JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) CEO Robin Hayes today issued the
following message to the airline’s 20,000 crewmembers:
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210921006083/en/
Our Alliance with American Airlines means
more flying for JetBlue. (Photo: Business Wire)
Dear Crewmembers,
COVID-19 has thrown unimaginable challenges at us, and we’ve
worked together to manage them every step of the way. We played
defense to reduce spending and maintain our 21-year no furlough
commitment, but we also went on the offense by investing in new
routes and BlueCities that bring more of JetBlue’s competitive
effect and low fares to the market. Our Northeast Alliance (NEA)
with American Airlines is an example of how we played offense to
not only get our fleet and Crewmembers flying again, but also set
up JetBlue for long-term growth and bring more competition to the
Northeast.
Given our focus on the NEA, I wanted to talk about action the
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking in federal court to
unwind the NEA. Regardless of what the DOJ claims about us in court
and in the media, it’s important you know that JetBlue’s commitment
to competition and low fares remains as strong as ever. This is not
at all like a merger with American – we have two different business
models and are not working together on pricing. It’s also important
that you have the full picture on benefits the NEA is already
delivering, and I want to reassure you that the DOJ’s action will
not affect our plans to continue implementing the NEA.
Many things set JetBlue apart, but our “secret sauce” is our
20,000 passionate and caring Crewmembers who believe a small
airline like ours can continue to make a big difference. Each of
you deliver a simple but extraordinary value proposition – that no
one should have to choose between a low fare and a great
experience. By bringing this to life for 21 years, you’ve helped us
build a much-loved low-fare brand and a reputation for shaking up
the status quo, challenging the competition to raise their
game.
Even though our low fares and great service benefit travelers,
it hasn’t always been easy to get our foot in the door at the
largest and most important congested airports where the big
airlines dominate. We’ve had to fight our way into airports like
Los Angeles (LAX), Newark, Atlanta, Miami and others where the
“JetBlue Effect” of lowering fares and stimulating new demand is
badly needed.
If there is a silver lining to the pandemic’s impact on our
industry, it’s that space freed up for us to introduce competition
in airports like LAX and Miami, and we’re setting ourselves up for
long-term success at London Heathrow, where we recently launched
our transformative transatlantic service. I’m so proud of how far
we’ve come, but there is still plenty of opportunity for us to
shake up the market with more competition, especially in the
Northeast where Customers who know and love JetBlue keep asking for
us to grow.
While we have built a successful business in both New York and
Boston, our runway for growth in the Northeast to challenge global
legacy carriers Delta and United is limited. And I’m sad to say
that our biggest obstacle to bringing more low fares and great
service to the Northeast right now is the DOJ – the very government
agency that should be making every effort to foster robust
competition among airlines.
In New York’s airports, there has been quite literally no room
for us to add flights. There are no slots available at LGA and JFK,
and it remains extremely difficult to grow in Newark given gate and
space constraints. Delta and United – with large international
networks, ample financial resources, and significant airport gate
and slot holdings – have a lock on the market and make it
impossible for an airline like JetBlue to grow and introduce sorely
needed low-fare competition. In Boston, Customers really love
flying JetBlue, but our sales pitch is hampered by a relative lack
of network breadth and depth compared to the deep-pocketed legacy
airline that plans to grow even further there.
These obstacles to growth led us to an unlikely alliance with
American Airlines which, even as the world’s largest carrier, also
has not been able to compete with Delta and United’s dominance in
the Northeast.
The backbone of the NEA is lots of JetBlue growth, bringing our
much-loved experience and low fares on more routes as we tap into
American’s slot portfolio and Customer base. We create a viable
third competitor in the Northeast by connecting our growing network
to American’s through codeshare and reciprocal loyalty benefits.
American gets to codeshare and put its loyal Customers on JetBlue’s
growing New York and Boston network of flights. The NEA also
enables JetBlue to grow our network even faster than we otherwise
would have, and these opportunities are a large part of why we
delayed the retirement of our 30 owned E190 aircraft.
We hoped this plan to introduce new competition to the
marketplace would receive a warm reception from both DOT and DOJ.
After an exhaustive six-month review, the DOT welcomed this new,
meaningful change to the competitive landscape by entering into an
agreement with us. DOJ and some states, however, have not been
receptive. DOJ believes that American’s influence will bring an end
to the “JetBlue Effect.” Of course, the NEA is already up and
running and every day we are proving DOJ’s theory wrong. We have no
intention of abandoning our low-fare model – in fact, the NEA
empowers us to deliver more of it.
