JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORPORATION: NAVIGATING TURBULENCE
WITH STEADFAST EVOLUTION CASE STUDY SOLUTION
e
pl
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Sa
SYNOPSIS
In February 2024, Joanna Geraghty became the first female chief executive officer (CEO) of JetBlue
Airways Corporation amid challenging financial conditions. Facing significant losses and fierce
n
competition from industry giants, her key challenge was to navigate JetBlue’s path to stability and success
tio
in a male-dominated industry. Hindered by a failed bid to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc. (Spirit) and by pressure
from activist investor Carl Icahn, Geraghty was tasked with improving JetBlue’s reliability and cost control
to ensure stability and success in a competitive industry. Yet, the question lingered: how would she navigate
lu
these challenges to succeed?
So
OBJECTIVES
• Understand the competitive landscape of the airline industry.
• Evaluate the impact of operational inefficiencies on the profitability of a business (airline).
• Examine the role of stakeholder (investor) management in implementing strategies within the airline
industry.
• Discuss the implications of failed acquisition attempts and other external factors on the strategic
direction of an airline company.
• Develop strategies and recommendations for addressing financial and operational challenges faced by
an airline company.
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
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pl
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ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
Sa
1a. Goal Setting: What does it mean for the Hurricanes to be fun and relevant?
1b. Would the Whalers brand help achieve these goals?
2. Do brands need to care what non-consumers (even brand haters) think?
3a. Does the Hurricanes brand need an overhaul?
3b. Should the Whalers brand be part of the Hurricanes brand revitalization?
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4. What kind of customer experience is important?
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5. What should the Hurricanes do? Should they make use of the Whalers brand? If so, how? What other
recommendations would you make?
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
,ANALYSIS
1a. Goal Setting: What does it mean for the Hurricanes to be fun and relevant?
It may help make the challenge that Forman faces more real to begin this discussion by displaying a
photograph of a mostly empty PNC arena at the time of the case. The photograph makes the importance of
Forman’s task clear:
• “Seven-Photo Panorama of PNC Arena During the Game.” Reddit. Accessed May 20, 2024.
https://www.reddit.com/r/raleigh/comments/9sfede/sevenphoto_panorama_of_pnc_arena_during_the/
#lightbox.
One critically important discussion pasture is to consider Dundon’s challenge to the organization: “Make
the Hurricanes relevant and fun,” and how this challenge could be translated into business metrics. One
way to approach this is to challenge students to develop an objective (in the OKR sense of the word) related
e
to each of ‘relevant’ and ‘fun.’ Students should then develop three to five key results for each objective.
Objectives are motivational statements that are not quantified. Key results are measurable performance
pl
indicators often making use of business metrics (see Stanko and Fleming 2022 for more detail). For
instance, whereas ‘Be the hockey team fans are talking about’ is an objective, “increase unpaid social media
m
mentions by 30 per cent this quarter” is a key result. Have students work in small groups and take 10
minutes to develop OKRs which need to be written on a sheet of paper and submitted at the end of the 10
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, e
pl
m
5. What should the Hurricanes do? Should they make use of the Whalers brand? If so, how? What
Sa
other recommendations do you have?
Try to nurture a respectful debate between students who believe that the Whalers brand is an unnecessary
distraction and those who believe it can help the Hurricanes. ask students
whether Forman should consider investing in a formal market research study to examine Hurricane fans’
n
likely response to the Whalers brand.
tio
It may prove helpful to step back from the discussion of whether to use the Whalers identity to discuss the
steps needed to improve the Hurricanes core brand. Some of the associations we know from the case that
lu
the organization would like to nurture include:
• Community oriented
So
•
•
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
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pl
m
Sa
n
tio
EXHIBIT -2: RECENT HURRICANES PERFORMANCE
Avg. Attendance
Season Win % Playoffs Coach
lu
Attendance Rank
2017–18 .506 Out of playoffs Peters 13,321 29/31
2018–19 .604 Lost in third round Brind’Amour 14,322 28/31
So
2019–20 .596 Lost in first round Brind’Amour 16,795 23/31
2020–21 .
