those who were curious were kept in the loop.This tactic created an
 8

incredible buzz among crewmembers and the effort maintained a level of transparency among
the working group necessary to keep people comfortable with what was happening.

8.Cruising Smoothly: Measuring Change

Solutions and procedural changes designed in the IROP Integrity initiative were rolled out just
before the summer travel season in 2011. Summer typically brings thunderstorm activity, which
can disrupt operations far more than winter snowstorms. (The key difference being that
snowstorms are slow-moving, and therefore allow for operational planning time. Thunderstorms,
on the other hand, typically form quickly, not allowing for the airline to pre-position aircraft and
crews for a fast recovery.) The new efficiency and nimbleness achieved by the airline helped
JetBlue boost operational performance to the highest levels in five years.
Key metrics included: canceled flights before the weather impact versus after the impact;
recovery time required to full operations; and number of downstream impacts reduced
(fewer cancellations to support the maintenance line or crew unavailability due to out-of-
position aircraft).
JetBlue‘s crewmembers and customers will continue to face challenges during irregular
operations— no airline is perfect, and no plan can ever be developed to completely eliminate the
impact of IROPs. However, the IROP Integrity initiative was successful in mitigating the
negative effects of these operational obstacles and smooth operations are becoming a competitive
advantage for JetBlue.
In addition to the operational improvements realized as a result of the IROP Integrity process, the
initiative served as a significant cultural milestone in the evolution of JetBlue. Crewmembers
who participated in the effort felt the impact of the process in their own work experience:
 90% of the crewmembers who participated indicated that their input and effort made a
difference in the outcome of the initiative and JetBlue‘s operational success.
 70% felt that the opportunity to participate in the initiative helped them develop key
networks with people in others departments that helped them be more effective in their
jobs
 Nearly 60% of participants felt that their participation was a career development
opportunity which supported JetBlue‘s commitment to developing internal talent for
career advancement
 9

 Over 90% of participants felt strongly that the IROP Integrity initiative significantly
improved JetBlue‘s ability to cancel, recover, and communicate during irregular
operations

10.The “Inside-Out” Approach to Change

Comprehensive strategies are often developed by senior leadership. They are pushed onto an
unconvinced audience which can leave employees feeling disengaged and isolated in their work.
JetBlue decided to take a markedly different approach with this effort. In order to ―bring
humanity back to air travel,‖ JetBlue decided to use the occasion of its 10-year anniversary as an
opportunity to kick off the change effort by starting new conversations with crewmembers and
help them reconnect with JetBlue‘s mission; to link what they did day-in and day-out to the
success of the organization, and to create a community of corporate citizens who were willing to
expend their discretionary energy to delight customers.

The basic premise behind the methodology was that crewmembers who are not engaged and
informed about where the company is headed and why—and who therefore are not emotionally
bonded to the organization—will not display the attitudes and behaviors necessary to achieve the
service vision. Rather than just cascading a complex strategy developed by executives in the
―ivory tower‖ in hopes that people would be able to link their individual contribution to the
overarching purpose, JetBlue took a much more engaging and collaborative approach to ensuring
their strategy was implemented successfully. Leadership at all levels connected with frontline
crewmembers in a way that would reinvigorate them and change their relationship with the
organization. Consistent with the JetBlue way, senior leaders initiated one-on-one conversations
with the ―rank and file‖ about the strategy and how they could contribute.
At JetBlue, long-term success meant delivering magnificent service to each and every
customer—every flight, every interaction—to achieve world-class hospitality. JetBlue set out to
create company-wide ownership of the strategy by engaging crewmembers in order to find out
what both enabled and prevented them from delivering magnificent service. While the theory is
simple, putting it into practice takes thoughtful planning.
 10

11.Changing a Culture: Getting the Ball Rolling

In February 2011, the price of oil had reached $147 a barrel, the highest recorded price at the
time of this writing. Oil had slowly become the number one or two line-item cost for all airlines
and, at $147 per barrel, forced new decisions that had implications throughout the organization.
For some airlines, it meant going out of business (SkyBus). For others, it meant mergers
(America West and US Airways), and for others still, it meant bankruptcy (United, Delta). For
JetBlue, it meant making the tough decision to start charging for amenities that had previously
been included in the ticket price. This led to confusion for the frontline crewmembers, and
complication around JetBlue‘s core identity as a ―no first class, no second class citizens‖ brand.
JetBlue realized that, in order to maintain its brand position in spite of the decision to charge for
amenities, it had to carefully manage the tension between the business needs and the service
imperative. On a macro level, the organization had to shift its mindset, but the only way to make
that happen was team-by-team and crewmember-by-crewmember. Crewmembers who would be
forced to ask for a customer‘s money had to fully understand why they were now being put in
that position so as not to consciously or unconsciously erode the brand while doing so. In order
to shift the organization‘s mindset, a cross-functional team of internal operational subject matter
experts and an experienced team from gothamCulture in large-scale culture change embarked on
a journey to plan the transition from loss to profit, and from service laggard back to service
leader.
It was estimated that the average Flight Attendant interacted with about 7,000 customers each
month and that these interactions tended to be longer in duration than other customer touch
points. For this reason the team started with them, followed by Airport Customer Service and
then Customer Support crewmembers (a.k.a. reservation agents) located in Salt Lake City. In
order to help guide the lengthy process of culture transformation, a three-phase approach was
used:
 Create JetBlue‘s vision for service
 Inform and engage leaders and frontline crewmembers through dialogue
 Work together at all levels to provide the necessary resources and to remove obstacles
that would uphold magnificent service
The idea was to engage leadership at all levels in understanding the airline‘s vision for its second
decade, its strategy of customer service, and how those provided the guardrails for the airline to
 11

