Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Jetblue shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Jetblue offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Jetblue at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Jetblue? Wrong! If the Jetblue is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Jetblue then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Jetblue? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Jetblue and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Jetblue wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Jetblue then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Jetblue site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Jetblue, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Jetblue, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox_Airline |airline=JetBlue Airways|logo=JetBlue Airways Logo.svg|logo_size=200px|fleet_size=132|destinations=56|IATA=B6|ICAO=JBU|callsign=JETBLUE|parent=JetBlue Airways Corporation|founded=
1998, [New York City, USA ([Chairman of the Board)
Russ Chew (President)
David Barger (
Chief executive officer)
John Harvey (
Chief Financial Officer)|hubs=|focus_cities=John F. Kennedy International Airport
Logan International AirportFort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Long Beach AirportOakland International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport [Low-cost carrier owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation (). The company is headquartered in the Forest Hills, Queens neighborhood of the borough of Queens in
New York City. Its home airport is
John F. Kennedy International Airport. JetBlue is a non-
labor union airline.
In 2001, JetBlue began a
focus city operation at Long Beach Airport in Los Angeles County, and another at
Logan International Airport, Boston in 2004. It also has substantial operations at
Oakland International Airport,
Orlando International Airport,
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and at
Washington Dulles International Airport. The airline mainly serves destinations in the United States, along with flights to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and
Mexico.
JetBlue also maintains a corporate office in and a satellite office in .
History
Foundings
Chairman (then-
Chief executive officer)
David Neeleman founded the company in February
1999, under the name "NewAir". Several of JetBlue's executives, including Neeleman, are former Southwest Airlines employees. JetBlue started by following Southwest's approach of offering low-cost travel, but sought to distinguish itself by its amenities, such as in-flight entertainment. In Neeleman's words, JetBlue looks "to bring humanity back to air travel."
In September 1999 the airline was awarded 75 initial take off/landing slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and received formal U.S. authorization in February 2000. It started operations on 11 February 2000.
JetBlue's founders had set out to call the airline "Taxicab" and therefore have a yellow livery to associate the airline with New York. The idea was dropped, however, for several reasons: the negative connotation behind New York City taxis; the ambiguity of the word taxi with regard to air traffic control; and threats from investor
JPMorgan Chase to pull its share ($20 million of the total $128 million) of the airline's initial funding unless the name was changed. The airline's founders also considered making its home base in
Trenton, New Jersey, but this idea did not gain much support. –
Inaugural Flight arrival,
May 4 2006
9/11 aftermath, profitable years
JetBlue was one of only a few U.S. airlines that made a profit during the sharp downturn in airline travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Since its IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2002, JetBlue has become one of the most popular airline stocks in history and currently has about two billion dollars in
market capitalization. Financial results were strong for the airline throughout the 2002–2004 years, and many analysts and journalists lauded the airline for its success. The airline sector responded to JetBlue's market presence by starting mini-rival carriers: Delta Air Lines started
Song (airline), and United Airlines launched another rival called
Ted (airline). Song has since been disbanded and is being reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines, while Ted is still in operation.
In 2002, JetBlue acquired
LiveTV, LLC for $41 million in cash and the retirement of $39 million of LiveTV debt. LiveTV equips JetBlue with 36 channels of live DirecTV satellite TV programming at every airline seat. Two years later, JetBlue announced it would add 100 channels of XM Satellite Radio,
Fox TV programs and
20th Century Fox movies to its in-flight entertainment. The movies are free on flights outside of the U.S. mainland (as DirecTV service is not available), and are available for a small fee on other flights.
JetBlue has not yet attempted to raise money by selling snacks during flights, a move that many larger airlines have made on domestic flights and some international flights. JetBlue has also told customers in commercials and print ads that they "encourage you to use the call button", advertising their devotion to customer service. JetBlue is also noted for its "letter ads", for example: "Dear New York", and ending with "Sincerely, JetBlue".
As the airline continued to make record profits, new planes allowed for additional route opportunities. These included JetBlue's first international service, New York City to the
Dominican Republic, on
June 10,
2004. Additional service to the Bahamas began on
November 1, 2004, and service to
Bermuda began May 4,
2006. Service to
Aruba began
September 15,
2006.
In 2004, JetBlue began flights from New York City's
LaGuardia Airport and added service in 2005 to Newark Liberty International Airport in , thereby serving all three major New York City area airports. Also in 2005, the company added service between JFK and Boston Logan with 10 daily flights using its new 100-seat
Embraer 190 Fixed-wing aircraft. In October 2006 JetBlue announced they would begin service from Stewart International Airport, in Newburgh. Later, the airline announced new service to Westchester County Airport, also known as White Plains, allowing JetBlue access to five of the six New York City area airports
Developments since 2005
In October 2005, JetBlue announced that its quarterly profit had plunged from United States dollar8.1 million to $2.7 million largely due to rising fuel costs. In addition, the airline was struggling with their new aircraft, the Embraer E-Jets. Operational issues, fuel prices, and low fares, JetBlue's hallmark, were bringing its financial performance down. In addition, with higher costs related to the airline's numerous amenities, JetBlue was becoming less competitive.
Regardless, the airline continued to plan for growth. It was announced that 36 new aircraft were scheduled for delivery in the year 2006.
