*Disclaimer: I actually wrote this a month or two ago, and decided to post it today, before learning of the credit card fraud charges brought against 4 JetBlue employees (for more information see here. I honestly don't believe it changes my post any, as a company is not responsible for the actions of the employee unless they are performing duties for the company at the time the offense occurs. In this case, assuming the employees are guilty (which, at the time of writing has yet to be determined), the crimes of purchasing on the stolen credit cards most likely occurred while the employees were off-the-clock.
Now that that's out of the way, on with the entry!
I’ve always held that when you make a mistake it is extremely important to own up to it and apologize and then work to correct whatever problems caused the mistake (and problems caused by the mistake). Thus I was extremely impressed by the response of David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airlines, after their Valentine’s Day fiasco. But what happens when a company doesn’t respond that way to their mistakes? I came across an article that compares recent foul-ups of two major airlines and their subsequent responses. Reading this article helped illustrate the importance of owning up to and correcting mistakes.
http://www2.richmond.com/business/output.aspx?Article_ID=4607255&Vertical_ID=127&tier=1&position=3