Nothing but blue skies

JetBlue Airways, the American budget airline which made a name for itself in the U.S. offering low fares and providing free satellite TV and radio, free drinks and snacks to passengers on its flights, has begun to make a name for itself in the Caribbean, with its cheap, cheerful and convenient service. Flying to more than 50 destinations in 21 states in the U.S. JetBlue calls itself ‘America’s Favourite Airline’ and is intent on one day becoming the Caribbean’s favourite airline too. Today, one in four of JetBlue’s passengers flies the airline to a Caribbean destination. the airline offers more flights and seats to Puerto Rico and to the Dominican Republic than any other US airline. “We expect this number to continue to grow as we continue to seize opportunities” says JetBlue’s CEO David Barger, who described the Caribbean as the airline’s “best performing markets.” Barger also said the growth of JetBlue in recent years had been “primarily through the addition of new destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America.” Currently, JetBlue flies to 17 destinations in nine Caribbean countries: _ e Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Maarten, Aruba, the Turks and Caicos, Barbados, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Service will be added to St. Thomas and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, later in 2011. JetBlue has achieved its success in the Caribbean, in part, by adding a host of new destinations there over the past few years and by flying to the Caribbean out of both large airports and out of small airports in the US that many travellers find most convenient. By responding to the demands of its passengers the New York-based airline, founded in 1999, has managed in just 12 years to become one of the top carriers in the U.S. and has more recently become one of the top American carriers in the Caribbean. JetBlue’s growth and expansion in the Caribbean has challenged the dominance there of larger airlines like American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. these rival carriers view JetBlue as an upstart that has somehow managed to succeed in eating into their share of Caribbean market. But Mateo Lleras, JetBlue’s manager of Corporate Communications for Latin America and the Caribbean, says there’s more to growth than grabbing new customers.

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