Get Four
Free Issues

Subscribe to BW
Customer Service


Full Table of Contents
 Cover Story
Up Front
The Great Innovators
Readers Report
Corrections & Clarifications
Books
Technology & You
Economic Viewpoint
Business Outlook
News: Analysis & Commentary



In Biz This Week
Washington Outlook
Asian Business
European Business
The Corporation
Information Technology
Design
People
Finance
Sports Biz
Developments To Watch
Marketing
Economics
Personal Business -- Gift Guide
Footnotes
The Barker Portfolio
Inside Wall Street
Figures Of The Week
Editorials


INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS
International -- Readers Report
International -- International Outlook
International -- Finance
International -- Int'l Figures Of The Week
ONLINE FEATURES Book Reviews BW Video Columnists Interactive Gallery Newsletters Past Covers Philanthropy Podcasts Special Reports BLOGS Auto Beat Bangalore Tigers Blogspotting Brand New Day Byte of the Apple Economics Unbound Eye on Asia Fine On Media Green Biz Hot Property Investing Insights Management IQ NEXT: Innovation NussbaumOnDesign Tech Beat Working Parents TECHNOLOGY J.D. Power Ratings Product Reviews Tech Stats Wildstrom: Tech Maven AUTOS Home Page Auto Reviews Classic Cars Car Care & Safety Hybrids INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads


DECEMBER 6, 2004
 
By James E. Ellis


  STORY TOOLS
Printer-Friendly Version
E-Mail This Story

Related Items
BOOKS

 Comic Geniuses

Fast Takeoff

The BusinessWeek Best-Seller List (.pdf)

The BusinessWeek Best-Seller List
BOOKS

Fast Takeoff

BLUE STREAK
Inside JetBlue, the Upstart
That Rocked an Industry
By Barbara S. Peterson
Portfolio -- 262pp -- $24.95
The most interesting character in Blue Streak: Inside JetBlue, the Upstart That Rocked an Industry isn't mentioned much. The book zeroes in on JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU ) founder and media darling David G. Neeleman. But Neeleman rarely escapes the shadow of Southwest Airlines Co.'s (LUV ) Herbert D. Kelleher. Herb breezes into this narrative infrequently, each time stealing the show. Kelleher, who fired Neeleman in 1994, months after buying Neeleman's former airline, Morris Air Corp., is a hard-drinking, high-living Texan who has outfoxed -- and out-earned -- the major carriers for a quarter century.


Blue Streak author Barbara S. Peterson, a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler, paints Neeleman as a man-who-would-be-Herb. He's part shrewd entrepreneur, part customer advocate -- Neeleman aims to "bring humanity back to air travel," she writes -- and part human sponge. The managers Neeleman assembles to build JetBlue are drawn primarily from Southwest and Britain's Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. Like cost-obsessed Southwest, JetBlue started with a single type of plane, treated employees well, and stressed quick-turnaround, point-to-point service. And like Virgin, JetBlue used buzz and hip marketing to present the flying experience as much more than simply getting from Point A to Point B.

Too often, Peterson seems to have "drunk the blue Kool-Aid," the phrase JetBlue insiders apply to true believers in the carrier. For example, she once describes Neeleman -- a squeaky-clean Mormon father of nine -- as "young, fit, an advertisement for clean living." But readers escape sugar shock when Peterson moves beyond personalities to detail how Neeleman crafted more of a branded travel experience than an airline. For that alone, Neeleman's place in the often-unfriendly skies is secure.


By James E. Ellis
 BW MALL   SPONSORED LINKS
Buy a link now!

Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.XML

Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed.

Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video.

To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here.

Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page
Back to Top


TODAY'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

  1. News Corp.'s Talks with Microsoft: A Flawed Deal?
  2. Stocks Fall after GDP Revision
  3. America's Best Place to Raise Your Kids
  4. Apple's Schiller Defends iPhone App Approval Process
  5. Social Media Will Change Your Business

Get Free RSS Feed >>
  MARKET INFO
DJIA 10433.71 -17.24
S&P 500 1105.65 -0.59
Nasdaq 2169.18 -6.83

Portfolio Service Update

Stock Lookup

Enter name or ticker



Copyright 2004, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Notice

Media Kit | Special Sections | MarketPlace | Knowledge Centers
McGraw-Hill Cos.