However, trouble was on the horizon. For many years, analysts had predicted that JetBlue's growth rate would become unsustainable. Despite this, the airline continued to add planes and routes to the fleet at a brisk pace. In addition in 2006, the IAM (
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) attempted to unionize JetBlue's "ramp service workers", in a move that was described by JetBlue's COO Dave Barger as "pretty hypocritical", as the IAM opposed JetBlue's creation when it was founded as New Air in 1998. The union organizing petition was dismissed by the National Mediation Board because fewer than 35% of eligible employees supported an election.
In February 2006, JetBlue announced its first ever quarterly loss. For 4th quarter 2005, the airline lost $42.4 million, enough to make them unprofitable for the entire year of 2005. The loss was the airline's first since going public in 2002. JetBlue also reported a loss in the 1st quarter 2006. In addition to that, JetBlue forecast a loss for 2006, citing high fuel prices, operating inefficiency, and fleet costs. During the first quarter report, CEO David Neeleman, President Dave Barger, and CFO John Owen released JetBlue's "Return to Profitability" ("RTP") plan, stating in detail how they would curtail costs and improve revenue to regain profitability. The plan called for $50 million in annual cost cuts and a push to boost revenue by $30 million. JetBlue Airways moved out of the dark during the second quarter of 2006, beating Wall Street expectations by announcing a net profit of $14 million. That result was flat when compared to JetBlue’s results from the same quarter a year ago ($13 million), but it was double Wall Street forecasts of a $7 million profit, Reuters reports. The carrier said cost-cutting and stronger revenue helped it offset higher jet fuel costs. In October 2006, JetBlue announced a net loss of $500,000 for Quarter 3, and a plan to regain that loss by deferring some of their E190 deliveries, and by selling 5 of their A320s.
In December 2006, JetBlue announced another component of the RTP, when they explained the reasoning behind their decision to remove a row of seats off their A320s. The removal of the seats will lighten the aircraft by 904 lbs., and will reduce the inflight crew size from 4 to 3 (per FAA regulation requiring 1 flight attendant per 50 seats), thus offsetting the lost revenue from the removal of seats, and further lightening the aircraft, resulting in less fuel burned. JetBlue Airways Press Release: Taking the JetBlue Experience to New Heights December 14, 2006
In January 2007, JetBlue announced it had returned to profitability with a fourth quarter profit for 2006, reversing a quarterly loss in the year-earlier period. As part of the RTP plan, 2006's full year loss was $1 million compared to 2005's full year loss of $20 million. JetBlue was one of the few major airlines to post a profit in the quarter..On May 10
2007, JetBlue announced Barger's appointment as CEO, who also retains the position of President. Neeleman, who was named non-executive Chairman of the Board, said "This is a natural evolution of our leadership structure as JetBlue continues to grow. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, I will focus on developing JetBlue's long-term vision and strategy, and how we can continue to be a preferred product in a commodity business." JetBlue news release, May 10
2007.]
On July 24,
2007, JetBlue reported that its second-quarter revenue increased to $730 million, compared to $612 in 2006. Second quarter net income grew to $21 million for the quarter, from $14 million the previous year. CEO David Barger said the airline will take delivery of 3 fewer planes this year and will sell 3 planes from their current fleet, "slowing capacity growth...to strengthen our balance sheet and facilitate earnings growth", but will continue to add two to four new destinations each year.
Associated Press,
July 24,
2007.
In July 2007, the airline partnered with 20th Century Fox's film "The Simpsons Movie" to become the "Official Airline of Springfield". In addition a contest was held in which the grand prize would be a trip on jetBlue to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of the film. The airline's website was also redecorated with characters and their favorite JetBlue destinations and the company was taken over by the show/film's greedy businessman villain C. Montgomery Burns. Simpsons and JetBlue
July 17 2007.]
In August 2007, the airline announced the addition of exclusive content from
The New York Times in the form of an in-flight video magazine, conducted by Times' journalists and content from NYTimes.com. Jet Blue Product Placement August 6
2007.]
On October 11, 2007, JetBlue announced expanded service to the Caribbean with service to St. Maarten and Puerto Plata commencing January 10, 2008. With these additional destinations, JetBlue's service expands to a total of eleven Caribbean/Atlantic destinations including Aruba; Bermuda; Cancun; Nassau; Aguadilla, Ponce and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Santiago and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. JetBlue will serve 56 destinations in eight countries this winter.
In 2008, JetBlue, which has its main passenger terminal in Terminal 6 at
John F. Kennedy International Airport, will be moving all operations to the adjacent
TWA Flight Center which has been under renovation by the airline since late 2005.
TrueBlue Membership
TrueBlue is JetBlue's Membership rewards program. JetBlue rewards their loyal customers by providing them with advance notice of special promotions and fare sales, faster and easier booking, and free rewards flights.
JetBlue has categorized flights into 3 categories:
- SHORT (2 pts): Flights from JFK to Buffalo, NY
- MEDIUM (4 pts): Flights from Rochester, NY to Ft. Lauderdale, FL or from JFK to New Orleans, LA
- LONG (6 pts): Flights from JFK to Oakland, CA or Burlington, VT to Long Beach, CA
Once you have accumulated 100 TrueBlue points, you are eligible to redeem them for a free round trip flight on JetBlue. https://www.jetblue.com/trueblue/FF_About.aspx
Destinations
JetBlue Airways currently flies to 54 destinations in 6 countries, including Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic,
Mexico,
Netherlands Antilles, and the United States of America, including
Puerto Rico. The airline will add service to
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on January 10, and
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles on January 17, 2008, increasing its destination count to 56.
