THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular meeting of June 1, 2001
President Lee Hindenach opened the business meeting with 161 members present.
Current membership is 500, with 19 on the waiting list. New member Dick Monkman
was introduced and welcomed.
Announcements: President Hindenach reported that all was well health wise. He also
mentioned that all SMC information can be found at the smcnc.org web site, which is
also accessible via a link from the newcanaanymca.org web site. Jim Biggs announced
the Connecticut Choraliers would be performing Broadway Show Stoppers on June 16 and
17, at the Darien Town Hall, at 8 pm and 4 pm respectively. Jim Schlumpf is looking
for the missing persons to complete his photo shoot.
Activities: Bowling is officially finished for the season. Bridge and Racquetball
continue. Tennis had a healthy 30 players and more are welcome. The June 4F's luncheon
will be hosted at the Stamford Yacht Club. A golf outing is planned for June 19th, at
the Redding Country Club. Fee is $65. Cautiously moving snails were advised!
Couth: 6/13 Trailblazers next challenge will be at Devils Den. 6/20 to Goodspeed
Opera House is full. 7/28 the annual Jazz Festival will be at the Connecticut Fairgrounds.
Bluefish baseball for all the family is planned for a Sunday in August. Stay tuned!
The October 23-25, Washington, D.C. trip has three openings.
Jester: John Berg warned of the dangers to those whose fantasies take them in
close proximity to porches.
SPEAKER:
Vice President Ron Seger, introduced David Neeleman, CEO, Jet Blue Airways. He is a resident
of New Canaan, has nine children, "one wife" and emphasized his religious conviction. Mr.
Neeleman spoke of his successes as well as his first business failure. He began his successful
career in the airline industry with his first startup Morris Air where he introduced E-ticketing.
Morris Air was subsequently acquired by Southwest Airlines. He then joined Southwest's executive
team after signing a five year non-compete agreement. Recognizing that his entrepreneurial
ambition was not being fulfilled he left Southwest after six months and went on to innovate
ticketless travel. His second startup was Jet West Airlines in Canada, followed by Jet Blue
Airways in February 2000. He obtained $130M for his "Mega Startup" to acquire 14 new narrow
body Airbus 320 airplanes. He will add 7 more by year end 2001, and plans to have 123 planes
by 2008. He cited Jet Blue operating costs being 50% of his competitors, with no Union, and
his executive team coming from his competitors. Profits at Jet Blue have grown steadily almost
every month. The success of an airline is the blending of what is important to customer's and
keeping costs down. Airlines have many problems out of their control. However, how they react
to these situations is what counts. He emphasized the need for employees to buy into the Company,
He closed by stating "take care of your employees, who will take care of your customers, who
will take care of your shareholders".
Stan Stanziale, Assistant Secretary