execute its business strategy. This dialogue would focus on the crewmember‘s role in the
company‘s success based on their functional responsibility, and how to help crewmembers make
the mental shift from a transactional focus to one more balanced on both the company‘s
operational needs and the customer experience.

12.Embedding the Importance of Customer Focus

The process of sharing the vision and strategy with crewmembers and inviting them to
participate in creating it was a critical part of the puzzle, but how it was done and the signals that
were sent in doing it were equally crucial. Taking action to ensure that a customer focus was
embedded into the fabric of the organization was paramount, but it had to be done in a way that
balanced the tension between service and operational performance. Specifically, the pendulum
could not swing so far toward service that the organization de-emphasized the operational
performance that had led to its prior success.

While competitors typically approach the service issue by sending employees through training
programs on how to be nice with the hope that it will change behavior in the long-term, JetBlue
realized that its crewmebers already knew how to do that. Training would address gaps such as
conflict resolution, team dynamics, and interpersonal skills, but the deeper challenge would be to
inspire people to use their discretionary energy—to want to exhibit those behaviors on a daily
basis—and ensure they had the right tools and a work environment that would support and
reward them for delivering magnificent service. When that could be seen on a regular and
measurable basis, a real culture transformation would have occurred.

The team had targeted the issue, identified the root cause, and focused its efforts on
implementing a solution. By leveraging pre-existing communication processes and meeting
structures, the team was literally able to change the conversation, maximizing the use of face-to-
face dialogue and minimizing the use of conventional one-way ―communication‖ methods such
as email blasts and memos. Additional outlets were created to supplement these pre-existing
channels in order to continually reinforce the message that JetBlue was focusing on the customer
experience while maintaining its operational integrity in order to maintain their title of J.D.
Power and Associates‘ best-in-class.
 12

13. SWOT Analysis

Strength:
1) Strong brand identity
Storytelling and brand identity are major factors in establishing a loyal fan consumer base.
―Passion, Safety, Caring, Integrity, and Fun‖ are at the core of everything the brand does and
JetBlue makes sure that all this is engraved in the story of the brand.
2) Customer Satisfaction
It is a low-cost airline but it makes sure that the brand is not represented as cheap. They provide
services like free luggage, free change fees, and cancellation. It also provides in-flight
entertainment with complimentary beverages and snacks and says that they love to spoil their
customers.
Weakness:
1) Less international destinations
JetBlue serves 101 cities and all of them is in the Caribbean and the North American
destinations. If the company decides to fly to Europe it would be a big leap for the 18-year-old
carrier. The airline claims that longer and international routes would increase to the complexity,
cost and additional challenges to the current route of the airlines.
2) The high cost of operation
The company has set ambitious cost targets and that‘s unit cost growth of only 1% or less from
2018-2020. The company plans to save $250 million to $300 million in annual savings basis by
2020.
Opportunities:
1)New markets
In recent advertisements, the airline seems to be pointing towards Europe with the text ―New
possibilities with the A321LR option‖. The CEO believes that a lot of opportunities exists for
JetBlue in the northern rim of Latin and Central America.
2) Introduction of new planes
The company is open to expansion in the European sky and has started building capacity for the
same. The company said that by 2019, it will have the capability to schedule flights to Europe
and other East Coast focused cities if they want to.
 13

Threats:
1) Rising Fuel Prices
The company recently announced that it is raising fees and fares due to the increasing fuel bill
which has reached sky high and the demand for travel is also strong. In August 2018, JetBlue
became the first airline to hike the baggage fees and the new charges matched that of the
competitors.
2) Aircraft deliveries
At the cost of $6.67 billion, the company has been aggressively purchasing new aircraft with 127
new aircraft and 10 engines on order through 2023.

