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JetBlue Airways (USA)

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JetBlue Airways
IATA
B6		 ICAO
JBU		 Callsign
JETBLUE
Founded 1999
Focus cities
Frequent flyer program TrueBlue Flight Gratitude
Fleet size 141
Destinations 53
Parent company JetBlue Airways Corporation
Headquarters Forest Hills, New York City, USA
Key people David Neeleman (Founder)
Joel Peterson (Chairman)
David Barger (CEO)
Russ Chew (President)
Ed Barnes (interim CFO)
Website: http://www.jetblue.com/

JetBlue Airways is an American low-cost airline owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU). The company is headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Its home airport is John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In 2001, JetBlue began a focus city operation at Long Beach in Los Angeles County, California, and another at Logan International Airport, Boston in 2004. It also has focus city operations at Fort Lauderdale, Oakland International Airport, and at Washington-Dulles, as well as Orlando 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 Cottonwood Heights, Utah and a satellite office in Darien, Connecticut. JetBlue is a non-union airline.

Contents

History

Founding

Chairman (then-CEO) 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, TV on every seat, Satellite radio. 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.[1]

JetBlue's founders had set out to call the airline "Taxi" 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 JP Morgan to pull its share ($20 million of the total $128 million) of the airline's initial funding unless the name was changed [2]. The airline's founders also considered making its home base in Trenton, New Jersey, but this idea did not gain much support.

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 20022004 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, and United Airlines launched another rival called Ted. Song has since been disbanded and is being reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines, and United has announced that Ted will also be discontinued as a separate brand. [3]

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 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 known 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 Newark, New Jersey, 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 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 US$8.1 million to $2.7 million largely due to rising fuel costs. In addition, the airline was struggling with their new aircraft, the Embraer 190. 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) 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 percent 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 then-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 JetBlues 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 lb (410 kg), and will reduce the inflight crew size from four to three (per FAA regulation requiring one 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.[4]

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."[5]

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 three fewer planes this year and will sell three 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.[6]

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. [7]

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.[8]

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 by early 2008.

On November 8, 2007, JetBlue announced the appointment of Ed Barnes as interim CFO, following the resignation of former CFO John Harvey.[9]

On December 13, 2007, JetBlue and German-based Lufthansa announced their intent to sell 19% of JetBlue to Lufthansa, pending approval from US regulators. Following the acquisition, Lufthansa stated they plan to seek operational cooperation with JetBlue. [10] This could also lead to JetBlue joining the Star Alliance.

In the March edition of Airways Magazine, it was announced that JetBlue partnered with Yahoo! and BlackBerry producer, Research in Motion, that the airline would offer free, limited Wi-Fi capabilities on N651JB, an Airbus A320-200 dubbed "BetaBlue." People can access e-mail with a Wi-Fi capable Blackberry, or use Yahoo!'s e-mail and instant messaging with a Wi-Fi capable laptop.

On March 19, 2008, JetBlue announced the addition of Orlando, Florida as a key connecting city to international destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America. New international routes from Orlando International Airport include Cancun, Mexico, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In addition to new routes, the airline will also continue significant expansion of operations at Orlando International Airport including 292-room lodge that will house trainees attending the adjacent "JetBlue University" training facility.[11]However, the same month, JetBlue announced it was withdrawing from Tucson, Arizona as a result of rising fuel costs and increased competition.

On May 21, 2008, JetBlue named Joel Peterson chairman and Frank Sica vice chairman of its board of directors, replacing David Neeleman, who stepped down as CEO in 2007.[12]

Awards

In October 2007, JetBlue was named the number one U.S. domestic airline by Conde Nast Traveler magazine's "Readers' Choice Awards" for the sixth year in a row.[13]

On June 17, 2008, JetBlue ranked 'Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low Cost Carriers in North America' by J.D. Power and Associates. A Customer Satisfaction Recognition Received for the Fourth Year in a Row.[14]

Jetblue is currently ranked as 4-star low-cost carrier by Skytrax.[15]


Destinations

Main article: JetBlue Airways destinations

JetBlue Airways currently flies to 53 destinations in 6 countries, including Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, and the United States, including Puerto Rico. Upcoming schedule changes will decrease JetBlue's destination count to 52 when the airline discontinues service to Ontario, California on September 3, 2008. JetBlue had planned to begin service to Los Angeles, California on May 21, 2008, but canceled those plans as a result of expensive fuel costs.

