Why does JetBlue seem so dominant on routes between the United States and the Dominican Republic? It is significantly smaller than the big three U.S. legacy carriers in terms of overall passengers carried, yet it seems to have an overwhelming advantage in numbers to the DR. For example, in July of this year it carried 405,234 passengers whereas the closest legacy competitor, AA, was well back at 189,361. United was further behind at 125,762 and Delta brought up the rear at 118,237. That's not a slight edge, that's a major lead.

JetBlue dominates in the Caribbean because they went into the market with lower fares than the competition and developed a brand following through word of mouth. Same reason why Southwest has a core customer base that would prefer to fly Southwest even if it's not the least expensive flight.

Back in the day, AA used to be by far the most dominant carrier in the Caribbean with their 35ish Airbus A300s. At 267 seats and a huge cargo capacity, they were just about everywhere (including a particular JFK-SDQ flight in November 2001 ). The type was retired in 2009.

As diburning noted, JetBlue entered the market with lower fares than AA and others, and arguably better service. Many Dominican travelers prefer to purchase tickets close-in to departure and in person, which is why JetBlue opened ticket offices in downtown locations. However, over the years (as discussed on other threads) that service level has degraded and fares have gone up. But it is at the point where many people don't even think about other airlines -- if they are flying, it is on JetBlue.

-J.