JetBlue launched service to
Pittsburgh International Airport in late June, 2006. Flights to
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport began July 12, flights to Raleigh-Durham International Airport began July 20 and service to Nashville International Airport started August 31 of the same year. Future plans call for expansion across the United States, Mexico and the
Caribbean. Flights to
Queen Beatrix International Airport started September 15, 2006. JetBlue received authority to serve Cancún International Airport, Mexico, after having competed for the route against Delta Air Lines and USA 3000. They entered four new domestic markets in the fall of 2006 - William P. Hobby Airport, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport,
Port Columbus International Airport, and Tucson International Airport.
at Cibao International Airport,
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, just arrived from New YorkPrior to the passage of the Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006, JetBlue expressed an interest in serving Dallas Love Field's customers if the Wright Amendment was repealed. It has also expressed refusal to serve Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on the grounds that it does not wish to contend with American Airlines, which has a dominating presence there. USA Today Blog: Today In the Sky: JetBlue: DFW is not an option June 28, 2006
On August 17, 2006, service between New York JFK and Washington-Dulles commenced, finalizing JetBlue's plan to connect the three major Northeast cities of Boston, New York, and Washington DC, and also putting pressure on the airlines that operate those routes, namely Delta Shuttle and US Airways Shuttle. Washington-Dulles offers eight nonstop destinations, and with the addition of service to New York-JFK, 45 destinations via connection in New York. JetBlue has announced service to/from Westchester County Airport. With this addition, JetBlue now serves five out of six airports in the New York Center area.
In October 2006, JetBlue applied to the FAA for landing rights at Chicago's
O'Hare Airport for eight flights per day. USA Today: JetBlue seeks to spread wings at already congested O'Hare October 5, 2006 Almost immediately, United Airlines filed an objection, claiming JetBlue "did not follow proper procedures and should be denied". Reuters: United objects to JetBlue's O'Hare plans October 5, 2006 On October 16, 2006, JetBlue received approval from the FAA to land at O'Hare, though the number of slots requested was cut in half to 4 flights per day. Chicago Business: JetBlue gets OK for O'Hare flights October 16, 2006 JetBlue also bought three additional O'Hare slots from other unknown carriers, and service to New York/JFK and Long Beach started January 4, 2007.
Alliances
On February 6, 2007, USA Today announced that JetBlue plans to enter into an alliance with Irish flag carrier
Aer Lingus. The alliance will facilitate easy transfers to both airlines' customers, but will not allow either airline to sell seats on the other airline, unlike traditional codeshare alliances, meaning customers must make individual reservations with both carriers. JetBlue, Aer Lingus to forge world's first international discount alliance February 6, 2007
Codeshares
On February 14, 2007, JetBlue announced it had entered its first codeshare agreement with Cape Air, to carry JetBlue passengers from Boston's Logan International Airport to Cape Air's destinations throughout Cape Cod and the surrounding islands. The agreement will allow customers on both airlines to purchase seats on both airlines under one reservation. This announcement came the same day that JetBlue announced seasonal service from New York to Nantucket. JetBlue Spreads Its Wings in New England in Marketing Partnership With Cape Air February 14, 2007
New routes
- Daily nonstop service between Buffalo, NY (BUF) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins November 1, 2007.
{{cite web
| authorlink = http://jetblue.com/wherewefly/
| title = Where We Fly
| publisher = JetBlue.com
| date = 2007
| url = http://jetblue.com/wherewefly/
| accessdate = 2007-08-27
-->
- Daily nonstop service between Richmond, VA (RIC) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) starts November 1, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Syracuse, NY (SYR) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins November 1, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Ponce, PR (PSE) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins November 5, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Buffalo, NY (BUF) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins November 15, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Rochester, NY (ROC) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins November 15, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Santiago, DR (STI) and Boston, MA (BOS) begins December 12, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Burbank, CA (BUR) and Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) begins December 15, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Burlington, VT (BTV) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Charlotte, NC (CLT) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Portland, ME (PWM) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Puerto Plata, DR (POP) and New York, NY (JFK) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between St. Maarten, Netherlands Antillies (SXM) and New York, NY (JFK) begins January 17, 2008.
JetBlue announced in early January that they plan to serve eight new cities in 2007, although they have only announced Nantucket, San Francisco, White Plains, and Santo Domingo; Puerto Plata and St. Maarten will start January 2008.
Fleet
As of October 2007, the JetBlue Airways fleet includes of the following 132 aircraft: JetBlue Fleet Detail "Whole Lotta Blue"{| class="toccolours sortable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"|+
JetBlue Airways Fleet|- bgcolor=steelblue!Aircraft!Total!Passengers
(Economy)!Notes|-|Airbus A320#A320|align=center|104
(73 orders)|align=center|150||-|Embraer 190, and tail number N533JB is "Usto Schulz", named for JetBlue's former VP of Safety. Every year employees submit suggestions for the names of the new planes. Past winners have received trips to [Toulouse,
France to tour the
Airbus hangar and fly home aboard the plane that bears their name suggestion.
