JetBlue Continues Commitment to Blocking Middle Seats in New ‘Safety from the Ground Up’ Program
May 20 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Health and Safety Program Layers in a Series of
Protections for Crewmembers and Customers Throughout the Travel
Journey
JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) today announced it will extend through
the July 4 holiday its commitment to seat distancing by blocking
middle seats in rows where parties are not traveling together. The
policy, part of the airline’s multi-layered “Safety from the Ground
Up” program, comes as the airline is also set to roll out
temperature monitoring for its flight and inflight crewmembers and
electrostatic aircraft fogging in June.
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the full release here:
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JetBlue's "Safety from the Ground Up"
program layers in a series of protections for crewmembers and
customers throughout the travel journey. (Graphic: Business
Wire)
“As communities start to reopen and with summer travel kicking
off this weekend, more people are beginning to fly and we want them
to feel safe on JetBlue,” said Joanna Geraghty, president and chief
operating officer, JetBlue. “Our program layers together a series
of protections throughout the entire travel journey, which work
together to help keep everyone safe and well.”
JetBlue’s program focused on four focus areas: healthy
crewmembers; clean air and surfaces; more space, fewer touchpoints;
and travel flexibility.
Seat Distancing on All Flights
As part of its “more space, fewer touchpoints” focus, JetBlue’s
seat distancing policy gives customers peace of mind that they will
not be seated directly next to someone they don’t know. Middle
seats will be blocked on its Airbus aircraft, and on its smaller
Embraer 190 aircraft, JetBlue will block aisle seats. The airline
does allow customers traveling together to sit in middle and aisle
seats.
“We’re known for generous legroom and space, and now more than
ever, those choosing to travel want as much space as possible,”
Geraghty said. “We are pleased to extend our efforts to keep seats
free and help everyone onboard spread out.”
Even with blocked seats, it’s challenging to maintain six feet
of distance between everyone onboard and that’s why JetBlue was the
first U.S. airline to require face coverings for customers. JetBlue
will keep the seat distancing program in place through at least
July 6.
Layering Together a Series of Protections
JetBlue’s program puts in place safeguards across four focus
areas, and the airline continues to work under the guidance of an
infectious disease specialist and in accordance with CDC
guidelines.
Healthy crewmembers
Steps to ensure the health and safety of JetBlue’s 23,000
crewmembers include:
- Conducting temperature checks for our pilots and inflight
crewmembers (rolling out first week in June)
- Providing paid sick leave and additional time off programs so
crewmembers do not come to work sick
- Following company-wide protocols for reporting cases of the
coronavirus, notifications and return to work clearance
- Providing disinfectant kits for pilot use on the flight
deck
- Requiring face coverings for all crewmembers while boarding, in
flight, and when physical distancing cannot be maintained
Clean air and surfaces
JetBlue is ensuring the use of disinfectant approved to kill
coronavirus and maintaining healthy air onboard its aircraft. Steps
include:
- More frequent disinfecting of common surfaces like kiosks and
counters inside our airport terminals
- Providing hand sanitizer throughout terminals and disinfectant
wipes to customers on board upon request
- Increasing aircraft cleaning before every flight and overnight,
including surfaces that are touched most like tray tables
- Using electrostatic sprayers to fog the inside of our aircraft
(rolling out soon)
- Filtering cabin air through hospital-grade HEPA air filters
with cabin air completely changing about every three minutes
- (To learn about how air circulates onboard JetBlue’s fleet,
view this JetBlue video at https://youtu.be/Q2_C2iN-tEs)
More space, fewer touchpoints
To increase physical distancing and to decrease touchpoints,
JetBlue is implementing the following steps:
- Requiring face coverings for all customers during check-in,
boarding and inflight
- Blocking middle seats on larger aircraft and aisle seats on
smaller aircraft for those not traveling together (at least through
July 6)
- Providing the most space between each row of seats in coach of
any U.S. airline* and spacious seating on all aircraft
- Providing touchless check-in and boarding experiences using the
JetBlue mobile app and self-boarding gates for many of our
flights
- Implementing a back-to-front boarding process for most
customers to minimize passing in the aisle
- Adjusting on board service including pre-sealed snack and
beverage bags in Core, and pre-packaged fresh meals in Mint
- Using your personal device as a remote for seatback screens on
select planes
Travel flexibility
JetBlue was the first carrier in the United States to adjust
policies allowing customers to choose to travel when they are
comfortable:
- Waiving change and cancel fees for tickets purchased by May 31
to give customers confidence when booking
- Extending Travel Bank credit expirations to a 24-month period
for credits issued between Feb. 27 and May 31
- Providing 24/7 support and award-winning customer service
About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline®, and a leading carrier
in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles (Long Beach),
Orlando, and San Juan. JetBlue carries more than 42 million
customers a year to nearly 100 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and
Latin America with an average of more than 1,000 daily flights. For
more information please visit jetblue.com.
*Based on the average fleet-wide economy seat pitch of U.S.
airlines.
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JetBlue Corporate Communications Tel: +1.718.709.3089
corpcomm@jetblue.com
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