Defining JetBlue Position in the Market
JetBlue Airways focused on the goal to inspire humanity back to air travel. Since its first flight back in 2000 with a non-stop flight from JFK to Fort Lauderdale, its operations grew unique. Today in 2022, JetBlue is the fifth largest airline in the United States, flying to 100+ destinations, most recently entering the trans-Atlantic market with flights to London-Gatwick and Heathrow with the brand new Airbus A321LR (part of the A320neo Family). The airline has 280+ aircraft with 150+ on order, with the A320-200 and A321-200, the Embraer E190, and most recently joined the fleet the Airbus A220). I would be able to classify the airline as still growing. The reason is their potential to become more reliable to its loyal customers.
JetBlue is currently 22 years old; the airline still has made several changes to its service since its first flight. The airline is currently undergoing cabin retrofitting, with new seats, new seatback IFE, and enhanced changes to the onboard service. This includes recently (back in 2013) the airline launched a premium class experience (exclusively on select flights with its A321 aircraft), called Mint. Bigger seats, bigger IFE screens, and more. This comes at a time after the airline failed to bid for rival Virgin America, which would increase the airline's west-coast presence.
The airline does have holes in its operations. It is yet to expand its trans-Atlantic market; the airline still has a mild list of codeshare partners. The airline still has no lounge services at the airport, and the airline still needs to offer more perks to both its loyalty program and its loyalty credit cards. However, the optimism is broad for JetBlue; the airline is again 22 years old and still has time to grow. Its recent partnership with American Airlines planned to help both airlines expand the market share in the northeast of the United States. Plus, the airline is expected the go north of the border, with its first flights to Canada coming soon. Overall, JetBlue is still in the growing phase, which is still good. Because being mature at this level with lots of work to be done, is incorrect.
Editors Note
This was an in-class writing assignment, for my Airline Management Class. This has been written before my employment with JetBlue Airways ever commenced, and had no influence on this essay. I believed it was a perfect piece to be added to my blog under my interest and knowledge of the aviation industry.
