Robin Hayes answered questions from students, faculty, staff and the public at Quinnipiac University’s fireside chat Tuesday.
How to write a complaint letter. That’s what JetBlue’s CEO said is his number one consumer tip for travelers, when asked by NBC CT Responds Consumer Reporter Caitlin Burchill.
Perhaps a surprising answer, but the more he explained his reasoning, it made sense.
“So, when you’re the CEO, you get a lot of complaints and that’s fine, it goes with the territory. And, most people don’t know how to write a complaint letter. If you want something done because you are unhappy and you want to get it in front of busy people, first, make it really short. You know, people write long letters because they think if they write another thing, but actually, you’re only as strong as your strongest argument,” he said.
Our NBC CT Responds team agrees that it’s great when consumers submit short, concise complaints.
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Brief and to-the-point explanations make our jobs a lot easier when we have hundreds of emails to comb through a week.
We can always ask for the additional details we need later.
The CEO’s second complaint letter tip is don’t write that you’ll never fly or work with the company you’re upset with again. He said it’s not a good incentive.
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Instead, he said to write that you’re willing to give the business another go, if the company can make it right for you, the consumer.
Hayes never flew on a plane until he was 18 years old. He got into the industry first by selling duty-free items at Logan Airport in Boston.
Now he leads the sixth-largest airline in the nation, which he hopes to make even bigger by buying Spirit Airlines.
But earlier this year, the Justice Department sued to block JetBlue’s proposed acquisition of Spirit, arguing that travelers would face higher fares and have fewer options.
Hayes addressed the holdup at Quinnipiac University’s fireside chat. He’ll have to testify about it in a hearing soon, but said he disagrees with the Justice Department.
He’s adamant that consolidation in the airline industry among smaller airlines is a more sustainable model to keep up with the four big airlines and it would have a better impact on consumers’ wallets.
