JetBlue Airways 2007 Valentine's Day Crisis and BCM Strategy
This paper examines JetBlue Airways' response to the February 2007 Valentine's Day winter storm crisis, which resulted in approximately 1,200 cancelled flights and $20 million in losses. Using the Business Continuity and Crisis Management (BCCM) theoretical framework — drawing on Shaw and Harrald (2004), the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Comprehensive Emergency Management model, and Harrald's (1998) modification — the paper analyzes how JetBlue assessed the crisis, identified stakeholder impacts, and executed a recovery strategy. Key actions discussed include improvements to internal communications, the issuance of a Customer Bill of Rights, financial compensation to passengers, and the CEO's public apology campaign. The paper concludes by evaluating JetBlue's image restoration efforts and the broader lessons the case offers for organizational crisis management.
- Introduction to Business Continuity Management: BCM defined and its growing importance post-9/11
- Theoretical Framework for Crisis and Continuity Management: FEMA, Harrald, and Shaw BCCM frameworks reviewed
- JetBlue Airways Valentine's Day Crisis 2007: Background: Winter storm causes mass cancellations and losses
- Crisis Management and Stakeholder Analysis: Assessment of crisis impact on all key stakeholders
- Invocation, Escalation, and Recovery Actions: CEO-led response including apology and Bill of Rights
- Enterprise Management and Image Restoration: System upgrades, training, and image recovery strategies
- Conclusion: BCM lessons drawn from JetBlue case
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper applies a clearly defined theoretical framework (BCCM, Shaw & Harrald, FEMA model) to a real corporate case, grounding abstract management concepts in concrete events.
- The stakeholder analysis section systematically works through every major affected group — customers, employees, investors, government, competitors, and media — demonstrating structured analytical thinking.
- The numbered recovery actions provide specificity and make the practical implications of BCCM principles easy to follow.
- The paper maintains a consistent evaluative lens throughout, returning to the theoretical framework at each stage of the case discussion rather than treating theory and application as separate exercises.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied framework analysis: it introduces a multi-level theoretical model, then systematically maps each element of the JetBlue case onto the framework's components (assessment, stakeholder impact, invocation, recovery, enterprise management). This technique shows how academic models can be used diagnostically to evaluate real organizational responses.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a conceptual definition of BCM, moves into an extended review of the theoretical frameworks (FEMA, Harrald, Shaw), and then transitions into the JetBlue case. Within the case, it follows the BCCM lifecycle structure: crisis management → stakeholder analysis → invocation and escalation → management and recovery → closure and review → enterprise management. A brief conclusion synthesizes the lessons. The structure mirrors the BCCM process itself, reinforcing the argument through form as well as content.
Introduction to Business Continuity Management
Business continuity management (BCM) is defined by the Business Continuity Institute as a "holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organization and provides a framework for building resilience and capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating activities" (The Business Continuity Institute, 2007).
The impact of the 9/11 attacks left companies with the compulsion to deal with the aftereffects, and ever since, BCM has gained increased popularity. The 9/11 attacks were essentially a crisis in the external environment that had wide-ranging consequences for business organizations. BCM has emerged as a discipline in organizational studies that is receiving tremendous attention. As a discipline, it fundamentally deals with conflict, crisis, and planning for alternatives. To deal with conflict, some organizations take a proactive approach while others take a reactive stance. In the case of a proactive approach, organizations have learned to deal with crises by focusing on developing contingency plans to avoid such events in the future. It is the responsibility of companies to be able to provide quality services and products to their customers even during disruptive times. This reflects the commitment of the organization to its stakeholders, and it is therefore essential that a proper crisis management plan be established within the organization.
The BCCM framework has been developed to serve as a guide for managers in dealing with different situations. Each crisis is different and therefore requires different treatment. Every crisis must be approached in a unique way, and a new strategy must be formulated accordingly — no single response can be applied uniformly. This framework is simple and can be followed at all levels of management. This paper covers the JetBlue Airways incident of 2007 as a discussion case to explain the crisis management tactics followed by the organization's management. Each part of the case will be discussed in detail to show the impact of following or ignoring the BCCM principles. JetBlue Airways is a prime example of how BCCM strategies can work for an organization. The incident has been discussed and analyzed in detail, including an exploration of the stakeholders and the impact of the disaster on each of them. Furthermore, the management's actions in light of BCM principles have also been discussed in depth.
References
Brizek, M., 2007. JetBlue Airways, trouble in the sky. Journal of Aviation Management and Education, 12(1), pp. 53–60.
Elliot, D., Swartz, E., & Herbane, B., 2001. Business Continuity Management: A Crisis Management Approach. New York: Routledge.
Elsasser, J., 2007. True blue: After a customer relations crisis, lessons learned at JetBlue. Public Relations Strategist, 13(3), pp. 14–19.
Elsasser, J., 2009. True blue: After a customer relations crisis, lessons learned at JetBlue — moving on after a midwinter meltdown.
Hanna, J., 2008. JetBlue's Valentine's Day crisis. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from Working Knowledge: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5880.html
JetBlue., 2011. Bill of Rights information. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from JetBlue: http://www.jetblue.com/about/ourcompany/promise/index.html
Management Quarterly. 2003. Business continuity and crisis management. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from Opscentre:
Reuters., 2009. How JetBlue turned crisis into opportunity: JetBlue Airways to discuss crisis communications at 2009 Continuity Insights Conference. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from Reuters:
Shaw, G. L., & Harrald, J. R., 2004. Required competencies for executive level business crisis and continuity managers. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 5(1), pp. 9–13.
The Business Continuity Institute., 2007. Business Continuity Management Good Practice Guidelines.
Tsui, B., 2000. JetBlue soars in first months. Advertising Age, 71(38), pp. 6–7.
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