Some long-term maintenance on JetBlue's Airbus A320 aircraft is conducted at Aeroman, a facility in
El Salvador owned by
Air Canada. At one time, Aeroman was owned by Grupo TACA, who is also a major Airbus A320 operator. Airlines Outsourcing More Maintenance. However, JetBlue also uses Air Canada's facilities in
Canada, along with Empire Aero Center in
Rome, NY.http://investor.jetblue.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=940850&highlight= JetBlue Airways Announces New Aircraft Maintenance Contract With Empire Aero Center of Rome, NY
In the early history of JetBlue, the company's CEO, as he claims, had always sat on the 27th (last) row of each Airbus A320 aircraft he flew on, signifying that pleasing the customer is more important than pleasing the CEO, since the 27th row had no reclining seats. The 27th row has since been removed from the A320 fleet, adding up to 2" more legroom to all rows aft of the wing on all aircraft in the A320 and E190 fleets.
In December 2006, JetBlue announced they would be removing one more row of seats from their A320s, reducing the number of seats to 150. They also revealed they would adjust the remaining rows in the forward half of the cabin, increasing the seat pitch to 36", giving passengers more legroom than any other coach carrier. JetBlue Airways Press Release: Taking the JetBlue Experience to New Heights Dec. 14, 2006 Fleet modifications have been completed as of February 8, 2007. At present, the A320 has a seat pitch of 36" in rows 1–11, and 34" in rows 12–25, with slightly over 36" in the two exit rows. The E190 has a seat pitch of 32" in rows 1–10, and 33" in rows 13–25, with a pitch of over 34" in the exit rows. The seat width on the A320 is 17.8", and the seat width on the E190 is 18.25". JetBlue Aircraft Statistics: A320 JetBlue Aircraft Statistics: E190
In July 2005, JetBlue announced that it would be upgrading the size of its seatback TVs that provide customers with [DirecTV programming. All new aircraft are being equipped with the larger seatback TVs, and older aircraft are being retrofitted. The E190s are all equipped with XM satellite radio, and the A320s are being XM equipped when each aircraft's TV screens are being upgraded. In addition, the airline aims to increase the size of the overhead bins on all aircraft. Unlike the A320 fleet that JetBlue uses where the flight attendant has to read the safety briefing, the E190 fleet uses a pre-recorded audio safety briefing to accompany the live demonstration.
Employees
JetBlue has 10,795 employees, or "crewmembers," as Jetblue prefers to call them (at March 2007). The major Pilot and Flight Attendant base is John F. Kennedy International Airport, followed by Boston's Logan International Airport, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, and Long Beach Municipal Airport. Customer support is handled via employees in Utah working from their homes, providing JetBlue with significant savings. JetBlue sells 20% of their tickets over the phone, with the remainder being sold online.
Incidents and accidents
,
emergency landing at LAX
- On September 21, 2005, JetBlue Airways Flight 292 performed an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport following a failure of the front landing gear during retraction. The plane landed after circling for three hours to burn fuel and lighten the aircraft. The aircraft came to a stop without incident on runway 25L. The only apparent damage to the plane upon landing was the destruction of the front tires; the front landing strut held. None of the passengers or flight crew aboard were injured. Passengers were able to watch coverage of the incident via onboard televisions. A sketch of the incident was aired on Saturday Night Live, with guest host Steve Carell. JetBlue does not regularly serve LAX; the airline used a Continental Airlines hangar to evaluate and repair the aircraft.
- On February 14, 2007 a JetBlue flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Cancún, Mexico was delayed on the tarmac in February 2007 North America winter storm, keeping passengers trapped in the plane for nearly 9 hours. Throughout that day, at least nine other JetBlue aircraft were also stranded on the tarmac, keeping the passengers on board. An absence of interline agreements prevented JetBlue from accommodating its passengers on other airlines. As of February 18, JetBlue was still not operating normally, canceling nearly all flights using Embraer 190 aircraft. New York Times On February 19, JetBlue's then-CEO, David Neeleman, issued a public apology for the cancellations and for his company's mismanagement of the situation. Neeleman said he was “humiliated and mortified” by the system failures and he promised that JetBlue would soon introduce a "Customer Bill of Rights" offering compensation for such events in the future. JetBlue cancels flights, to present 'Bill of Rights' February 19, 2007 Neeleman also announced that the revised compensation would be applied retroactively to all passengers affected by the cancellations. According to JetBlue, the cancellations and compensations will total between 20 and 30 million dollars. JetBlue snafu could cost $30 million or more February 20, 2007
See also
Books
Blue Streak by Barbara S. Peterson, Portfolio, 2004 ISBN 1-59184-058-9
Flying High by James Wynbrandt, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2004 ISBN 0-47165-544-9
References
External links
- JetBlue Airways
- JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airline Certificate Information
- JetBlue Airways Fleet Age
- JetBlue Airways Fleet Detail
- LiveTV (JetBlue subsidiary)
- Interview with CEO David Neeleman about JetBlue's Future - from the Yale Economic Review
- Landing gear that malfunctioned on Flight 292
- "Our promise to you" - JetBlue CEO David Neeleman speaking to online viewers about policy changes in light of the delay incidents
{{Infobox_Airline |airline=JetBlue Airways|logo=JetBlue Airways Logo.svg|logo_size=200px|fleet_size=132|destinations=56|IATA=B6|ICAO=JBU|callsign=JETBLUE|parent=JetBlue Airways Corporation|founded= 1998, [New York City,
USA ([Chairman of the Board)
Russ Chew (President)
David Barger (Chief executive officer)
John Harvey (Chief Financial Officer)|hubs=|focus_cities=
John F. Kennedy International AirportLogan International Airport
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International AirportLong Beach Airport
Oakland International AirportWashington Dulles International Airport [Low-cost carrier owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation (). The company is headquartered in the
Forest Hills, Queens neighborhood of the borough of
Queens in
New York City. Its home airport is
John F. Kennedy International Airport. JetBlue is a non-
labor union airline.
