A MUSIC LOVER’S BILL OF RIGHTS

"We are sorry and embarrassed.
But most of all, we are deeply sorry."

So began an email that I received last week. (full letter after the jump) It wasn’t from the RIAA although it should have been. It was from Jet Blue. It wasn’t sent to me because I was one of the passengers that they stranded last week. It was sent because a few times a year I fly the airline; and Jet Blue knows that the best way to begin correcting a mistake is to apologize. 

But Jet Blue didn’t stop with an apology. They created and published a Customer Bill Of Rights. Its not a perfect document. In fact critics say its filled with loopholes that favor the company over passengers. But it is a start; and it goes farther than any of their competitors have gone. Now is the time for …

A MUSIC LOVER’S BILL OF RIGHTS –

1. The music I purchase will be playable on every device I own.
2. 
   The systems you sell to play music will use compatible operating systems.
3. Fellow fans who trade music occasionally but do not profit from it will not be prosecuted.
4. The fees added to my concert ticket will not exceed 20% of face value.
5. When I’m inside your concert venue, you will treat me as your guest.
6. People who give or take money or gifts to play songs on our publicly licensed radio stations will go to jail.
7. Artists, labels and others who do not respect me should not expect my hard earned dollars.
8. If you you want me to buy your music you will offer me both quality and value.

Dear JetBlue Customers,

We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry.

Last week was the worst operational week in JetBlue’s seven year history. Following the severe winter ice storm in the Northeast, we subjected our customers to unacceptable delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage, and other major inconveniences. The storm disrupted the movement of aircraft, and, more importantly, disrupted the movement of JetBlue’s pilot and inflight crewmembers who were depending on those planes to get them to the airports where they were scheduled to serve you. With the busy President’s Day weekend upon us, rebooking opportunities were scarce and hold times at 1-800-JETBLUE were unacceptably long or not even available, further hindering our recovery efforts.

Words cannot express how truly sorry we are for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that we caused. This is especially saddening because JetBlue was founded on the promise of bringing humanity back to air travel and making the experience of flying happier and easier for everyone who chooses to fly with us. We know we failed to deliver on this promise last week.

We are committed to you, our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain your confidence in us. We have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more timely information to you, more tools and resources for our crewmembers and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties in the future. We are confident, as a result of these actions, that JetBlue will emerge as a more reliable and even more customer responsive airline than ever before.

Most importantly, we have published the JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights—our official commitment to you of how we will handle operational interruptions going forward—including details of compensation. I have a video message to share with you about this industry leading action.

You deserved better—a lot better—from us last week. Nothing is more important than regaining your trust and all of us here hope you will give us the opportunity to welcome you onboard again soon and provide you the positive JetBlue Experience you have come to expect from us.

Sincerely,
David Neeleman
Founder and CEO
JetBlue Airways