Contact Shep (314) 692-2200

Employee and Customer Training Thwart JetBlue Disaster

Employee and Customer Training This may not actually be a customer service issue, but what happened with JetBlue does fall under customer perception and it will be interesting to watch how they handle this incident.  And it ties to training – the way JetBlue trains their people in crisis situations and also a concept I’ve […]

Employee and Customer Training

This may not actually be a customer service issue, but what happened with JetBlue does fall under customer perception and it will be interesting to watch how they handle this incident.  And it ties to training – the way JetBlue trains their people in crisis situations and also a concept I’ve written about in the past, customer training.  This is where the company trains customers to use their products and services best.

Yesterday a JetBlue flight going to Las Vegas met with a potential disaster.  However, because of some excellent training and common sense, by both the crew and the passengers, disaster was avoided.

In short, the captain, Clayton Osbon, of the plane had a meltdown.  In the cockpit, he was demonstrating erratic behavior.  The co-pilot convinced Osbon to go to the restroom.  Once Osbon left the cockpit, the co-pilot locked the door and changed the combination.  Back in the passenger cabin, the behavior became worse.  Osbon started screaming about a bomb, Iraq, Iran, Israel and more.  Passengers took matters into their own hands.  They tackled him to the ground and restrained him until the plane could land and authorities could take Osbon off of the plane.

Regarding employee training in the face of emergencies, Dave Barger, CEO and President of JetBlue, praised the co-pilot and the crew for how they handled the situation.  He specifically mentioned how the training in crisis situations paid off.  He also praised the passengers.

While more familiar with employee training, then there is customer training.  Typically this is where a company trains their customers on how to use their products.  For example, most passengers will use an airline’s website to book their tickets.  The airlines gave incentives to book online, eventually getting passengers to try booking their tickets through their website.  In a sense, they trained the customer on how to buy.

But JetBlue didn’t train the passengers.  The events of 911 and the media did.  The terrorist attacks of 911 are forever etched into our memories.  Numerous television interviews covered how passengers might react to terrorist situations.  These trained the passengers on what to do in a similar situation.  Knowing what could happen on the JetBlue flight, passengers risked their lives to tackle Osbon to the floor and did what was necessary to eliminate the threat.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.

(Copyright ©MMXII, Shep Hyken)

Want to receive Shep’s latest customer service and CX research?

Sign up for instant access to Shep’s research report on customer service and customer experience.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

© 2024 Shepard Presentations, LLC.
All Rights Reserved.

Legal Information | Sitemap Legap

Site by: digitalONDA