Early indications are that JetBlue is on point in its response after a pilot had a meltdown Tuesday on a New York-Las Vegas flight that resulted in an emergency stopover in Amarillo, Tex. The airline quickly used social and traditional media to communicate with the public and media.
The pilot, Clayton Osbon, was restrained with the help of passengers. He is receiving medical help, and has been charged in the incident with interfering with a flight crew.
About an hour after the plane landed in Amarillo, the airline posted on its BlueTales blog a brief report and updates including plans to transport passengers to Las Vegas and report of their arrival.
On the ground, JetBlue representatives tended to the passengers and delivered letters from the company.
On Wednesday, BlueTales posted a frequently-asked-question segment concerning JetBlue's response, procedures, the pilot, and the co-pilot, who took command of the plane. JetBlue's CEO Dave Barger was on TV, and even addressed a post that was critical of the airline's use of “medical situation” to describe the incident.
“Despite the gravity of the situation, JetBlue is handling it well by being transparent and open with media and consumers,” Lindsay Stein wrote in PRWeek. And one might argue that was JetBlue's only course considering the involvement of several passengers and others with cell phones at the ready to tweet and record.
JetBlue's blog postings received mostly positive feedback with praise for the company's transparency, praise for the crew and passengers, and concern for Osbon, but also criticism for spinning the situation, lack of transparency and concerns about safety.
As this story develops, JetBlue may face new challenges as it moves through the stages of crisis management, but to its credit, the airline did not hide under a rock in the first 24 hours.
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