Don Uselmann has been appointed vice president, inflight experience. He will report to Ed Baklor, JetBlue’s head of customer care and programs. In this role he will lead and support JetBlue’s best-in-class inflight team, ensuring new and current crewmembers have the tools and training to safely deliver and advance JetBlue’s award-winning hospitality onboard every flight.
Since joining JetBlue in 2006, Uselmann has served in a variety of roles across sales, marketing, business development, customer experience, and operations, including as director, JFK airport operations. Uselmann most recently served as vice president, loyalty, personalization, and marketing communications, where he led the continued evolution of the TrueBlue loyalty program and co-branded credit card portfolio. Previously, he was a leader in some of JetBlue’s highest-profile innovations, including the development of Even More Space products, the refresh of JetBlue’s aircraft interiors and onboard products, the creation of Mint, the design of self-tagging airport lobbies, and the launch of Fly-Fi broadband.
“We are very excited to welcome Don to inflight. Since joining JetBlue in 2006, Don has developed a deep understanding of the customer journey and his focus on delivering powerful human interactions is noticeable throughout his own journey with JetBlue,” said Ed Baklor, JetBlue’s head of customer care and programs. “After meeting him several years ago while he was leading JetBlue’s JFK airport operation, I knew immediately that he was a great leader by how involved he was with his crewmembers, active in the operation, and always working on new ways to drive a better customer and crewmember experience.”
Uselmann added, “The JetBlue Experience truly comes to life through our culture and our incredible people, particularly while customers are in flight. I am thrilled to be joining our team of more than 6,000 award-winning inflight crewmembers as we aspire to deliver exceptional experiences to each and every customer on each and every flight.”
As JetBlue executes a plan to enhance the value of its loyalty program and deliver more benefits to its loyal customer base, Chris Buckner has been promoted to the role of vice president, loyalty programs and partnerships. Buckner will be responsible for continuing to evolve TrueBlue, JetBlue’s award-winning loyalty program, and evolve JetBlue’s co-branded credit card portfolio.
Buckner joined JetBlue in 2020 as director, customer loyalty and partnerships where he’s played a key role in rolling out enhanced TrueBlue benefits, including Mosaic and the launch of JetBlue’ Mosaic+ in 2021. Before joining JetBlue, Buckner spent 16 years in commercial roles across the aviation industry.
“This role is strategically important to JetBlue’s success as we work to better know our customers and deliver the experiences and interactions they want,” said Jayne O’Brien, head of marketing and loyalty. “With Chris’ experience in aviation, he brings an invaluable wealth of industry knowledge with him that will benefit our customers and JetBlue. He’s been an incredible leader since joining the team and is the natural choice to help us continue building on the success of our loyalty team.”
Buckner added, “Since joining the team, we have developed an ambitious roadmap that will redefine the loyalty space for our customers and for JetBlue. I look forward to bringing this plan to life over the coming months and years.”