In 2006, JetBlue launched service to Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, Bermuda, and Aruba. JetBlue received authority to serve Cancún, Mexico, after having competed for the route against Delta Air Lines and USA 3000. JetBlue also began service to Houston-Hobby, Sarasota, Columbus, and Tucson; Service to Columbus, Tucson, and Nashville have since been discontinued.

Prior 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.[16]

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 White Plains, New York. With this addition, JetBlue now serves five out of six airports in the New York City area.

In October 2006, JetBlue applied to the FAA for landing rights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for eight flights per day.[17] Almost immediately, United Airlines filed an objection, claiming JetBlue "did not follow proper procedures and should be denied".[18] 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 four flights per day.[19] JetBlue also bought three additional O'Hare slots from other carriers, and service to New York/JFK and Long Beach started January 4, 2007.

JetBlue announced in the Fall of 2007 that it was pulling out of Columbus and Nashville.[20]

JetBlue has also added a considerable number of destinations and flights from Salt Lake City International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in recent months and continues to expand with new service beginning this spring.

New routes

Discontinued routes

Alliances

On February 6, 2007, USA Today reported 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, the newspaper said.[22] On February 1, 2008, JetBlue announced the details of this alliance. Passengers will be able to connect between Aer Lingus and JetBlue at New York/JFK on a single ticket, which can be booked through both airlines' websites. The booking will be started with one airline, and then transferred to the other airline's website to complete the booking. CEO David Barger was quoted as saying if this alliance is successful, JetBlue may be interested in partnering with other international carriers.[23]

On March 12, 2008, Financial Times reported Lufthansa revealing its plans made with JetBlue. Lufthansa and JetBlue are reported to be investigating linking reservation systems and frequent flyer programs. By making use of JetBlue's North America routes as a feeder network, Lufthansa would be in a position to operate a quasi-hub at New York-JFK.[24]

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 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 also has codeshares with Irish-based Aer Lingus and German-based Lufthansa. [25]

Fleet

As of July 2008, the JetBlue Airways fleet includes the following 143 aircraft: [26]

JetBlue Airways Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(Economy)		 Notes
Airbus A320-200 107
(70 orders)		 150 Largest operator of the Airbus A320
2 Operated for Myrtle Beach Direct Air
Embraer 190 36
(65 orders)		 100 Launch customer

As of July 2008, the average fleet age of JetBlue Airways was 3.5 years.[27]

Nearly every plane in JetBlue's fleet is named with a designation containing some form of the word "blue". Examples include "Absolute Blue", "Big Blue Bus", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Canyon Blue", "Mi Corazon Azul", "Rhapsody in Blue", "Sacre Bleu!", "The name is Blue, JetBlue", and "Whole Lotta Blue". However as of November 2006, there are two exceptions: tail number N190JB is "Luiz F. Kahl", named for the former Chairman of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, 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.

The only plane that has not been named by a JetBlue employee is tail number N655JB, "Blue 100", which was named by the company in celebration for JetBlue's 100th Airbus A320. Also, the plane has its own original tail fin, unlike the rest of fleet which shares one of the 7 tail fin designs. Also, tail number N658JB was named " Whoo-Hoo JetBlue! The Official Airline of Springfield " in celebration of the release of The Simpsons Movie. The plane also features Homer Simpson giving a thumbs up.

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. [28]. JetBlue also uses Air Canada's facilities in Canada, along with Empire Aero Center in Rome, NY.[29] In the early years of the airline, founder David Neeleman said he always sat in the last row (row 27) of each Airbus A320 aircraft when flying on his company's airplanes, to demonstrate that pleasing the customer is more important than pleasing the CEO (at the time, seats in the 27th row since removed from JetBlue's A320 airplanes did not recline).