In 2001, JetBlue began a
focus city operation at Long Beach Airport in Los Angeles County, and another at Logan International Airport, Boston in 2004. It also has substantial operations at
Oakland International Airport, Orlando International Airport,
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and at
Washington Dulles International Airport. The airline mainly serves destinations in the United States, along with flights to the
Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Mexico.
JetBlue also maintains a corporate office in and a satellite office in .
History
Foundings
Chairman (then-Chief executive officer) David Neeleman founded the company in February
1999, under the name "NewAir". Several of JetBlue's executives, including Neeleman, are former
Southwest Airlines employees. JetBlue started by following Southwest's approach of offering low-cost travel, but sought to distinguish itself by its amenities, such as in-flight entertainment. In Neeleman's words, JetBlue looks "to bring humanity back to air travel."
In September 1999 the airline was awarded 75 initial take off/landing slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and received formal U.S. authorization in February 2000. It started operations on 11 February
2000.
JetBlue's founders had set out to call the airline "Taxicab" and therefore have a yellow livery to associate the airline with New York. The idea was dropped, however, for several reasons: the negative connotation behind New York City taxis; the ambiguity of the word taxi with regard to air traffic control; and threats from investor JPMorgan Chase to pull its share ($20 million of the total $128 million) of the airline's initial funding unless the name was changed. The airline's founders also considered making its home base in Trenton, New Jersey, but this idea did not gain much support. –
Inaugural Flight arrival,
May 4 2006
9/11 aftermath, profitable years
JetBlue was one of only a few U.S. airlines that made a profit during the sharp downturn in airline travel following the
September 11, 2001 attacks. Since its IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2002, JetBlue has become one of the most popular airline stocks in history and currently has about two billion dollars in market capitalization. Financial results were strong for the airline throughout the 2002–2004 years, and many analysts and journalists lauded the airline for its success. The airline sector responded to JetBlue's market presence by starting mini-rival carriers: Delta Air Lines started
Song (airline), and
United Airlines launched another rival called Ted (airline). Song has since been disbanded and is being reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines, while Ted is still in operation.
In 2002, JetBlue acquired
LiveTV, LLC for $41 million in cash and the retirement of $39 million of LiveTV debt. LiveTV equips JetBlue with 36 channels of live DirecTV satellite TV programming at every airline seat. Two years later, JetBlue announced it would add 100 channels of
XM Satellite Radio,
Fox TV programs and
20th Century Fox movies to its in-flight entertainment. The movies are free on flights outside of the U.S. mainland (as DirecTV service is not available), and are available for a small fee on other flights.
JetBlue has not yet attempted to raise money by selling snacks during flights, a move that many larger airlines have made on domestic flights and some international flights. JetBlue has also told customers in commercials and print ads that they "encourage you to use the call button", advertising their devotion to customer service. JetBlue is also noted for its "letter ads", for example: "Dear New York", and ending with "Sincerely, JetBlue".
As the airline continued to make record profits, new planes allowed for additional route opportunities. These included JetBlue's first international service, New York City to the
Dominican Republic, on
June 10,
2004. Additional service to the
Bahamas began on November 1, 2004, and service to
Bermuda began
May 4, 2006. Service to Aruba began
September 15,
2006.
In 2004, JetBlue began flights from New York City's
LaGuardia Airport and added service in 2005 to Newark Liberty International Airport in , thereby serving all three major
New York City area airports. Also in 2005, the company added service between JFK and Boston Logan with 10 daily flights using its new 100-seat Embraer 190 Fixed-wing aircraft. In October 2006 JetBlue announced they would begin service from
Stewart International Airport, in Newburgh. Later, the airline announced new service to Westchester County Airport, also known as White Plains, allowing JetBlue access to five of the six New York City area airports
Developments since 2005
In October 2005, JetBlue announced that its quarterly profit had plunged from
United States dollar8.1 million to $2.7 million largely due to rising fuel costs. In addition, the airline was struggling with their new aircraft, the
Embraer E-Jets. Operational issues, fuel prices, and low fares, JetBlue's hallmark, were bringing its financial performance down. In addition, with higher costs related to the airline's numerous amenities, JetBlue was becoming less competitive.
Regardless, the airline continued to plan for growth. It was announced that 36 new aircraft were scheduled for delivery in the year 2006.
