JetBlue Airways plans more flights, new destinations

JetBlue Airways is expanding its operations at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, the United States, by adding more flights, ground personnel and destinations in 2009.

JetBlue Airways, the low-cost airline owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation, is headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Its home airport is New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.

On the carrier’s expansion plans, the newspaper The Boston Globe quoted Jim Celeste, general manager of JetBlue Airways at Logan International Airport in Boston, as saying: “The increase in flights will also mean an increase in the number of JetBlue staff. For 2009, the airline plans to hire 100 more pilots, 100 more flight attendants and 100 extra ground crew.”

JetBlue Airways will add more flights to the Caribbean from at Logan International Airport in Boston, starting with a non-stop service from Boston to St Maarten Airport in the Netherlands Antilles starting from February 14, 2009.

From February 12, 2009, JetBlue will begin non-stop flights to Aruba and Cancun in Mexico and one more service to Cancun on Saturdays.

The carrier plans to start daily non-stop service from the Orlando International Airport in the United States to Nassau in the Bahamas; and a twice-daily service from the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport to Nassau from February 1, 2009.

The new services will be operated with new Embraer 190 aircraft.

Scott Laurence, director of route planning at JetBlue Airways, was quoted as saying: “Our customers have asked for high-quality service from Florida to the Bahamas, and JetBlue will continue to raise standards to a higher level with our friendly service, free and unlimited snacks and refreshments, cozy leather seats with lots of legroom and abundant personal entertainment choices – all included in the price of a JetBlue fare.”

JetBlue Airways had, in September 2008, opened its terminal at Terminal 5 at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport. Terminal 5 has 40 ticket counters and 65 e-ticket kiosks on both sides of the check-in lobby where it has a 20-lane security checkpoint.

In a statement, JetBlue Airways said the carrier flew 3.73 million passengers from its New York hub from September 2007 to August 2008, adding: “When the prices of aviation fuel soared, JetBlue had to cut 3 Boston non-stop routes, though other airlines operating at Logan International Airport in Boston had larger flight reductions: Delta Air Lines stopped 8 flights; American Airlines and US Airways cut their October 2008 seat capacity by 10%.”

Aviation analysts point out that JetBlue is also benefiting from charter flights.

The Boston Globe quoted Henry Harteveldt, principal airline analyst at the United States-based Forrester Research, as commenting: “The growth of JetBlue Airways, while the rest of the aviation industry face a bleak outlook, is the result of careful planning and opening the door when opportunity knocks. The carrier’s growth reflects filling in gaps in routes that other airlines have stopped serving or are no longer serving as well as they could be.”