Boston Herald Story   Faith, Flight Plan Guide JetBlue Boss: Other CEOs Need His Humility 

  By Jeff Benedict   Monday, March 5, 2007 

   JetBlue Airways recently made headlines

 after the worst operations breakdown in its

 seven-year history led to more than 1,000 canceled

  flights. There's been just as much good news about

 the way chief executive David Neeleman responded

 to the crisis - by bending over backward to admit 

failure, accept responsibility, apologize and 

compensate customers for  their inconvenience.   

 Everyone from public relations experts to aviation 

analysts is  praising Neeleman for doing things that

 are largely unheard of in corporate  America.    

While many chief executives would have ducked for

 cover or dispatched  a spokesman, Neeleman appeared 

on David Letterman's show and said, "I'm  not making 

excuses. We made a mistake. We put our crew members 

and our  customers through hell, and we have 

solutions for this."    The next morning he appeared 

on national news shows, apologized  profusely and 

unveiled a Customer Bill of Rights guaranteeing 

compensation to passengers whose flights were 

canceled. He admitted being "mortified  and 

humiliated."    Humility doesn't come easy to chief

 executives, as we know from  recent corporate 

scandals. This is where Neeleman's Mormon faith comes 

into  play.    The Church of Jesus Christ of 

Latter-day Saints expects its members  to serve in 

lay ministry positions typically held by paid clergy.

 There's  no exception for chief executives. Neeleman

 spends 10 to 15 hours per week working directly with

 individuals who have made mistakes and are  seeking 

redemption. That experience gives him a feel for what

 it's like to be  on the wrong side of trouble.   

 The result is a chief executive who doesn't let 

pride prevent him  from publicly admitting mistakes 

and asking forgiveness. It also explains  his habit

 of frequently serving as a flight attendant or a

 baggage handler  for his company's flights.    

Neeleman is one of a handful of Mormons who have 

reached the pinnacle  of the business world, and all

 behave much differently from the average  chief 

executive. Two years ago I began interviewing him 

and several others  who share his faith for a book 

about how their religion influences their approach

 to business.    Like the others, Neeleman has 

benefited from good parents, a strong  work ethic, 

honesty, smarts and timing. But those qualities 

aren't unique to Mormons. What is unique, besides 

lay ministry, is that Mormon men are expected at 

age 19 to spend two years in a full-time unpaid 

service  mission.    Neeleman spent his mission 

in the slums of Brazil, where he learned  to speak

 Portuguese. He also learned what it feels like to 

serve people  who are less fortunate. This was a key

 influence on Neeleman's decision to  create JetBlue

 [ JBLU] on the premise of making customers king.   

 Another important aspect of Mormonism is tithing, 

a commandment that requires church members to give up

 10 percent of gross earnings. This  is a great 

insulator against greed, which has been the downfall

 of  executives at Tyco, Enron, WorldCom and other

 companies.    Tithing also conditions people to be 

driven by things besides wealth.  So it was a simple

 reflex for Neeleman to make his Customer Bill of

 Rights retroactive to cover all passengers 

inconvenienced in last month's  storm - a decision 

that cost his company approximately $30 million.   

 JetBlue is led by a guy, conditioned by Mormonism,

 who isn't driven  by money. Just look at his salary: 

He earns $200,000 annually. It gets  more unusual.

 Neeleman donates his entire salary to a catastrophic

 fund  that's been set up for JetBlue workers who 

fall on hard times. Not every board chairman can 

afford this level of charity, but giving up any

 income to  fund an employee benefit is virtually 

unheard of in a world where most chief executives 

make many times Neeleman's salary.    It may be 

unreasonable to expect a chief executive who isn't

 spending  many hours a week ministering to act this 

selflessly. But anyone can ask the question that

 Neeleman asked himself when this crisis struck: 

What is  the right thing to do?   Marcia Matz-- I say Kudos!! from Sister Matz LDS sister