• by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, November 3, 2014

I am a great believer of a free and open economy, and I love making money. But I am increasingly skeptical about Wall Street’s role in helping companies to grow and thrive.

I am of course both professionally and personally interested in how companies are doing, and judge this (just like most of us) by what I read or hear in the media. Apple sells more iPhone  6s  than any previous model: It must be going well with Apple. JC Penney is struggling to make a penny: Things must not be going well. By no measure am I a specialist in finance or investing. Some of my best friends are, though, and you know I love you guys!

Let’s look at the airline industry as an example of what I meant with my opening comment. The airline industry has traditionally  found it hard to make a profit. We all remember the bankruptcies and the (much-needed) mergers. Lately, things are actually looking remarkably healthy for U.S.-based airlines. Even United Airlines managed to make money in Q3.

JetBlue reported record quarter-three earnings, yet over the last two months there have been countless articles about the fact that JetBlue is replacing (has been forced to replace by investors?) its CEO Jeff Barger. Here is what Fortune wrote about this: “Equity analysts covering JetBlue have taken an unusual, ‘activist-like’ flare in their recent research reports. There seems to be consensus that JetBlue isn’t living up to its potential in this new ‘golden age’ of airline profits and that its management is mostly to blame.”

One of the most-cited complaints is that JetBlue isn’t charging some of the fees almost all of the other airlines are now charging (like for toilet paper, having an arm rest and breathing actual air). In the minds of the analysts, JetBlue is leaving money on the table.

Never mind that JetBlue’s USP -- its founding idea, in fact -- is “to bring humanity back to air travel..”This means today that it offers decent legroom, free inflight entertainment and no bag fees for a first checked bag. This is why people love the company (its SkyTrax consumer rating is 4 stars out of 5, the same as on Yelp).

JetBlue has about 150 seats on an Airbus A320. In comparison, Spirit Airlines, an ULCC (ultra-low-cost carrier similar to Ryanair from Europe), packs 178 seats on the same plane. Shame on you, JetBlue!

I understand the desire to make (more) money. But here is a company and a brand that has inspired a resilient consumer  love --  except of course when they screw up your next flight (remember “Steven Slater-gate”?) -- and actually has a differentiated product that is making money.

In my book, JetBlue does not appear to have a problem. I repeat: record profit in third quarter. However, Wall Street is very clear: JetBlue needs to dilute and align its product with where the market is going, thereby endangering the very reasons why people buy and love JetBlue in the first place.

To me this translates to chasing short-term gains that ultimately have the potential to destroy a brand -- and with it, the company itself. And if that is Wall Street’s brand building advice, I hope Jet Blue ignores it wholeheartedly.

 (Disclaimer: I do not own shares in JetBlue and have only flown the airline twice in my entire life).