Reaction to JetBlue statement on 8-1 vote

About JetBlue’s Senior Vice President Rob Land's comment in today’s Press- Telegram

We love JetBlue, but...

One of the things quite evident from the January 24th Long Beach City Council Meeting that was devoted entirely to the international airport issue was that Long Beach leaders and residents love their airport and flying JetBlue.  Their love for the airline is not just because JetBlue is part of the LB Airport family, but as Mayor Garcia and some of the councilmembers emphasized several times during the meeting, JetBlue has outstanding employees and those employees obviously love their work.

However, when it comes to JetBlue’s New York-based corporate leaders, many residents, and dare we say some city leaders too, often view them as corporate bullies.  Using its long-time near monopoly at our airport seems to have empowered JetBlue’s corporate caviler attitude toward Long Beach in numerous areas. First their push for a huge airport expansion. Then came its rotation of flight slots causing fiscal hardships for our remodeled "right-sized" airport. Next is the company’s ongoing unwillingness to even acknowledge the constant late-night flights that violate the LB Noise Ordinance. All of this came well before the company’s latest push to impose its business model on Long Beach its need for what amounted to a private international terminal- by not a simple ask, but what felt to many like an entitlement demand.

Need more proof?  One has to look no further than the statement from JetBlue’s Senior Vice President Rob Land in today’s Press-Telegram.  In that paper’s story on last night’s City Council airport vote, the following was reported:

“In a statement after the vote, Rob Land, senior vice president of government affairs for JetBlue, said “We are profoundly disappointed that after years of delay and a city-mandated study validating the safety, security and economic positive nature of the project, that the city council would reject the development of a Federal Inspection Station at Long Beach Airport,” he said. “JetBlue will evaluate its future plans for Long Beach, the greater Los Angeles area and California.” *

To be blunt, Mr. Land’s comment is insulting and condescending to ALL of the Long Beach community.

Delay Mr. Land?

As almost all of the City Council stated last night, a "process" was followed to allow a complete study of all the issues surrounding the request by JetBlue.  Plus, as Mayor Garcia pointed out during the December 2016 City Council Study Session on the Jacobs’ Study and last night, he and the council were committed to an open and transparent process. All anyone has to do is compare Mayor Garcia and the current council's handling of this airport issue with the former experience and process over the remodeling of the Long Beach Airport.  Residents remember the hours spent sitting in the city council, not because everyone was given an opportunity to speak as has been the case with the FIS meetings, but because more often than not the airport item was placed at the end of a very long agenda.  Does anyone remember any time in this city’s history that ONE WHOLE NIGHT was ever devoted to just an airport-related issue?

And while Mr. Land shares his disappointment in the process of democracy, he obviously does not understand our community is disappointed in him. 

So Mr. Land, let us be clear about disappointment:

We are disappointed that as residents we have been attacked for owning property near an airport, an airport that when your company came here YOU knew what type of airport you were locating to – a small municipal airport with a historic terminal.

We are disappointed that after our community built your company an award-winning airport, you were not satisfied.

We are disappointed that after giving you nearly exclusive use of an award-winning airport, your company rotated your flight slots causing economic hardship for our airport.

We are disappointed that despite not flying all your slots when more slots were available your company asked for all the new slots too.

We are disappointed that your business model makes it necessary to constantly fly late into our airport. We understand why JetBlue does not fly into Orange County. Your current business model of late flights would result in JetBlue planes NOT being allowed to land after John Wayne’s curfew causing your planes to be diverted and therefore your passengers inconvenienced- almost on a nightly basis.

We are disappointed that while you hide behind creating local jobs, you purchase aircraft from a foreign maker instead of Long Beach-associated Boeing aircraft.

We are disappointed that you are not thankful that our city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to do a study on a request your company made and our airport staff, city staff, Mayor, and council representatives ALL spent countless hours processing your request, while our airport impacted neighbors spent two years stressed out and worried over what your company’s plans would bring.

We are disappointed that residents and community leaders also had to spend countless hours dealing with your company’s request. How? We attended long community and council meetings, watched power points, read a 600-plus-page report, spent the holidays organizing our neighbors, walked door-to-door to pass out thousands of flyers, made countless phone calls, and dealt with your request daily on social media.

We are disappointed your request was the cause of literally pushing one of our elected officials into public tears.

And yes Mr. Land, we are disappointed with your reaction to democracy. Your comment “JetBlue will evaluate its future plans for Long Beach, the greater Los Angeles area, and California”   sounds like you're telling us you are taking your ball and leaving. Leaving, Long Beach, leaving, L.A., and leaving California.

Really? That Mr. Land sounds like just plan corporate bullying.  After disappointing so many in Long Beach, you now say you are willing to go further and disappoint your customers, employees, and shareholders.

Perhaps Mr. Land you should take a page from your loyal employees who daily live up to JetBlue’s corporate pledge of “inspiring humanity” and bring some of that humanity to your corporate office and relationships with our city’s leaders, residents and loyal customers who despite the many disappointments spent hours on a Tuesday night telling you-while you can’t have everything you want at the Long Beach Airport, we still like the idea of JetBlue being here.

See the Press Telegram story: City won’t allow international travel at Long Beach Airport; JetBlue to ‘evaluate’ plans here

Click on: MR LAND