INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business
INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business
INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business
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INNOVATOR<br />
PHOTO BY FRANK AYMAMI<br />
Kenneth Purcell, founder and CEO of iSeatz, has added On My Way to his Web-based travel assistance system, which helps travelers make plans when affected by flight delays or other travel disruptions.<br />
On My Way — iSeatz<br />
Key innovation: On My Way, a travel assistance service<br />
offered on Air Canada’s Web site for customers affected<br />
by flight delays or travel disruptions.<br />
Biggest client: Northwest Airlines<br />
Where they’re based: <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and <strong>New</strong> York<br />
Top executive: Kenneth Purcell, founder and CEO<br />
Year introduced: 1999<br />
2007 sales: $8 million<br />
VALENTINE’S DAY 2007 was not very romantic for<br />
JetBlue customers in <strong>New</strong> York. An ice storm gripped the<br />
Northeast that day and most airlines cancelled flights and<br />
sent passengers home. But JetBlue thought the weather<br />
would break. People who were already on planes sat for<br />
hours.<br />
One of those passengers was Kenneth Purcell. “I had a<br />
new puppy on my lap,” he said. “Then the power on the<br />
plane went out, and all the TVs went off.” From this experience<br />
was born a concept called On My Way, a travel<br />
assistance service for customers.<br />
“If you have a ticket and your flight gets delayed, some<br />
people feel entitled to some kind of accommodation, and<br />
they are really not,” Purcell said. “Air Canada wanted to<br />
enhance their service. They had a concept but no way to<br />
execute it. With On My Way, customers can add insurance<br />
to their plane ticket, which enables you to get a hotel<br />
or rental car, meal vouchers and ground transportation to<br />
the hotel.”<br />
Purcell created a Web site called iSeatz in 1999, which<br />
allowed visitors to make restaurant reservations online.<br />
He soon realized that he needed to go further with his<br />
idea.<br />
“We realized that just doing restaurant reservations is a<br />
hard way to make a living. We had to get profitable. The<br />
cost of building our own brand would cost millions of dollars.<br />
But we could power other people’s Web sites, and we<br />
began to expand to the hotel and rental car business.”<br />
And expand they have. In 2007, iSeatz had more than<br />
$8 million in revenue. This year, it is expected to go up to<br />
$40 million. iSeatz now has clients such as Northwest<br />
and Delta Airlines and is about to go international this<br />
year, which will involve the complexity of multiple languages<br />
and different types of currency.<br />
Purcell’s team consists of executives who previously<br />
worked for companies such as Hotels.com, Expedia and<br />
Delta Airlines.<br />
“We are improving upon the deficiencies of other<br />
companies. We’re more efficient and make decisions<br />
quickly and effectively.”<br />
After Hurricane Katrina, Purcell moved his operation<br />
to <strong>New</strong> York.<br />
“My goal by the end of the second quarter next year is<br />
to have all of my people back in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>,” he said. “I<br />
am thrilled to be home.”•<br />
— Lisa Bacques<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> 27A