However, trouble was on the horizon. For many years, analysts had predicted that JetBlue's growth rate would become unsustainable. Despite this, the airline continued to add planes and routes to the fleet at a brisk pace. In addition in 2006, the IAM (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) attempted to unionize JetBlue's "ramp service workers", in a move that was described by JetBlue's COO Dave Barger as "pretty hypocritical", as the IAM opposed JetBlue's creation when it was founded as New Air in 1998. The union organizing petition was dismissed by the National Mediation Board because fewer than 35% of eligible employees supported an election.
In February 2006, JetBlue announced its first ever quarterly loss. For 4th quarter 2005, the airline lost $42.4 million, enough to make them unprofitable for the entire year of 2005. The loss was the airline's first since going public in 2002. JetBlue also reported a loss in the 1st quarter 2006. In addition to that, JetBlue forecast a loss for 2006, citing high fuel prices, operating inefficiency, and fleet costs. During the first quarter report, CEO David Neeleman, President Dave Barger, and CFO John Owen released JetBlue's "Return to Profitability" ("RTP") plan, stating in detail how they would curtail costs and improve revenue to regain profitability. The plan called for $50 million in annual cost cuts and a push to boost revenue by $30 million. JetBlue Airways moved out of the dark during the second quarter of 2006, beating Wall Street expectations by announcing a net profit of $14 million. That result was flat when compared to JetBlue’s results from the same quarter a year ago ($13 million), but it was double Wall Street forecasts of a $7 million profit, Reuters reports. The carrier said cost-cutting and stronger revenue helped it offset higher jet fuel costs. In October 2006, JetBlue announced a net loss of $500,000 for Quarter 3, and a plan to regain that loss by deferring some of their E190 deliveries, and by selling 5 of their A320s.
In December 2006, JetBlue announced another component of the RTP, when they explained the reasoning behind their decision to remove a row of seats off their A320s. The removal of the seats will lighten the aircraft by 904 lbs., and will reduce the inflight crew size from 4 to 3 (per FAA regulation requiring 1 flight attendant per 50 seats), thus offsetting the lost revenue from the removal of seats, and further lightening the aircraft, resulting in less fuel burned. JetBlue Airways Press Release: Taking the JetBlue Experience to New Heights December 14, 2006
In January 2007, JetBlue announced it had returned to profitability with a fourth quarter profit for 2006, reversing a quarterly loss in the year-earlier period. As part of the RTP plan, 2006's full year loss was $1 million compared to 2005's full year loss of $20 million. JetBlue was one of the few major airlines to post a profit in the quarter..On
May 10 2007, JetBlue announced Barger's appointment as CEO, who also retains the position of President. Neeleman, who was named non-executive Chairman of the Board, said "This is a natural evolution of our leadership structure as JetBlue continues to grow. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, I will focus on developing JetBlue's long-term vision and strategy, and how we can continue to be a preferred product in a commodity business." JetBlue news release,
May 10 2007.]
On
July 24,
2007, JetBlue reported that its second-quarter revenue increased to $730 million, compared to $612 in 2006. Second quarter net income grew to $21 million for the quarter, from $14 million the previous year. CEO David Barger said the airline will take delivery of 3 fewer planes this year and will sell 3 planes from their current fleet, "slowing capacity growth...to strengthen our balance sheet and facilitate earnings growth", but will continue to add two to four new destinations each year.Associated Press,
July 24, 2007.
In July 2007, the airline partnered with 20th Century Fox's film "The Simpsons Movie" to become the "Official Airline of Springfield". In addition a contest was held in which the grand prize would be a trip on jetBlue to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of the film. The airline's website was also redecorated with characters and their favorite JetBlue destinations and the company was taken over by the show/film's greedy businessman villain C. Montgomery Burns. Simpsons and JetBlue
July 17 2007.]
In August 2007, the airline announced the addition of exclusive content from
The New York Times in the form of an in-flight video magazine, conducted by Times' journalists and content from NYTimes.com. Jet Blue Product Placement August 6 2007.]
On
October 11, 2007, JetBlue announced expanded service to the Caribbean with service to St. Maarten and Puerto Plata commencing January 10, 2008. With these additional destinations, JetBlue's service expands to a total of eleven Caribbean/Atlantic destinations including Aruba; Bermuda; Cancun; Nassau; Aguadilla, Ponce and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Santiago and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. JetBlue will serve 56 destinations in eight countries this winter.
In 2008, JetBlue, which has its main passenger terminal in Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, will be moving all operations to the adjacent
TWA Flight Center which has been under renovation by the airline since late 2005.
TrueBlue Membership
TrueBlue is JetBlue's Membership rewards program. JetBlue rewards their loyal customers by providing them with advance notice of special promotions and fare sales, faster and easier booking, and free rewards flights.
JetBlue has categorized flights into 3 categories:
- SHORT (2 pts): Flights from JFK to Buffalo, NY
- MEDIUM (4 pts): Flights from Rochester, NY to Ft. Lauderdale, FL or from JFK to New Orleans, LA
- LONG (6 pts): Flights from JFK to Oakland, CA or Burlington, VT to Long Beach, CA
Once you have accumulated 100 TrueBlue points, you are eligible to redeem them for a free round trip flight on JetBlue. https://www.jetblue.com/trueblue/FF_About.aspx
Destinations
JetBlue Airways currently flies to 54 destinations in 6 countries, including
Aruba, the
Bahamas, Bermuda, the
Dominican Republic,
Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, and the
United States of America, including
Puerto Rico. The airline will add service to
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on January 10, and St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles on January 17, 2008, increasing its destination count to 56.
