JetBlue TrueBlue - B6's first departure from White Plains (article)

From the Journal News aka lohud.com

JetBlue's first flight from Westchester takes off, with perks
By CAREN HALBFINGER
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: March 29, 2007)

JetBlue's first passengers at Westchester County Airport yesterday morning were welcomed by smiling crew members bearing free doughnuts and coffee, Universal Studios passes and silly headgear.

Following a news conference and ribbon cutting to welcome the air carrier to Westchester, 118 passengers - with some children wearing SpongeBob SquarePants hats or Shrek ear headbands and adults in Universal Studios baseball caps - traipsed out on the tarmac under sunny blue skies to board the A320 Airbus, a 150-seat jet currently the largest flown from the county airport.

More here... http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703290395

dh

80% load factor on thier first flight (on a Tuesday no less) out of HPN. That airn't bad at all. Way to go JetBlue!!

Have to agree- these flights will do great. Now that they are already talking about adding more flights, I'm sure a Tampa and or Ft. Myers will be next.

The article mentioned HPN to Florida routes on Jet Blue. Any chance of Buffalo (or anywhere else in upstate New York) to White Plains?

Thanks.

RSW and TPA will undoubtly come to HPN. With good yeilds, I think might see the addition of flights to MCO, FLL, and PBI (coming in the respective order) along with other Florida destinations. They will add a nice mix to HPN as they as can. It would be nice if IAD, BOS, and SJU were all added as well (SJU especially to help ease the burden on JFK).

The only issue I can see (and if I'm not mistaken) is that B6 has to get slot approvals.

I live about 20 minutes from the White Plains airport, am a regular user of said facility and had already seen the Journal News piece.

What the rah-rah article glossed over is the fact that airport is already showing significant growth pains that affect it's user-friendliness and (potentially) the attractiveness of it for JB.

As example, simultaneous to that Journal article, local cable news and the county website were asking people planning to use JB over the Easter break period to not plan on parking at the airport, which has only one medium sized garage. The county website in particular put this in blunt terms:

"Spring break week will bring droves of holiday travelers to Westchester County Airport. And with a new popular carrier Jet Blue starting service tomorrow, there are likely to be many travelers who are flying out of Westchester for the very first time.

County Executive Andy Spano has a message for you: “Westchester County Airport is clean, convenient and safe, but if you want the best traveling experience: Get a ride to the airport, don’t drive.’’

With the expected holiday rush and limited parking, travelers will find it more convenient and - in the long run – cheaper to get a ride to the airport. That’s especially true as county police will begin this week to crack down on illegally parked cars."

The article mentioned HPN to Florida routes on Jet Blue. Any chance of Buffalo (or anywhere else in upstate New York) to White Plains?

Thanks.

JB nonstop service from SWF (Newburgh, NY) to Florida (MCO, FLL and PBI) is already up and running.