Blue Streak: Inside jetBlue, the Upstart that Rocked an Industry

by Barbara Sturken Peterson

The definitive, behind-the-scenes story of the most innovative airline in America

A few years ago, an unknown entrepreneur named David Neeleman uprooted his wife and nine kids from Utah to New York, dreaming of a bold new company that would make jaded travelers fall in love with flying again. Barbara S. Peterson has been reporting on JetBlue since the “Jet who?” days when few outsiders believed in the company. Drawing on exclusive interviews with more than seventy-five insiders, from mechanics on the tarmac to the CEO, she weaves together a dynamic story of how JetBlue has blended outstanding customer service, inspirational leadership, savvy marketing, and disciplined financial management to come out on top.

“It’s fun to read about simple ideas that change the way we do things . . . and it’s always fun to watch the whoosh of good ideas hit the brick walls of habit and bureaucracy. . . .The smart, fast, little guy wins!”
—Los Angeles Times

“A quick, breezy read studded with mini-profiles, snippets of aviation history and amusing anecdotes.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“An engaging peek into the open cockpits of the airline industry, its foibles and pitfalls, written by someone who knows the industry, yet still loves to fly. This book is the chronicle of one little airline that could.”
—Book Page

“Peterson moves beyond personalities to detail how Neeleman crafted more of a branded travel experience than an airline.”
—BusinessWeek

“[Peterson] gets the inside scoop on JetBlue’s quirky corporate culture and Neeleman’s fresh approach to an antiquated business model.”
—Advertising Age

Genres: Business, Aviation, Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only book that gets the Morris Air and JetBlue (David Neeleman) stories close to right.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun read about the airline industry. Peterson has written a smart, well-researched book about Jet Blue that gives an accurate if breezy account of its history. I enjoyed learning about its business model. She is definitely a bit too much a fan, but the information about jet blue is solidly researched. It is definitely a book about Jet Blue, though - she does tell its story in context, but detail about other airlines is circumspect, anecdotal or general.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to start an airline when the world says it is impossible. Neelman is a vey poor student that struggles to get out of high school. Uncle gives him a shot at working at his small market. This is his personal story of how he grabbed JFK and started an airline based on fun, low cost and higher experience

[Aaron Mikulsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entrepreneur David Neeleman moved from Utah to New York with his wife and nine children to start a company that would entice jaded travelers into loving the airways once again. Despite giant obstacles (a recession, 9/11, etc.) he has seen success beyond his wildest dreams: His company, JetBlue Airways, consistently makes a profit while growing rapidly and garnering great customer satisfaction ratings. In mid-1999, JetBlue was a paper airline that had no planes, no name and no license to fly. At the end of 2003, Peterson reports, it was one of the most on-time and the fullest airlines in the country. By mid-2004, the company had made a profit in more than sixteen consecutive quarters and was ranked among the top 10 airlines in the country.
Note: this book was written in 2004. The industry and company have changed much since but it’s a neat story. The book Blue Streak outlines JetBlue’s Four Success Secrets:
1. Focus on customer service. While going through flight attendant training, Peterson learned that JetBlue trains its employees harder than anyone else.
2. Keep prices not just low, but fair and easy to understand. Neeleman explains that customers “know we’ll treat them fair and give them a fair deal.”
3. Don’t abuse coach passengers. JetBlue crams fewer people into its coach section than any other airline.
4. Minimize the really big hassles. JetBlue does not overbook its flights. If a passenger is delayed more than an hour, he or she will be compensated.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Streak details the story of how David Neeleman created an airline in the era of airline deregulation. An era where upstarts have bleak prospects in succeeding as the big airline giants such as American, United, Delta, and Southwest have taken such a huge share of the United States market.
The book was keen on showing the CEO's origins and highlighting the instrumental part he played in creating Jetblue. Although this was the purpose of the book to describe Jetblue's success I do believe that at times in can be seen as a biography of the life of David Neeleman. However, it does an amazing job of breaking down Jetblue and its story from how it acquired its fleet, the key drivers in creating an airline in such a harsh environment, the inspiration and role models that Jetblue management looked up to as they created their airlines, and the humanity that Jetblue wanted to bring towards humanity. It is an extremely informative book and although I would define it as airline economics I believe it reads just like a novel telling the story of an underdog airlines rise to success, while also getting into the nitty gritty of the economics. My only qualm with the book is the fact that the author was very intwined with Jetblue as she attended flight attendant trainings and flew on flights to gain better information. Although these are all the signs of a dedicated journalist it makes you wonder whether her bias is in favor of Jetblue as she wore the rose colored glasses, or in this case maybe blue. Aside from this one fact I would highly recommend reading it. It gives a perspective into the Uber competitive airline industry as well as the economic foundation the industry is built upon. Even without a strong economic background you can read this book (granted there may be a few google searches). I would give this a solid 4.5 stars (only because there is a bit of bias & a little too much coverage of the CEO). I will be rereading this book in a few months to really absorb the content.

Thanks!

[Memory Toast · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've wanted to read a book about my favorite airline, Southwest, for quite some time, but, alas, my library does not have any. Yet, they did have this book about JetBlue, my number two airline, and I had a fun time reading about how Neeleman got into the business, what hurdles the airline faced, and some of the behind the scenes reasons why Southwest and JetBlue ended up being many peoples' favorite airlines.

[Ralph N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, average book on how JetBlue was built and how they dealt with regulations and competition.

[Robert Melone]

COVID-19 Quarantine
Elisa’s 7th Birthday

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems to be a well researched book. This is the story of how the company JetBlue began. JetBlue made flying enjoyaboe andaffordable again.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this very interesting and wish there was a follow-up with more recent experiences and data.

[matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a commercial aviation enthusiast, I haven't been the biggest reader of books about airlines (mostly because I think the genre suffers from a lack of titles as compared to other businesses), so I was enticed to pick up this book which seemed to be a quick (and it was) read. A decent enough piece on the origins of JetBlue, it is definitely a bit more of a book about David Neeleman's journey via JetBlue than specifically about the airline itself. I think Peterson suffers a little bit from "drinking the blue Kool-Aid" and painting an aggressively positive notion of the airline. Certainly not a waste of time to read, owing to its brevity, but dated and really wished it had dug a little deeper into the business/technical/operational side rather than sticking to the surface level platitudes.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during a spring break vacation. I haven't stopped recommending it. The story of Jet Blue and what it takes to start an airline is a great story and compelling read. Regardless of your airline affiliation, this is illuminating. Read this book - you'll learn a great deal. Even though some of the bloom has has turned on Jet Blue (since the famous snow storm episode), it is still amazing that they are as successful as they are.

[Upom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw a profile on David Neeleman, the CEO of JetBlue on television. A really remarkable story about how Neeleman and his cohorts helped to transform the airline industry. The book is a little dated, but it is good to read about enterprise in pretty stagnant industries.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of great information. It in many ways, felt like a biography of Neelson, rather than a book about jetBlue. It was well written and interesting but felt a bit bias toward how awesome jetBlue is and how well their company works.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written book, easy to read and get into. I gave it three stars because I had to read it to write a paper on it for a class; books are always much more fun when it's your initiative for reading it.

[Steven Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11727679

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer for those of us who know absolutely nothing about JetBlue. The book is a quick and easy read but really drags in the lengthy chapter about new hire flight attendants.