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JetBlue Has Carolina on its Mind: New Low-Fare Service to Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham Begins in July

NEW YORK, April 13, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- JetBlue Airways Corp. (Nasdaq:JBLU) today announces it will begin service between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), its hometown, and the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, starting July 12, and Raleigh-Durham, starting July 20, with four daily round-trip flights to each city on its new EMBRAER 190 aircraft. JetBlue will bring low fares to these cities, with introductory one-way fares from JFK starting at $69(a,b) each way, and regular fares between 40 and 70 percent lower than current market rates. Regular one-way fares between New York and Charlotte will range between $89(b) and $199(b). Regular one-way fares between New York and Raleigh-Durham will range between $79(b) and $199(b). Roundtrip purchase is never required on JetBlue.

"Charlotte, as the nation's second largest banking region, and Raleigh-Durham's 'Research Triangle' have natural ties to New York, but until now, the people of North Carolina have overpaid for sub-standard service," said JetBlue CEO David Neeleman. "With four round-trips a day to New York, JetBlue's 10,000-plus crewmembers hope to change that for North Carolinians by bringing our award-winning customer service and low fares to Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham."

"I am pleased to welcome JetBlue Airways to Charlotte," said Mayor Pat McCrory. "This service announcement is validation of our strategy to provide a strong base of transportation choices for Charlotte. I am confident that JetBlue will be welcomed by the community and I wish them great success."

"I applaud JetBlue for bringing its award-winning customer service airline to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina," said W. Stephens Toler, Chairman of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority. "With nonstop service to JFK and dozens of connecting cities, the region will benefit from the increase in affordable travel, tourism, and business activity."

JetBlue will operate four daily flights between New York and both Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, using its brand-new EMBRAER 190 aircraft. This 100-seat aircraft offers customers comfy all-leather seats and the most live entertainment options in the skies today, with 36 channels of DIRECTV programming and more than 100 channels of XM Satellite Radio. JetBlue customers enrolled in the airline's flight gratitude program, TrueBlue, will earn two TrueBlue points each way, with double points awarded for travel purchased online at www.jetblue.com.

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Joined: 17 Jun 2005
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Location: Carmel, IN

So JetBlue's E190s are rolling out, but Indy hasn't made the cut yet. Didn't Neeleman say something about wanting to expand into the Midwest? Last time I checked, PIT, RDU, RIC, CLT, and JAX aren't in the midwest.

Come on, JetBlue...how 'bout a little love for the city that's the Midwest's Little Miracle?

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Joined: 15 Jun 2005
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Location: Indianapolis, IN

LCC competition may be too tough here.

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
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Location: St. Louis, MO

In one breath---I really don't think there is anything in the midwest that would really appeal to them outside of Chicago.


In a different breath---I just don't see how places like Raleigh, Richmond, and Austin are getting service on JetBlue but some place like Indianapolis is being overlooked at the moment.

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Joined: 15 Jun 2005
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Location: Indianapolis, IN

Honestly I don't see why Chicago would appeal to an LCC. It is just too expensive in the form of competition and delays MDW is at capacity and ORD is a legacy nightmare.

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Joined: 17 Jun 2005
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Location: Carmel, IN

They're interested in Chicago because the 9.5 million people in the metro area make it the third largest metro in the country. They've actually stated that they only want to be at ORD, not MDW. But unfortunately, there are no continguous gates available to them. Also unfortunately, ORD is controlled by the city of Chicago and the Daley machine, and both UA and AA are way up the mayor's ass. So good luck cracking that nut, Neeleman.

If you just look at the map, though, it seems as though Jet Blue would want to roll out midwest service to both JFK and Long Beach from these airports first: ORD, MSP, CLE, DTW, IND, STL, MCI, and CVG. All large-ish cities with lots of o&d demand to the coasts. The exact kind of target city their business model is set up to serve. Secondary cities would be MKE, OMA, CMH, MEM, BNA, SDF. Then if they get bored, they can add places like GRR, DSM, TOL, and BMI or PIA. Personally, I think that's all really well served by hubbing at ORD or STL (in JetBlue's own unique style of hubbing). Of course, IND would be nice, but STL/ORD makes more sense for them.

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Joined: 15 Jun 2005
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Location: Indianapolis, IN

Its not just about how big the Chicago metro area is. You have to look how many passengers are served every year. MDW and ORD must account for over 100 million passengers. Thats better than a 10:1 ratio. Compare that to Indianapolis with a metro area approaching 2 million but only 8.5 million passengers served. Thats slightly better than a 4:1 ratio. One could say that the Chicago market is greatly over served as it is. There are no holes in that market. Adding more flights would do nothing but cause more delay problems and dilute the value of the market for those already serving it.

Using Chicago logic we should have 20 million passengers a year going through IND with a want for more.

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Joined: 17 Jun 2005
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Location: Carmel, IN

While that makes sense, the New York market is even bigger than Chicago. And that's where JetBlue got started. I guess my point is that, while there are no holes in the Chicago market, JetBlue's strategy is more about going head to head with the legacy carriers, offering better service at a low fare. If you look at the cities that they started out with, they were mostly all cities that were well served by both legacy carriers and LCC's alike.