In the mid-90s, David Neeleman wanted to launch a new airline. He had already co-created a regional airline out of Salt Lake City that was acquired by Southwest. And despite his admiration of Southwest's business model, Neeleman felt there was a market for a different kind of budget airline.
He envisioned flights to cities other budget airlines avoided and excellent customer service, with high-tech amenities. In 2000, he launched JetBlue and in its first year, the company flew over 1 million people, and cultivated a loyal customer following.
Then came the 2007 Valentine's Day ice storm.
1:46 - Intro
3:43 - David’s childhood
8:27 - Going on a mission trip
12:17 - Starting a business in college
17:46 - Recovering from failure
22:28 - Becoming an airline
26:28 - Getting purchased by Southwest Airlines
36:49 - Getting fired and starting something new
39:48 - The JetBlue idea
44:50 - Launching the airline
48:42 - Being involved with customers
49:37 - Not having a unionized staff
51:00 - Becoming profitable
53:02 - The ice storm fiasco
56:21 - Being asked to step aside
58:47 - Starting Azul Airlines
61:19 - Balancing family and work
61:01 - Leadership lessons
62:03 - Luck vs. hard work
JetBlue
David Neeleman
Mormonism
São Paulo, Brazil
ADD
Driven to Distraction - Edward Hallowell and John Ratey
Airline deregulation
Herb Kelleher
Steve Udvar-Hazy
Morris Air
Non-Compete Agreement
Virgin Airlines
Airbus A320
Ice storm on February 14th, 2007
Azul Airlines
Herb Kelleher episode
