JetBlue quietly helps family with burned baby

adamThis is Adam James Faust, a 14-month-old boy from the Washington area. One day, Adam and one of his siblings got into a bathtub with their clothes on to play. The hot water got turned on and Adam suffered serious burns on 65 percent of his body, according to his parents’ blog.

It’s a tragic accident that required three months of painful treatment in Boston, 440 miles away. Enter JetBlue and one of the most extraordinary examples of corporate kindness I’ve ever seen.

The Fausts explain on their site:

We experienced a real miracle earlier today. When we started this whole process almost one month ago, JetBlue Airways ran a one-day sale. For one set price, JetBlue offered unlimited flying for 30 days. We jumped on the offer knowing we would be traveling between DC and Boston frequently during this time. We talked at length with the JetBlue agent, explaining our situation to her, while we were trying to figure out our best options to navigate this time.

This afternoon, this same JetBlue agent, a kindly woman named Cheyenne, called us here in Boston. She said she was so touched by Adam’s story, and what he had to experience, she wanted to help us any way she could. On behalf of JetBlue, she offered us eight free flight vouchers from JetBlue.

I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!!!!

There is so much goodness in this life. Many people who care and want to give and help. Show love in anyway they can. So many people have reached out to us during these weeks. Sometimes, John and I look at each other in disbelief. We know we have lots of great friends and family. We are just seeing how truly great you all are.

Thank you JetBlue and thanks to all of you!

This is a remarkable story, because JetBlue did it outside the glare of the media spotlight. It wasn’t some corporate donation — you know, the kind where an executive stands on stage with one of those oversize checks — but rather, it appears to have been done quietly, with no thought of getting credit.

I’m really impressed.

I’m a little confused, too. I mean, here’s an airline that has brought us some of the worst moments in recent commercial aviation, from tarmac strandings to the mistreatment of grandmothers. And yet, it has also brought us some of the best moments in commercial aviation. Like this one.

Maybe some of the concerns I have about JetBlue’s inconsistency will be addressed soon. I’ve asked to interview its head of customer service, a request that appears to still be under consideration by its public relations department.

Stay tuned for the answers.

  • Kristin Zern

    This doesn’t surprise me at all. I think that jetBlue is extraordinary in the sense that they have a loyal following (me included) because their employees really are nice people. I have never seen a pasted smile. I have had some incredible experiences, especially with pilots and co pilots who have gone way beyond what pilots usually do. Like making sure my daughter in LA got her house and car keys back that we inadvertently took with us through security at Long Beach. A pilot on the way home willingly took on the chore of making sure she got her keys. Another time, I left an new expensive jacket at a restaurant at Las Vegas airport. I wasn’t allowed to leave the plane because of security regulations, so the co-pilot volunteered to go to the restaurant and retrieve it on my behalf. Now neither of these experiences are anywhere near the magnitude of helping a young family going through the horrors of burn treatments for their toddler, but does express jetBlue’s staffs willingness to go beyond the norm in terms of solving human problems.

    I easily forgive jetBlue for their mistakes such as the tarmac incident at JFK. They learn from their mistakes unlike some other airlines.

  • John

    Nice story. The power of one person on the phone stepping up and making something happen. I think it says good things about JetBlue –doing this quietly and making it possible for the phone agent to accomplish this kind act within the system.

  • Mike

    A small thing like this, reported in this blog where it is reasonably confirmed and thus accurate, goes a very long way toward making up for stranding people for hours on a taxi-way, at least in my mind it does. A balanced approach is the best way.

  • http://www.coloncleanseusa.com Andrea

    That is a nice gesture, especially if it was done out of the public eye, like you mentioned.

  • Chris in NC

    Chris, thanks for posting this story. It pains me to see JetBlue being lumped with the so called “legacy” carriers as a “bad airline.” My experience is that JetBlue is much better run than most “legacy” carriers. The problem with ratings and reporting is that every business, no matter how well they “do the right thing” will always have hiccups. In the event of JetBlue’s JFK tarmac incident, how often does it happen to the “legacy” carriers? It happens SO often that it doesn’t even make news (NW @ DTW, AA @ DFW, USAir’s meltdown at PHL a few years ago) Its interesting when you look at reviews of hotels, every hotel, no matter if its a Motel 6, Days Inn or Four Seasons, has someone blast the hotel for any number of reasons (ie service not up to par, not worth money paid) JetBlue and Southwest are much better run than the “legacy” carriers. Pure and simple.

  • Les Wilder

    Credit where due: JetBlue came through for us when we had to cancel travel plans in the wake of serious (as in “serious as a heart attack”) health problems. As Mr. Elliott advises, a polite note to customer service yielded a helpful and generous response.

    Had we been caught in one of those tarmac nightmares I might still be snapping and snarling but our experiences have been good. In fact, on our last trip JetBlue got us back to our West Coast destination a full hour early. No complaints.

  • Saint Joe

    “A pilot on the way home willingly took on the chore of making sure she got her keys.”

    You gave a stranger the keys to your daughter’s house and car??

  • http://www.travel-writers-exchange.com Trisha

    ANY company, large or small, is only as good as their front-line employees, those that deal directly with the public and their customers.

    And as we all know there are bad people, good people, and great people everywhere. Sometimes a company, no matter how hard it tries, cannot keep the bad people from giving it a bad name. All they can do is try to isolate the bad ones, encourage the good ones, and promote the great ones.

    I believe that JetBlue has a really good executive team in place as well as some great corporate philosophies and practices. Those of us in the media would do well to keep all of this in mind, and use good judgement when reporting on incidents – good or bad.

    This is one of the great ones.

  • Ronda

    glad to see that airlines still have some morals. i’m even more gladder to see that they did it “out of the kindness of they’re heart” i hope the little kid has a full recovery.

  • Rob

    Just… wow.

    I wish Adam and his family the best.

  • http://www.cccostarica.com/jaco-beach/ Jaco Beach

    Good and bad moments from Jetblue, but the truth is that it all depends on the employees, I mean, you can´t judge a whole corporation because a few employees made some pretty bad msitakes and you can´t also say it is the best company because someone got his heart touched, just my humble opinion on your post, thanks for sharing !

  • http://Elliott.org/blog Vincent Acosta

    I am not surprised by Jetblue’s generosity. I have flown them several times since the their first flight to FL. You can feel that they are a special bunch of people when you board their planes.

  • AirlinePilotGuy

    ” Saint Joe September 17, 2009 at 1:28 pm
    “A pilot on the way home willingly took on the chore of making sure she got her keys.”

    You gave a stranger the keys to your daughter’s house and car??”

    You trust us with your lives when you get on our airplanes and buckle in. You can trust us with your keys too. ;-)

  • http://ELLIOTT Heidi Coagan

    BRAVO to the airlinepilotguy. Yes indeed, we trust you all with our lives and for 60 years I have had no complaints. You take your jobs seriously and excel in what you do. God bless to the Faust family and a big Thank you to JetBlue
    for showing the best during a harrowing time.

  • http://www.worldtraveler.biz Preston Smith

    It breaks my heart to see that pic–and it’s fantastic that Jet Blue is helping the family.

    Another Bravo for JetBlue.