JetBlue chief executive Dave Barger likes the Caribbean at the moment. He told us that here at the Network Latin America event, organised by Airline Business and hosted by the Aruba Airport Authority on this lovely island.
Barger was a keynote speaker on Monday where he explained the carrier's Caribbean crusade, which actually will include Colombia, probably Mexico and probably a few other neat places as well.
Here's what I wrote for our sister online news service Air Transport Intelligence following Dave's comments:
HEADLINE: JetBlue evaluates 24 more Latin and
JetBlue Airways is examining the potential of 24 potential destinations in Latin America and the
Speaking at the Network Latin America event being held on the Caribbean
"We find that when we go into these new markets we are truly stimulating the market," he told the audience of 200 airline planners and airport marketing executives. For examples its new routes from
"Let's not just hear about traditional city pairs, let's hear about those non-traditional markets too," he told airports interesting in attracting the carrier to serve their destinations.
"Hunkering down amidst a shaky
This year JetBlue has been reallocated capacity from unprofitable transcontinental markets to shorter-haul
Barger said JetBlue will announce a new route from
On 3 December it launched its first intra-Caribbean route between
"JetBlue is also expanding into seven gates [from four] at
Barger said the carrier is also evaluating routes to
I also wrote this:
HEADLINE: Barger sees profitable industry in 2009
As the carrier prepares its budget for next year, JetBlue Airways chief executive Dave Barger said he expects it to be profitable despite an uncertain market.
"My sense is that the industry is going to be quite profitable in 2009 and beyond," he told delegates at the Network Latin America event being held on the Caribbean
"The demand environment is softer - there's no doubt about it," he said. However the capacity discipline the industry has shown, with significant cuts over the past year, was an important favourable factor. JetBlue itself reduced capacity in October by 11% compared with the same month in 2007.
There has been further good news with oil prices falling, but Barger stresses that this also has a downside. "It is also a lifeline to some weak airlines out there," he said.
on January 11, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply
Many Airlines have been cutting flight or terminating services to some Carribean Countries. This has given Jetblue Open Doors to serve Destinations forgotten by other airlines leaving desperate passengers.