Neeleman says JetBlue avoides competing against Southwest
Jan 23, 2004, 10:33 am
#1
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Neeleman says JetBlue avoides competing against Southwest
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> JetBlue Airways ... chairman David Neeleman ... a Salt Lake City native and founder of Utah's Morris Air, which he later sold to Southwest Airlines, told the Utah Air Travel Commission on Thursday [22 Jan 3004] that JetBlue could not make a worthwhile profit in a contest with low-fare Southwest.
"Wherever Southwest is, it's such a great air service it doesn't make sense to fly against those guys," Neeleman said. "If there ever was a market that didn't need more domestic service, this [Salt Lake City] is it."
Forest Hills, N.Y.-based JetBlue, founded by Neeleman in 2000, offers only one daily flight from Salt Lake City to Long Beach, Calif., and one to New York City, Neeleman said. The flights are provided mainly as a courtesy to the company's 1,000 employees based in Utah ... Nevertheless, Salt Lake City will continue to be an important center for JetBlue. "We're growing, adding people."
The airline has budgeted for a 200-worker increase in Utah by year's end, he said....
JetBlue faces increased competition as the major airlines, emerging from a two-year downturn in the industry, are learning to cut costs and have lost any remaining shyness about competing with discount airlines.
"We are prepared for that competition," Neeleman said. "We have the lowest fares in the industry."
JetBlue also has a lot of cash. The airline came out of the last quarter with $600 million in cash, he said, about 60 percent of its $1 billion in sales.
"We are ready. We have a lot of staying power," Neeleman said. "And we'll need it."
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"Wherever Southwest is, it's such a great air service it doesn't make sense to fly against those guys," Neeleman said. "If there ever was a market that didn't need more domestic service, this [Salt Lake City] is it."
Forest Hills, N.Y.-based JetBlue, founded by Neeleman in 2000, offers only one daily flight from Salt Lake City to Long Beach, Calif., and one to New York City, Neeleman said. The flights are provided mainly as a courtesy to the company's 1,000 employees based in Utah ... Nevertheless, Salt Lake City will continue to be an important center for JetBlue. "We're growing, adding people."
The airline has budgeted for a 200-worker increase in Utah by year's end, he said....
JetBlue faces increased competition as the major airlines, emerging from a two-year downturn in the industry, are learning to cut costs and have lost any remaining shyness about competing with discount airlines.
"We are prepared for that competition," Neeleman said. "We have the lowest fares in the industry."
JetBlue also has a lot of cash. The airline came out of the last quarter with $600 million in cash, he said, about 60 percent of its $1 billion in sales.
"We are ready. We have a lot of staying power," Neeleman said. "And we'll need it."
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So if JetBlue doesn't want to compete head-on with Southwest, where does that leave them room for expansion at? Is the future small airports served by JetBlue's regional jets?
Jan 23, 2004, 11:05 am
#2
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There's still quite a few transcon nonstops JetBlue could serve. Continuing to add secondary airports for nonstop service could be profitable (e.g., the recently announced Sacramento-JFK route).