JetBlue Airways

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JetBlue Airways
IATA B6	ICAO JBU	Callsign JetBlue
Founded		1998
Hubs		None - Point to Point System
Focus cities / secondary hubs		John F. Kennedy International Airport Boston Logan International Airport Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Long Beach Airport Oakland International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport
Frequent flyer program		trueBlue Flight Gratitude
Fleet size		113
Destinations		50
Parent company		JetBlue Airways Corporation
Headquarters		Forest Hills, New York City
Key people		David Neeleman (CEO) David Barger (President,COO) John Harvey (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 Queens borough of New York City. Its largest hub is located at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In 2001, JetBlue began a focus city operation at Long Beach in southern California near Los Angeles, and another at Logan International Airport, Boston in 2004. It also has substantial operations at Oakland International Airport near San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, and at Washington-Dulles. With the demise of Independence Air, JetBlue has recently turned up service in Dulles serving 8 nonstop destinations making JetBlue the second largest carrier at Dulles. 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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Foundings 1.2 9/11 aftermath, profitable years 1.3 Record high fuel prices 2 Destinations 2.1 New routes 2.2 Discontinued routes 3 Fleet 4 Experience 5 Employees 6 Trivia 7 Incidents 8 See also 9 Books 10 References 11 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Foundings

CEO David Neeleman founded the company in February of 1998, 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."

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 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. The airline's founders also considered making its home base in Trenton, New Jersey, but this idea did not gain much support. JetBlue is a non-union airline. However, 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% of eligible employees supported an election.

[edit] 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, and United Airlines launched another rival called Ted. Song has since been disbanded and is being reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines. 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 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 US 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 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'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, allowing JetBlue access to all four New York Center Airports.

[edit] Record high fuel prices

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 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. 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. JetBlue’s second-quarter result follows two consecutive quarterly losses, something that spurred the carrier to take on a turnaround plan. The plan called for $50 million in annual cost cuts and a push to boost revenue by $30 million. 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.

JetBlue Airways was the first US airline to start up with more than $100 million dollars, the first US airline to introduce the paperless cockpit, and was the first US airline to install security cameras in passenger cabin.

[edit] Destinations

Main article: JetBlue Airways destinations

JetBlue Airways currently flies to 48 destinations in 6 countries, including Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States, including Puerto Rico. This number will increase to 50 destinations when Newburgh (NY) is added on December 19, 2006, and Chicago is added on January 4, 2007.

JetBlue avoids flying routes which are in direct competition to other low-cost carriers, particularly Southwest Airlines. In doing so, the airline has achieved a near monopoly in Long Beach and is ranked number three in the New York market overall, with its 3 major airports. JetBlue flies to 50 destinations and recently launched service to Pittsburgh in late June. Flights to Charlotte began July 12 and flights to Raleigh began July 20 and service to Nashville started August 31. Future plans call for expansion across the United States and into Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Flights to Aruba started September 15, 2006. JetBlue received authority to serve Cancún, 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 - Houston, Sarasota, Columbus, and Tucson.

At the moment, JetBlue does not fly to Europe or Asia. However, David Neeleman has expressed interest in possibly partnering with an international carrier to carry JetBlue's customers to international destinations. Neeleman has said JetBlue "could have something by the end of 2006."

Prior to the passage of the Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006, JetBlue expressed an interest in serving Dallas Love Field if the Wright Amendment was repealed. However, JetBlue opposed the current law, which limits the small airport's capacity to 20 gates, claiming that it would "lock out" new entrants. 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 domineering presence there. ^[1]

On August 17, 2006, service between New York JFK and Washington-Dulles commenced, finalizing JetBlue's plan to connect the 3 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 8 nonstop destinations, and with the addition of service to New York-JFK, 45 destinations via connection in New York.

In October 2006, JetBlue applied to the FAA for landing rights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for 8 flights per day. ^[2] Almost immediately, United Airlines filed an objection, claiming JetBlue "did not follow proper procedures and should be denied".^[3] 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.^[4]

[edit] New routes

• Daily nonstop service between Newburgh, NY (SWF) and Ft Lauderdale, FL (FLL) starts December 19, 2006.
• Daily nonstop service between Newburgh, NY (SWF) and Orlando, FL (MCO) starts December 19, 2006.
• Daily nonstop service between New York, NY (JFK) and Chicago, IL-O'Hare (ORD) begins January 4, 2007
• Daily nonstop service between Long Beach, CA (LGB) and Chicago, IL-O'Hare (ORD) begins January 4, 2007
• Daily nonstop service between Newburgh, NY (SWF) and West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) starts January 5, 2007.

[edit] Discontinued routes

JetBlue has pulled out of two airports (Atlanta and Santo Domingo) and seven routes, citing poor customer demand.

• Atlanta, GA - Long Beach, CA
• Atlanta, GA - Oakland, CA
• Washington/Dulles - Sacramento, CA
• New York/JFK - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Newark, NJ - San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Burbank, CA - Las Vegas, NV
• Burbank, CA - Orlando, FL

[edit] Fleet

JetBlue Airways Fleet ^[5]

Aircraft	Total	Passengers	Notes
Airbus A320	96 (85 Orders)	156	Uses International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 Engines [1]
Embraer 190	22 (79 Orders)	100	Launch Customer

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. Consequently, the 26th row does recline. 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, the E190 fleet uses an audio-only safety briefing instead of a flight attendant reading the briefing.

[edit] Experience

Flying JetBlue offers a unique experience. On the A320 there is a seat pitch of 32"-34"^ and a width of 17.8" in an all economy configuration. While the E190 has a slightly smaller seat pitch (32"-33") it has a wider seat (18"). Leather seats and DirecTV at every seatback add to the experience.

^The seat pitch of the front section is 32" which will be increased to 36" in near future ^[6], the seat pitch of the rear section is 34".

[edit] Employees

JetBlue has around 10,000 employees; however, JetBlue prefers the term "Crewmembers". The major Pilot and Flight Attendant base is John F. Kennedy International Airport,folllowed by Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Boston's Logan 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.

[edit] Trivia

• 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!", and "The name is Blue, JetBlue".
• As of November 2006, there are two exceptions: tail number N190JB "Luiz F. Kahl", named for the former Chairman of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, and tail number N533JB "Usto Schulz", named for JetBlue's VP of Safety.
• JetBlue also features the in-flight snack "Terra Blue chips", a brand of potato chips made from naturally blue potatoes, the official snack of JetBlue.
• Every year employees submit suggestions for the names of the new planes. Past winners have received trips to Toulouse France to tour the Airbus hanger and fly home aboard the plane that bears their name suggestion.

[edit] Incidents

• On 21 September 2005, 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 was injured, but they were able to watch coverage of most of their incident using the onboard televisions. A sketch of the incident was aired on Saturday Night Live, with guest host Steve Carell.

[edit] See also

• Flight 292 @ Wikinews
• LiveTV

[edit] Books

Blue Streak by Barbara S. Peterson, Portfolio, 2004 ISBN 1-59184-058-9

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• JetBlue Airways
• 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

Members of the Air Transport Association
ABX Air | Alaska Airlines | Aloha Airlines | American Airlines | Astar Air Cargo | ATA Airlines | Atlas Air | Continental Airlines | Delta Air Lines | Evergreen International Airlines | FedEx | Hawaiian Airlines | JetBlue Airways | Midwest Airlines | Northwest Airlines | Southwest Airlines | United Airlines | UPS Airlines | US Airways
Associate Members: Aeroméxico | Air Canada | Air Jamaica | Mexicana