JetBlue Airways: Growing Pains?

Even as its financial performance started showing signs of improvement, JetBlue faced another crisis in February 2007, when a snowstorm hit the Northeast and Midwest regions of the US, throwing the airline's operations into chaos.

Because JetBlue followed the practice of never canceling flights, even when the ice storm hit and the airline was forced to keep several flights on the ground, it desisted from calling them off.

Because of this, passengers were kept waiting at the airports for their flights to take off...

Analysts felt that the appointment of Barger as the new CEO was likely to benefit JetBlue. According to them, the fresh leadership was likely to help JetBlue through its growing pains and provide it with a positive direction for the future.

They also pointed out that Barger differed considerably from Neeleman in his leadership style (Barger was thought to be more organized than Neeleman, and much more focused on operational issues than the latter who enjoyed strategizing).

However, JetBlue was likely to face many more challenges in the future than it had faced during its first few years of operations.