The NEA is already delivering benefits
In court, DOJ is sure to face an uphill battle opposing the
expansion of low fares in New York and Boston. There is absolutely
no evidence that the NEA is harming consumers, and quite the
opposite, it is already delivering on the benefits we promised:
The NEA is enabling the expansion of JetBlue’s low fares and
great service:
- JetBlue has announced nine new BlueCities and 32 new routes,
fully enabled by access to American’s slot portfolio and feed from
their Customer base.
- At LGA, we’ll be up to 35 daily departures by the end of the
year; by next summer we plan to boost that to 50+ daily JetBlue
departures – bringing badly needed competition to this airport
where we were capped at 16 daily departures before the NEA.
- With JetBlue’s NEA growth, we need more aircraft flying and
have delayed the retirement of the 30 E190s we own (we lease the
other 30), leading to significant net aircraft growth.
Together with American, we are providing Customers more choices
and benefits that create a true third competitor to the two
dominant legacies in the Northeast.
- JetBlue and American have added 58 new routes, including 18
international flights that will be launched by 2022, and increased
frequencies on more than 130 routes giving more options and choices
to Customers.
- We are now codesharing on 175 routes. This gives us a combined
schedule with the number of markets and seats that for the first
time in our two-decade history allows us to stack up against the
dominant carriers.
- Since the NEA was implemented in February, JetBlue and American
have collectively grown more quickly than Delta and United across
New York and Boston, offering Customers more options for travel and
getting our Crewmembers back to work faster.
- Delta and United are already responding by launching new
routes, introducing larger aircraft, and bringing premium seats to
Boston and New York. This is exactly the type of action you would
expect when there is a competitive influence in the market.
- We’re introducing loyalty benefits that give both JetBlue and
American Customers the opportunity to earn and redeem on both
airlines, and reciprocal benefits – creating a new option for
Customers that previously would not have considered us. American
has 23 million AAdvantage members, and now JetBlue is a more
attractive option for them.
- Even with the NEA, we continue to independently price as we
always have and remain tough competitors to American in markets
where we are going to head-to-head. Our recent growth in LAX, Miami
and London are just a few examples of where we have proven we will
not back down from competing with American.
We have tried, and failed, for many years to gain additional
slots so that we can add flights and competition. Without more
slots and access available to us, we developed a creative way to
grow into a stronger competitor to United and Delta in these very
congested markets, while retaining our independence and competing
with the same fierceness against American in other markets.
The irony now is that the government agency responsible for
preserving competition is instead trying to take away our ability
to further expand our low fares in these markets. What the DOJ says
and does seem to be in conflict – it’s quite puzzling and
hypocritical for DOJ to applaud DOT’s recent efforts to promote
competition at Newark while standing in the way of JetBlue’s
growth. Rather than use the public’s resources to stifle
competition in court, DOJ should monitor the NEA’s progress over
the months ahead and hold us accountable for delivering the
Customer benefits we’ve promised.
Our implementation of the NEA will continue
While it’s extremely unfortunate DOJ would rather take us to
court than help us compete, we’re ready to make a strong case on
why more low-fare JetBlue growth is good for Customers. We fully
expect the court to find that nothing about the NEA changes our
business model or our role as a force for good in the industry.
We cannot let this lawsuit slow our momentum in bringing the NEA
to life. Because of growth from the NEA, we are on track to hire
1,800 new Crewmembers this year. We fully intend to launch the new
routes and BlueCities we have announced, as well as expand
codeshare options. Our IT investments will move full speed ahead to
improve our systems in support of our Crewmembers and Customers.
Expect to see us deliver great new loyalty program enhancements in
the coming months for both JetBlue and American Customers. We’ll
continue to work with American to provide better re-accommodation
options when our Customers’ travel plans don’t go as expected. And,
within our airport operations, we’ll continue to find ways to offer
a seamless Customer experience and connections – for example, with
our new bussing operation at JFK.
As we continue forward, many others will stand behind the NEA –
loyal Customers who now have more choices and low fares, thousands
of Crewmembers benefitting from the additional flying, and key
Congressional leaders like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who
have voiced their support for the NEA. Like every challenge we’ve
faced in our history, we will come out the other side stronger and
prove to all the skeptics what good JetBlue can do when given the
chance to make a difference.
Sincerely,
Robin Hayes
Chief Executive Officer
About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline®, and a leading carrier
in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles, Orlando and San
Juan. JetBlue carries customers across the U.S., Caribbean and
Latin America. For more information, visit jetblue.com.
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JetBlue Corporate Communications Tel: +1.718.709.3089
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