Gala welcome for JetBlue
CEO looks to SFO service to help pull low-fare airline out of tough times
David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 4, 2007
document.getElementById('fontpopup').onmouseout = sfgate_chfont_mo;
sfgate_get_fprefs(); A guy in a New York Yankees cap slapped five -- a low-five, of necessity -- with a bloke on stilts who was advertising "more legroom in coach,'' while over by the gate, a tall man with white hair chatted with amused passengers just off their flight from New York, all to the sounds of a soft-jazz trio trilling "I Left My Heart in San Francisco.''
The white-haired man was JetBlue Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman, working the room to promote the start of JetBlue's four-times-daily nonstop service between San Francisco International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Neeleman was also ballyhooing JetBlue generally, talking up expansion plans, announcing the reconfiguration of Airbus A320s to offer 34 to 36 inches of legroom -- above the industry average of 32 inches for coach class -- and characterizing JetBlue's new customer bill of rights as a success.
JetBlue, a stylish, 6-year-old carrier, also flies to Oakland International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport, but high fees kept it out of SFO before now, according to Neeleman.
"We had to contain our costs,'' Neeleman said in an interview Thursday in SFO's International Terminal, where JetBlue's service is housed, even though all its SFO flights are domestic, not international.
"We talked to SFO and we are paying the (lower) domestic rate. We've had a good business in Oakland, and we still have a good business there, but our customers want to fly to all three Bay Area airports and some of them find it convenient to use SFO. And with the (BART) transportation to SFO, we thought it was a good fit. We're happy to be here.''
SFO has lowered its landing fees and other costs for other airlines carriers in the past several years to boost business. It has especially courted low-cost carriers such as JetBlue, AirTran, Spirit and discount category leader Southwest Airlines, which plans to resume service at SFO this fall after an absence of several years.
Neeleman acknowledged that JetBlue will face stiff competition at SFO, especially on the potentially lucrative San Francisco-New York route.
"We'll compete with American, of course, and United, especially its (premium service). Delta has added a flight and Virgin America is coming. It's going to be a party. I don't think Southwest will fly to New York and Boston from here, but their plans could affect our expansion plans.''
JetBlue said introductory fares begin at $164 one-way between SFO and JFK through June 13. Afterward, fares on the route will rise, starting at $189. By comparison, a one-way ticket booked two weeks in advance for May 17 would range from $179 on Delta Air Lines to $614 on US Airways, though Expedia.com, a search on Thursday showed.
From its founding in 2000, JetBlue was an immediate success, with its leather seats, free DirecTV service at every seat, smartly dressed cabin crew, and low prices for an all-economy class, modern Airbus aircraft. But high fuel costs and rapid expansion drove the company into the red late last year, and it's been a rough ride since then.
JetBlue is still trying to get over its February meltdown, when the airline stranded hundreds of passengers in planes parked on runways -- some without water, food service or working toilets -- for up to 12 hours. Neeleman said at the time that the delays, which occurred during a major East Coast ice storm, would cost the company $40 million.
Last week, JetBlue of Forest Hills, N.Y., reported a first-quarter loss of $22 million, down from a loss of $32 million in the first quarter of last year.
Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and other members of Congress have introduced legislation to establish a passengers' bill of rights, but JetBlue prepared a bill of rights of its own shortly after the ice storm. Neeleman said the program shows the company has learned its lessons from the February chaos.
"If you have been inconvenienced, your name goes into a database for compensation,'' Neeleman said, referring to vouchers for future travel and other compensation for canceled flights or extended delays in situations JetBlue acknowledges it could have controlled. "You can request that through our Web site, www.jetblue.com/promise, and by telephone" at (800) 538-2583.
In addition to the New York service, JetBlue on Thursday also initiated a daily nonstop flight to Boston. On July 27, the airline plans to offer daily, nonstop service between SFO and Salt Lake City, Neeleman's hometown.
E-mail David Armstrong at [email protected].
