JetBlue Airways, Corporate history

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

In 2001, JetBlue began a focus city operation at Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, California, and another at

Boston's Logan International Airport, in 2004. It also has focus city operations at Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport, Orlando International Airport and at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. The airline mainly serves destinations in the United States, along with flights to the Caribbean, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico. As of February 17, 2011 JetBlue serves 63 destinations in 21 states (including Puerto Rico), and eleven countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

JetBlue maintains a corporate office in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, a satellite office in Darien, Connecticut, and its Information Technology center in Garden City, New York. JetBlue is a non-union airline.

JetBlue was incorporated in Delaware in August 1998.[3] David Neeleman founded the company in February 1999, under the name "NewAir." Several of JetBlue's executives, including Neeleman, are former Southwest Airlines employees.[citation needed] 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 and 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 February 11, 2000, with service to Buffalo and Ft. Lauderdale.

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.

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 was reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines, and United has discontinued Ted as a separate brand.

In 2002, JetBlue acquired LiveTV 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 each 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.

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's Logan Airport with ten 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, New York. 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.