JetBlue Airlines is known for providing premium service for less than premium prices, a business model it is keen to continue and improve upon. The airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Joanna Geraghty – the first CEO of a major US airline, shared her insights about the airline and her vision for its future at the Skift Global Forum held in New York City on September 19th.
JetForward
JetBlue
(B6) recently unveiled that it will bring its own lounges to New York’s New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK) and Boston Logan International Airport
(BOS) by the end of next year. The lounges will be located in Terminal 5 and Terminal C, respectively.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
According to Airways Magazine, The move is a major focus of the airline’s ‘JetForward’ strategy to improve customer service and its premium products while maintaining affordability. At the forum, Geraghty spoke to Gordon Smith, Skift’s Airline Editor, about why it took the airline 24 years to introduce its own lounges:
“Lounges are probably the single most significant thing customers have asked for that we haven’t offered. We want to avoid the long lines and underwhelming experience that other lounges often provide.”
According to the CEO, the airline was looking for a way to balance the costs of operating premium lounges with its mission to offer low-cost fares to its customers. But the undertaking was too challenging until now. The airline could’ve opened lounges earlier, but they would’ve been like many current airline lounges today, which, according to Geraghty, are “overcrowded and uninspired.”
JetBlue’s approach will be different. Its lounges will be smaller, more exclusive, and focused on a smaller clientele, particularly its Mosaic members and future premium credit card holders. The number of passengers entering the lounges has to be kept small to ensure quality service at low costs.
JetBlue’s growth
JetBlue is currently focused on growing its transatlantic service and has introduced new routes to European destinations such as Dublin and Edinburgh. It also offers year-round flights to popular destinations such as Amsterdam, London, and Paris.
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock
Some destinations that the airline wants to service, such as Rome, are still slightly out of reach due to fleet constraints. The airline would prefer to operate nonstop flights without fuel stops halfway through the flight. She said:
“I’m not sure that the aircraft, the XLR, would actually make it to Rome. With the level of reliability we would need. It’s covered to fly back in the wintertime, and we don’t want to have a technical stop along the way to get gas over the Atlantic. We’re exploring new routes, but we want to ensure we can fly them reliably.”
Due to underperformance, JetBlue has cut dozens of routes and even pulled out of some cities completely in the last year. It has redeployed around 20% of its fleet over the last two to six months as it focuses heavily on the East Coast leisure network. Geraghty said that the airline is “doubling down in the Northeast.”
JetBlue’s attempts at growth have been affected by the US Government’s decision to block a merger between it and Spirit Airlines. It is now focused on more organic growth and creating partnerships with other airlines to offer its customers a better route network.