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
WITH STEADFAST EVOLUTION CASE STUDY SOLUTION
e
pl
m
Sa
SYNOPSIS
In February 2024, Joanna Geraghty became the first female chief executive officer (CEO) of JetBlue
Airways Corporation amid challenging financial conditions. Facing significant losses and fierce
n
competition from industry giants, her key challenge was to navigate JetBlue’s path to stability and success
tio
in a male-dominated industry. Hindered by a failed bid to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc. (Spirit) and by pressure
from activist investor Carl Icahn, Geraghty was tasked with improving JetBlue’s reliability and cost control
to ensure stability and success in a competitive industry. Yet, the question lingered: how would she navigate
lu
these challenges to succeed?
So
OBJECTIVES
• Understand the competitive landscape of the airline industry.
• Evaluate the impact of operational inefficiencies on the profitability of a business (airline).
• Examine the role of stakeholder (investor) management in implementing strategies within the airline
industry.
• Discuss the implications of failed acquisition attempts and other external factors on the strategic
direction of an airline company.
• Develop strategies and recommendations for addressing financial and operational challenges faced by
an airline company.
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, e
pl
m
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
Sa
1a. Goal Setting: What does it mean for the Hurricanes to be fun and relevant?
1b. Would the Whalers brand help achieve these goals?
2. Do brands need to care what non-consumers (even brand haters) think?
3a. Does the Hurricanes brand need an overhaul?
3b. Should the Whalers brand be part of the Hurricanes brand revitalization?
n
4. What kind of customer experience is important?
tio
5. What should the Hurricanes do? Should they make use of the Whalers brand? If so, how? What other
recommendations would you make?
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
,ANALYSIS
1a. Goal Setting: What does it mean for the Hurricanes to be fun and relevant?
It may help make the challenge that Forman faces more real to begin this discussion by displaying a
photograph of a mostly empty PNC arena at the time of the case. The photograph makes the importance of
Forman’s task clear:
• “Seven-Photo Panorama of PNC Arena During the Game.” Reddit. Accessed May 20, 2024.
https://www.reddit.com/r/raleigh/comments/9sfede/sevenphoto_panorama_of_pnc_arena_during_the/
#lightbox.
One critically important discussion pasture is to consider Dundon’s challenge to the organization: “Make
the Hurricanes relevant and fun,” and how this challenge could be translated into business metrics. One
way to approach this is to challenge students to develop an objective (in the OKR sense of the word) related
e
to each of ‘relevant’ and ‘fun.’ Students should then develop three to five key results for each objective.
Objectives are motivational statements that are not quantified. Key results are measurable performance
pl
indicators often making use of business metrics (see Stanko and Fleming 2022 for more detail). For
instance, whereas ‘Be the hockey team fans are talking about’ is an objective, “increase unpaid social media
m
mentions by 30 per cent this quarter” is a key result. Have students work in small groups and take 10
minutes to develop OKRs which need to be written on a sheet of paper and submitted at the end of the 10
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, e
pl
m
5. What should the Hurricanes do? Should they make use of the Whalers brand? If so, how? What
Sa
other recommendations do you have?
Try to nurture a respectful debate between students who believe that the Whalers brand is an unnecessary
distraction and those who believe it can help the Hurricanes. ask students
whether Forman should consider investing in a formal market research study to examine Hurricane fans’
n
likely response to the Whalers brand.
tio
It may prove helpful to step back from the discussion of whether to use the Whalers identity to discuss the
steps needed to improve the Hurricanes core brand. Some of the associations we know from the case that
lu
the organization would like to nurture include:
• Community oriented
So
•
•
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, e
pl
m
Sa
n
tio
EXHIBIT -2: RECENT HURRICANES PERFORMANCE
Avg. Attendance
Season Win % Playoffs Coach
lu
Attendance Rank
2017–18 .506 Out of playoffs Peters 13,321 29/31
2018–19 .604 Lost in third round Brind’Amour 14,322 28/31
So
2019–20 .596 Lost in first round Brind’Amour 16,795 23/31
2020–21 .
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
