David Neeleman, founder and CEO of JetBlue, credits the success of his 6-year-old startup in the brutally competitive airline industry to creating a "customer-experience company that enabled people to
travel in aircraft." The commitment included hiring the right people and finding innovative work approaches. Customers calling JetBlue's toll-free number, for example, speak to employees who work from
their homes, not an anonymous overseas high-tech call center. Neeleman flies on a JetBlue flight at least once a week, serving drinks and snacks, talking to customers and crewmembers, and helping
unload baggage. This helps him keep in touch with what it's like to be a JetBlue crewmember and customer. JetBlue also measures everything, including the time it takes to get the first bag and the
last bag to the carousel for every flight--a metric Neeleman believes is unique to his airline. This is important, he says, because it's the last thing the customer will remember about their JetBlue
experience.
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