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JetBlue will reward fliers

During UR visit, airline CEO says incentives begin in April

By Todd Grady
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Saturday, March 3, 2002

David Neeleman, JetBlue Airways CEO, talks about building business Friday at University of Rochester's William Simon School of Business Administration. He announced that the airline will begin a frequent-flier program.

(March 2, 2002) — People who travel regularly on JetBlue Airways will soon be able to cash in on the benefits of a frequent-flier program.

"We're starting a frequent-flier program in April," said David Neeleman, the airline's chief executive, speaking Friday before nearly 300 students and faculty at the University of Rochester.

"Guess what the name of it is," Neeleman said. "TrueBlue."

Neeleman, guest of the university's William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, spoke for more than an hour about building a business.

The frequent-flier announcement was in response to a question about how JetBlue got its name.

A naming agency suggested TrueBlue, Neeleman said. After further consideration the company went with JetBlue.

A company spokeswoman declined to give further details about the frequent-flier program.

Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, an aviation consulting firm in Evergreen, Colo., expects it to be unique, in line with Neeleman's track record of innovation.

"It's probably going to be something no one else has ever thought of," he said.

Boyd said the addition of a frequent-flier program will help the airline boost revenue.

"The value is in developing brand loyalty," Boyd said. "People fly that airline instead of flying somebody else."

Competing low-fare carriers such as Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways already offer frequent-flier programs.

Neeleman told students about the importance of brand loyalty in building a business.

Michael Cirami, 26, a first-year student at the Simon School, is among JetBlue's customers.

"Flying from here to New York I would fly JetBlue," he said. "I wouldn't even look at anyone else."

Neeleman said one way of building brand loyalty was making the airline's crew members ambassadors for the brand. The others were striving for flawless execution and making it right with customers.

On plans announced last month to offer stock in JetBlue, Neeleman said Securities and Exchange Commission regulations prohibited him from commenting. But when asked by a student whether going public was worth the extra work required, Neeleman replied, "We're excited."

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Time for a jetBlue forum!