By Philip Newman
The Kew Gardens-based low-fare airline JetBlue is buying 10 new Airbus A320 jetliners to be delivered over the coming four years.
“Despite the airline industry’s current climate, JetBlue is moving forward with its original controlled growth business plan,” said JetBlue Chairman David Neeleman.
“More than 4 million customers have come to love our brand new A320s as a safe, reliable and comfortable way to travel for business and pleasure,” Neeleman said of the jetliners his airline uses exclusively.
“JetBlue continues to defy convention,” said Noel Forgeard, chairman of Airbus. “It has found great and rapid success as a start-up airline by remaining on the cutting edge both in its aircraft selection and in its low-fare-high-service product.”
JetBlue now has 22 A320 jets and it plans to take delivery of 13 more in 2002, 14 in 2003, 13 in 2004 and 12 in 2005. With options for an additional 49 A320s, JetBlue has contracts for a fleet totaling as many as 132 such aircraft with a value of $6.5 billion.
JetBlue, which is privately owned, is one of the few airlines that has had no layoffs or delayed orders for new planes due to a slowdown in business as a result of the attack on the World Trade Center. JetBlue cut back slightly on its flights right after the attack but now has more flights than before last Sept. 11.
Flying out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, JetBlue serves 16 cities, including nonstop flights from JFK to Long Beach and Ontario in Southern California and Oakland near San Francisco along with Seattle and Salt Lake City.
All seats on JetBlue planes are assigned, travel is ticketless, all fares are one way and a Saturday night stay is never required.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