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
CEO looks to SFO service to help pull low-fare airline out of tough times
David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 4, 2007
document.getElementById('fontpopup').onmouseout = sfgate_chfont_mo;
sfgate_get_fprefs(); A guy in a New York Yankees cap slapped five -- a low-five, of necessity -- with a bloke on stilts who was advertising "more legroom in coach,'' while over by the gate, a tall man with white hair chatted with amused passengers just off their flight from New York, all to the sounds of a soft-jazz trio trilling "I Left My Heart in San Francisco.''
The white-haired man was JetBlue Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman, working the room to promote the start of JetBlue's four-times-daily nonstop service between San Francisco International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Neeleman was also ballyhooing JetBlue generally, talking up expansion plans, announcing the reconfiguration of Airbus A320s to offer 34 to 36 inches of legroom -- above the industry average of 32 inches for coach class -- and characterizing JetBlue's new customer bill of rights as a success.
JetBlue, a stylish, 6-year-old carrier, also flies to Oakland International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport, but high fees kept it out of SFO before now, according to Neeleman.
"We had to contain our costs,'' Neeleman said in an interview Thursday in SFO's International Terminal, where JetBlue's service is housed, even though all its SFO flights are domestic, not international.
"We talked to SFO and we are paying the (lower) domestic rate. We've had a good business in Oakland, and we still have a good business there, but our customers want to fly to all three Bay Area airports and some of them find it convenient to use SFO. And with the (BART) transportation to SFO, we thought it was a good fit. We're happy to be here.''
SFO has lowered its landing fees and other costs for other airlines carriers in the past several years to boost business. It has especially courted low-cost carriers such as JetBlue, AirTran, Spirit and discount category leader Southwest Airlines, which plans to resume service at SFO this fall after an absence of several years.
Neeleman acknowledged that JetBlue will face stiff competition at SFO, especially on the potentially lucrative San Francisco-New York route.
"We'll compete with American, of course, and United, especially its (premium service). Delta has added a flight and Virgin America is coming. It's going to be a party. I don't think Southwest will fly to New York and Boston from here, but their plans could affect our expansion plans.''
JetBlue said introductory fares begin at $164 one-way between SFO and JFK through June 13. Afterward, fares on the route will rise, starting at $189. By comparison, a one-way ticket booked two weeks in advance for May 17 would range from $179 on Delta Air Lines to $614 on US Airways, though Expedia.com, a search on Thursday showed.
From its founding in 2000, JetBlue was an immediate success, with its leather seats, free DirecTV service at every seat, smartly dressed cabin crew, and low prices for an all-economy class, modern Airbus aircraft. But high fuel costs and rapid expansion drove the company into the red late last year, and it's been a rough ride since then.
JetBlue is still trying to get over its February meltdown, when the airline stranded hundreds of passengers in planes parked on runways -- some without water, food service or working toilets -- for up to 12 hours. Neeleman said at the time that the delays, which occurred during a major East Coast ice storm, would cost the company $40 million.
Last week, JetBlue of Forest Hills, N.Y., reported a first-quarter loss of $22 million, down from a loss of $32 million in the first quarter of last year.
Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and other members of Congress have introduced legislation to establish a passengers' bill of rights, but JetBlue prepared a bill of rights of its own shortly after the ice storm. Neeleman said the program shows the company has learned its lessons from the February chaos.
"If you have been inconvenienced, your name goes into a database for compensation,'' Neeleman said, referring to vouchers for future travel and other compensation for canceled flights or extended delays in situations JetBlue acknowledges it could have controlled. "You can request that through our Web site, www.jetblue.com/promise, and by telephone" at (800) 538-2583.
In addition to the New York service, JetBlue on Thursday also initiated a daily nonstop flight to Boston. On July 27, the airline plans to offer daily, nonstop service between SFO and Salt Lake City, Neeleman's hometown.
E-mail David Armstrong at [email protected].
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
