FLYING HIGH ON SOFT FLUFFY SLIPPERS

David Neeleman started a small airline, built it into profitability, and sold it to Southwest Airlines. Shortly afterward, the airline that makes its customers "free to move about the country" made Neeleman "free to move about the unemployed." He had advanced too many suggestions for improving Southwest's operations.

Not easily discouraged, Neeleman set about starting up a new airline, one that could beat Southwest in the low-cost carrier business. He carefully listed all the hurdles he would have to fly over to survive and thrive against Southwest.

Out of his thinking came leather seats, TV screens on every seatback, hot cookies, blue chips, friendly hostesses, ample and efficient check-in service and many other passenger-friendly services. In short: jetBlue.

And he really hit the jackpot with soft fluffy slippers.

It all started with his "problems list." Things all airlines do badly. First and foremost was call center service. All too often, when a potential passenger calls an airline, he is subjected to an interminable wait, uneven service, and cranky people at the call center. In emergencies, which often occur after midnight, airline service personnel are all too frequently cold and unhelpful.

Analyzing the why's behind this off-putting phenomenon, Neeleman felt the airlines tend to treat their call center people badly. Considering them "low level" employees, the big airlines tend to cram them into windowless warehouses located in the cheaper real estate sections of town. Furthermore, the employees are usually hamstrung with bureaucratic requirements which prevent them from any flexibility in dealing with passenger emergencies. Lastly, the lowly paid employees frequently have to travel across town in bad weather just to get to the undesirable call center environment. How can anyone treated like a call center employee be expected to be polite, helpful and cheerful on the phone?

Neeleman saw two solutions to the problem:

The first was technical. End run the whole problem and save costs by building a business which was 80 percent dependent on the Internet. Ticketing on the Internet eliminated the whole call center problem.

The second was the "soft fluffy slipper" idea. Neeleman felt that jetBlue's call center employees would perform best in an environment they loved. And the environment most employees loved the best was home. With available technology, jetBlue arranged to have incoming calls automatically rerouted to its employees' homes, where they sat waiting for incoming calls, swathed in pajamas and housecoats, with feet encased in soft fluffy slippers.

Within a few months, Neeleman was deluged with letters from passengers praising him for his fabulous customer service personnel. Most of the comments were written in a tone of amazement.

• "I had a death in the family. Two of the big airlines told me I had to produce a death certificate before they could give me an emergency fare. They didn't seem to care. Then I called jetBlue, which I knew nothing about, at two in the morning. I couldn't believe the nice, sympathetic reception I got, along with a fast reservation and very reasonable fare. I told all my friends about you and how jetBlue helped me."
• "Your people are terrific. You must pay them a fortune. I told everybody I know about you."
• "I didn't realize in this day and age that people could be so accommodating and helpful. You are to be congratulated. Your reward is my becoming an converted jetBlue customer."
• "Why can't the other airlines find people who are as nice and courteous as yours?"
• "The last time I was treated so considerately was forty years ago when Marshall Fields still had their 'customer is always right' policy. All my friends are now taking jetBlue to Florida."

As the months went by and the letters continued to pour in, Neeleman realized that his call center had become much more than a service operation. It was now his most important asset for jetBlue's public relations, promotion and word-of-mouth advertising. Even if he could reduce costs by switching jetBlue to 100 percent Internet servicing, he would be loath to do so.

Without all those ladies in their soft fluffy slippers spreading goodwill, jetBlue would lose out on too much new business.