14.PESTEL Analysis
Political Factors that Impact JetBlue Airways Corporation
Political factors play a significant role in determining the factors that can impact JetBlue
Airways Corporation's long term profitability in a certain country or market.
 Political stability and importance of Regional Airlines sector in the country's economy.
 Risk of military invasion
 Level of corruption - especially levels of regulation in Services sector.
 Bureaucracy and interference in Regional Airlines industry by government.
 Legal framework for contract enforcement
 Intellectual property protection
 Trade regulations & tariffs related to Services
 Favored trading partners
 Anti-trust laws related to Regional Airlines
 Work week regulations in Regional Airlines
 Mandatory employee benefits
 Industrial safety regulations in the Services sector.
Economic Factors that Impact JetBlue Airways Corporation
The Macro environment factors such as – inflation rate, savings rate, interest rate, foreign
exchange rate and economic cycle determine the aggregate demand and aggregate investment in
an economy.
 14

 Type of economic system in countries of operation – what type of economic system there
is and how stable it is.
 Government intervention in the free market and related Services
 Exchange rates & stability of host country currency.
 Efficiency of financial markets – Does JetBlue Airways Corporation needs to raise
capital in local market?
 Infrastructure quality in Regional Airlines industry
 Comparative advantages of host country and Services sector in the particular country.

Social Factors that Impact JetBlue Airways Corporation

Society‘s culture and way of doing things impact the culture of an organization in an
environment. Shared beliefs and attitudes of the population play a great role in how marketers at
JetBlue Airways Corporation will understand the customers of a given market and how they
design the marketing message for Regional Airlines industry consumers. Social factors that
leadership of JetBlue Airways Corporation should analyze for PESTEL analysis are -
 Demographics and skill level of the population
 Class structure, hierarchy and power structure in the society.
 Education level as well as education standard in the JetBlue Airways Corporation ‘s
industry
 Culture (gender roles, social conventions etc.)
 Entrepreneurial spirit and broader nature of the society.

Technological Factors that Impact JetBlue Airways Corporation

Slow speed will give more time while fast speed of technological disruption may give a firm
little time to cope and be profitable. Technology analysis involves understanding the following
impacts -
 Recent technological developments by JetBlue Airways Corporation competitors
 Technology's impact on product offering
 Impact on cost structure in Regional Airlines industry
 Impact on value chain structure in Services sector
 Rate of technological diffusion
 15

Environmental Factors that Impact JetBlue Airways Corporation

Before entering new markets or starting a new business in existing market the firm should
carefully evaluate the environmental standards that are required to operate in those markets.
Some of the environmental factors that a firm should consider beforehand are -
 Weather
 Climate change
 Laws regulating environment pollution
 Air and water pollution regulations in Regional Airlines industry
 Recycling
 Waste management in Services sector
 Attitudes toward ―green‖ or ecological products
 Endangered species

Legal Factors that Impact JetBlue Airways Corporation

A firm should carefully evaluate before entering such markets as it can lead to theft of
organization‘s secret sauce thus the overall competitive edge. Some of the legal factors that
JetBlue Airways Corporation leadership should consider while entering a new market are -
 Anti-trust law in Regional Airlines industry and overall in the country.
 Discrimination law
 Copyright, patents / Intellectual property law
 Consumer protection and e-commerce
 Employment law
 Health and safety law
 Data Protection
15. Recommendations And Solutions
By capturing the ―wisdom of the crowds‖, engaging frontline crewmembers in issue
identification as well as actively closing the gaps, JetBlue has achieved remarkable improvement
to their operational reliability during IROPs.The IROP Integrity mission lives on, as the process
of operational improvements were designed to be continuous, and members of the organization
still strive to improve the way in which the airline prepares for and recovers from unplanned
disruptions through:
 16

 IROP Integrity was as much a cultural transformation as it was an operational

performance turn-around effort.
 By understanding the roles and responsibilities of other work groups in the organization,
crewmembers can have a newfound appreciation for how their actions or inactions affect
other individuals and teams.
 Moreover, by including crewmembers in the process their personal relationship with the
organization can change in a way that brought about new levels of pride and affiliation
resulting in increased loyalty and accountability.
 The company can continues to engage crewmembers in its critical transformation from
―New York‘s hometown airline‖ to ―The Americas‘ Favorite Airline.‖ Evidence proves
that this cultural transformation process enables crewmembers to deliver magnificent
service to customers and the results are helping to ensure that JetBlue ―grows the gap‖
between itself and the competition.

16. Conclusion
JetBlue embarked on this journey to transition to a more customer-focused culture, the company
earned its seventh J.D. Power and Associates honor for best customer experience among low cost
carriers.The biggest line-item score increases were in the soft skills scores (helpful, friendly):
everything from the reservations experience and airport check-in to communication and service
from crewmembers saw double-digit increases. This inclusive approach and methodology is
based on the belief that the relationship between crewmembers and customers is a critical
component in driving customer loyalty, brand recognition, and crewmember engagement. This
initiative continues to seek ways to make JetBlue‘s strategy actionable by frontline
crewmembers, provide them genuine opportunities to develop and deliver the JetBlue
Experience, and build leadership‘s capability to listen.