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 38 inches (97 cm), giving passengers more legroom than any other coach carrier.[30] Fleet modifications have been completed as of February 8, 2007[citation needed]. At present, the A320 has a seat pitch of 38 inches (97 cm) in rows 111, and 34 inches (86 cm) in rows 1225, with slightly more than 36 inches (91 cm) in the two exit rows. The E190 has a seat pitch of 32 inches (81 cm) in rows 110, and 33 inches (84 cm) in rows 1325, with a pitch of more than 34 inches (86 cm) in the exit rows. The seat width on the A320 is 17.8 inches (45.2 cm), and the seat width on the E190 is 18.25 inches (46.4 cm).[31][32]

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)[1]. 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 percent of their tickets over the phone, with the remainder being sold online.

Incidents and accidents

Further reading

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-03), p. 98. 
  2. ^ knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1342
  3. ^ Maynard, Micheline (2008-06-05). "More Cuts as United Grounds Low-Cost Carrier", The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-04. 
  4. ^ JetBlue Airways Press Release: Taking the JetBlue Experience to New Heights December 14, 2006
  5. ^ JetBlue news release, May 10, 2007.
  6. ^ Associated Press, July 24, 2007.
  7. ^ Simpsons and JetBlue July 17, 2007.
  8. ^ Jet Blue Product Placement August 6, 2007.
  9. ^ "Jet Blue news release" (November 8, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  10. ^ Lufthansa will acquire 19% stake in JetBlue, seek 'cooperation' December 13 2007
  11. ^ JetBlue Airways Press Release: New Focus City At Orlando International Airport March 19, 2008
  12. ^ Free Preview - WSJ.com
  13. ^ "Six for six", JetBlue news release, October 11, 2007.
  14. ^ "JetBlue Airways Ranked 'Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low Cost Carriers in North America' by J.D. Power and Associates", JetBlue news release, June 17, 2008.
  15. ^ [http://www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/Airlines_lowcost.htm, Ratings list, 2008
  16. ^ USA Today Blog: Today In the Sky: JetBlue: DFW is not an option June 28, 2006
  17. ^ USA Today: JetBlue seeks to spread wings at already congested O'Hare October 5, 2006
  18. ^ Reuters: United objects to JetBlue's O'Hare plans October 5, 2006
  19. ^ Chicago Business: JetBlue gets OK for O'Hare flights October 16, 2006
  20. ^ JetBlue cutting Columbus flights - Business First of Columbus:
  21. ^ JetBlue Airways (2008-07-16). "JetBlue Adds Nonstop Service From Portland, Oregon to Long Beach, California". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-07-16.
  22. ^ JetBlue, Aer Lingus to forge world's first international discount alliance February 6, 2007
  23. ^ JetBlue, Aer Lingus announce passenger-sharing alliance February 1, 2008
  24. ^ FT.com / Mergermarket - Lufthansa to link with JetBlue in NY
  25. ^ JetBlue Spreads Its Wings in New England in Marketing Partnership With Cape Air
  26. ^ JetBlue Fleet Detail
  27. ^ JetBlue Fleet Age
  28. ^ Airlines Outsourcing More Maintenance
  29. ^ JetBlue Airways Announces New Aircraft Maintenance Contract With Empire Aero Center of Rome, NY
  30. ^ JetBlue Airways Press Release: Taking the JetBlue Experience to New Heights Dec. 14, 2006
  31. ^ JetBlue Aircraft Statistics: A320
  32. ^ JetBlue Aircraft Statistics: E190
  33. ^ NTSB
  34. ^ New York Times
  35. ^ JetBlue cancels flights, to present 'Bill of Rights' February 19, 2007
  36. ^ JetBlue snafu could cost $30 million or more February 20, 2007
  37. ^ Man sues for toilet seat flight | Metro.co.uk
  38. ^ Man Alleges JetBlue Sat him on Toilet | Aviation
  39. ^ Airline passenger told to fly in the toilet
  40. ^ Federal Aviation Regulation Sec. 121.317 - Passenger information requirements, smoking prohibitions, and additional seat belt requirements

References

External links

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