JetBlue launched service to Pittsburgh International Airport in late June, 2006. Flights to
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport began July 12, flights to Raleigh-Durham International Airport began July 20 and service to Nashville International Airport started August 31 of the same year. Future plans call for expansion across the
United States, Mexico and the
Caribbean. Flights to Queen Beatrix International Airport started September 15, 2006. JetBlue received authority to serve
Cancún International Airport, Mexico, after having competed for the route against
Delta Air Lines and USA 3000. They entered four new domestic markets in the fall of 2006 - William P. Hobby Airport,
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport,
Port Columbus International Airport, and Tucson International Airport.
at Cibao International Airport, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, just arrived from
New YorkPrior to the passage of the Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006, JetBlue expressed an interest in serving Dallas Love Field's customers if the
Wright Amendment was repealed. It has also expressed refusal to serve Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on the grounds that it does not wish to contend with American Airlines, which has a dominating presence there. USA Today Blog: Today In the Sky: JetBlue: DFW is not an option June 28, 2006
On August 17, 2006, service between
New York JFK and Washington-Dulles commenced, finalizing JetBlue's plan to connect the three major Northeast cities of Boston, New York, and Washington DC, and also putting pressure on the airlines that operate those routes, namely
Delta Shuttle and
US Airways Shuttle. Washington-Dulles offers eight nonstop destinations, and with the addition of service to New York-JFK, 45 destinations via connection in New York. JetBlue has announced service to/from Westchester County Airport. With this addition, JetBlue now serves five out of six airports in the New York Center area.
In October 2006, JetBlue applied to the FAA for landing rights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for eight flights per day. USA Today: JetBlue seeks to spread wings at already congested O'Hare October 5, 2006 Almost immediately, United Airlines filed an objection, claiming JetBlue "did not follow proper procedures and should be denied". Reuters: United objects to JetBlue's O'Hare plans October 5, 2006 On October 16, 2006, JetBlue received approval from the FAA to land at O'Hare, though the number of slots requested was cut in half to 4 flights per day. Chicago Business: JetBlue gets OK for O'Hare flights October 16, 2006 JetBlue also bought three additional O'Hare slots from other unknown carriers, and service to New York/JFK and Long Beach started January 4, 2007.
Alliances
On February 6, 2007, USA Today announced that JetBlue plans to enter into an alliance with Irish flag carrier
Aer Lingus. The alliance will facilitate easy transfers to both airlines' customers, but will not allow either airline to sell seats on the other airline, unlike traditional codeshare alliances, meaning customers must make individual reservations with both carriers. JetBlue, Aer Lingus to forge world's first international discount alliance February 6, 2007
Codeshares
On February 14, 2007, JetBlue announced it had entered its first
codeshare agreement with
Cape Air, to carry JetBlue passengers from Boston's Logan International Airport to Cape Air's destinations throughout Cape Cod and the surrounding islands. The agreement will allow customers on both airlines to purchase seats on both airlines under one reservation. This announcement came the same day that JetBlue announced seasonal service from New York to Nantucket. JetBlue Spreads Its Wings in New England in Marketing Partnership With Cape Air February 14, 2007
New routes
- Daily nonstop service between Buffalo, NY (BUF) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins November 1, 2007.
{{cite web
| authorlink = http://jetblue.com/wherewefly/
| title = Where We Fly
| publisher = JetBlue.com
| date = 2007
| url = http://jetblue.com/wherewefly/
| accessdate = 2007-08-27
-->
- Daily nonstop service between Richmond, VA (RIC) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) starts November 1, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Syracuse, NY (SYR) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins November 1, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Ponce, PR (PSE) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins November 5, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Buffalo, NY (BUF) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins November 15, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Rochester, NY (ROC) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins November 15, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Santiago, DR (STI) and Boston, MA (BOS) begins December 12, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Burbank, CA (BUR) and Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) begins December 15, 2007.
- Daily nonstop service between Burlington, VT (BTV) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Charlotte, NC (CLT) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU) and Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Portland, ME (PWM) and Orlando, FL (MCO) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between Puerto Plata, DR (POP) and New York, NY (JFK) begins January 10, 2008.
- Daily nonstop service between St. Maarten, Netherlands Antillies (SXM) and New York, NY (JFK) begins January 17, 2008.
JetBlue announced in early January that they plan to serve eight new cities in 2007, although they have only announced Nantucket, San Francisco, White Plains, and Santo Domingo; Puerto Plata and St. Maarten will start January 2008.
Fleet
As of October 2007, the JetBlue Airways fleet includes of the following 132 aircraft: JetBlue Fleet Detail "Whole Lotta Blue"{| class="toccolours sortable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"|+
JetBlue Airways Fleet|- bgcolor=steelblue!Aircraft!Total!Passengers
(Economy)!Notes|-|Airbus A320#A320|align=center|104
(73 orders)|align=center|150||-|
Embraer 190, and tail number N533JB is "Usto Schulz", named for JetBlue's former VP of Safety. Every year employees submit suggestions for the names of the new planes. Past winners have received trips to [Toulouse, France to tour the
Airbus hangar and fly home aboard the plane that bears their name suggestion.
