JetBlue continues to grow with lower prices
With Spring Break looming, students have visions of exotic vacations dancing in their heads, but money matters could keep them grounded unless they find affordable airfare.
A new money-friendly airline that was brought to the Salt Lake City Airport on Nov. 17 last year called JetBlue might be the answer for those vacation blues.
“People are originally attracted by the low prices, but we owe our success to the fact that people want quality as well. We have a very loyal customer base,” Fiona Morrisson, Manager of Corporate Communications, said.
JetBlue bases all its flights out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. This means that JFK is the hub all flights go through.
Flights out of Salt Lake range between $129 to $249, Morrisson said. Their highest price for people who walk in for booking is 70 percent lower than what other airlines charge.
Besides significantly lower fares, JetBlue also offers 24 channels of satellite television in every seat for no extra charge.
“We were planning to charge for TV, but then we realized this was such a great opportunity for people to just enjoy and relax with JetBlue,” Morrisson said.
The planes are all new Airbus A320 aircraft. Customers can enjoy leather seats and the option to buy one-way tickets.
“We aim to give our customers excellent service,” Morrisson said.
Booking is available through September 5.
To check ticket prices, destinations and dates, see the web site at www.jetblue.com.
Need a job?
Morrisson said JetBlue is doing “very well very quickly.” Their expanding service is creating a new job market.
The company plans to buy 10 airplanes each year and add a city to their route for each of those planes, Morrisson said. They’re going to celebrate their one-year anniversary on February 11.
Currently, JetBlue employees over 300 people in Salt Lake, Morrisson said. The majority are reservationists working from home.
JetBlue trains employees and provides them with pagers and computers, Morrisson said. They are able to take calls in their homes during certain hours they are asked to work. They go to the office once a month.
“We try to be as efficient as possible,” Morrisson said. “It’s better than having a lot of people sitting around in an office.”
Morrisson said they’re “definitely growing very fast.”
There are growth opportunities in the Salt Lake facilities.
She said that in the seven months she has been working for JetBlue, the number of employees has gone from 700 to 1200.
JetBlue began in February 1999 when David Neeleman, originally from Utah, announced his plans to build an airline that would bring “humanity back to air travel,” according to the web site at www.jetblue.com.
“He keeps his heart in Utah,” Morrison said. “I think that’s the reason why we have people in Utah.”
This is Neeleman’s fourth business involvement with the aviation industry. He was previously the founder of Morris Air.