Some long-term maintenance on JetBlue's Airbus A320 aircraft is conducted at Aeroman, a facility in
El Salvador owned by Air Canada. At one time, Aeroman was owned by
Grupo TACA, who is also a major Airbus A320 operator. Airlines Outsourcing More Maintenance. However, JetBlue also uses
Air Canada's facilities in
Canada, along with Empire Aero Center in
Rome, NY.http://investor.jetblue.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=940850&highlight= JetBlue Airways Announces New Aircraft Maintenance Contract With Empire Aero Center of Rome, NY
In the early history of JetBlue, the company's CEO, as he claims, had always sat on the 27th (last) row of each Airbus A320 aircraft he flew on, signifying that pleasing the customer is more important than pleasing the CEO, since the 27th row had no reclining seats. The 27th row has since been removed from the A320 fleet, adding up to 2" more legroom to all rows aft of the wing on all aircraft in the A320 and E190 fleets.
In December 2006, JetBlue announced they would be removing one more row of seats from their A320s, reducing the number of seats to 150. They also revealed they would adjust the remaining rows in the forward half of the cabin, increasing the seat pitch to 36", giving passengers more legroom than any other coach carrier. JetBlue Airways Press Release: Taking the JetBlue Experience to New Heights Dec. 14, 2006 Fleet modifications have been completed as of February 8, 2007. At present, the A320 has a seat pitch of 36" in rows 1–11, and 34" in rows 12–25, with slightly over 36" in the two exit rows. The E190 has a seat pitch of 32" in rows 1–10, and 33" in rows 13–25, with a pitch of over 34" in the exit rows. The seat width on the A320 is 17.8", and the seat width on the E190 is 18.25". JetBlue Aircraft Statistics: A320 JetBlue Aircraft Statistics: E190
In July 2005, JetBlue announced that it would be upgrading the size of its seatback TVs that provide customers with [DirecTV programming. All new aircraft are being equipped with the larger seatback TVs, and older aircraft are being retrofitted. The E190s are all equipped with XM satellite radio, and the A320s are being XM equipped when each aircraft's TV screens are being upgraded. In addition, the airline aims to increase the size of the overhead bins on all aircraft. Unlike the A320 fleet that JetBlue uses where the flight attendant has to read the safety briefing, the E190 fleet uses a pre-recorded audio safety briefing to accompany the live demonstration.
Employees
JetBlue has 10,795 employees, or "crewmembers," as Jetblue prefers to call them (at March 2007). The major Pilot and Flight Attendant base is John F. Kennedy International Airport, followed by Boston's Logan International Airport, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, and Long Beach Municipal Airport. Customer support is handled via employees in Utah working from their homes, providing JetBlue with significant savings. JetBlue sells 20% of their tickets over the phone, with the remainder being sold online.
Incidents and accidents
,
emergency landing at LAX
- On September 21, 2005, JetBlue Airways Flight 292 performed an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport following a failure of the front landing gear during retraction. The plane landed after circling for three hours to burn fuel and lighten the aircraft. The aircraft came to a stop without incident on runway 25L. The only apparent damage to the plane upon landing was the destruction of the front tires; the front landing strut held. None of the passengers or flight crew aboard were injured. Passengers were able to watch coverage of the incident via onboard televisions. A sketch of the incident was aired on Saturday Night Live, with guest host Steve Carell. JetBlue does not regularly serve LAX; the airline used a Continental Airlines hangar to evaluate and repair the aircraft.
- On February 14, 2007 a JetBlue flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Cancún, Mexico was delayed on the tarmac in February 2007 North America winter storm, keeping passengers trapped in the plane for nearly 9 hours. Throughout that day, at least nine other JetBlue aircraft were also stranded on the tarmac, keeping the passengers on board. An absence of interline agreements prevented JetBlue from accommodating its passengers on other airlines. As of February 18, JetBlue was still not operating normally, canceling nearly all flights using Embraer 190 aircraft. New York Times On February 19, JetBlue's then-CEO, David Neeleman, issued a public apology for the cancellations and for his company's mismanagement of the situation. Neeleman said he was “humiliated and mortified” by the system failures and he promised that JetBlue would soon introduce a "Customer Bill of Rights" offering compensation for such events in the future. JetBlue cancels flights, to present 'Bill of Rights' February 19, 2007 Neeleman also announced that the revised compensation would be applied retroactively to all passengers affected by the cancellations. According to JetBlue, the cancellations and compensations will total between 20 and 30 million dollars. JetBlue snafu could cost $30 million or more February 20, 2007
See also
Books
Blue Streak by Barbara S. Peterson, Portfolio, 2004 ISBN 1-59184-058-9
Flying High by James Wynbrandt, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2004 ISBN 0-47165-544-9
References
External links
- JetBlue Airways
- JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airline Certificate Information
- JetBlue Airways Fleet Age
- JetBlue Airways Fleet Detail
- LiveTV (JetBlue subsidiary)
- Interview with CEO David Neeleman about JetBlue's Future - from the Yale Economic Review
- Landing gear that malfunctioned on Flight 292
- "Our promise to you" - JetBlue CEO David Neeleman speaking to online viewers about policy changes in light of the delay incidents