JetBlue thinking small in order to grow bigger

JetBlue Airways is embarking on a growth strategy centered around smaller markets and shorter routes and announced Tuesday that it had ordered 100 new mid-size jets from Brazilian plane maker Embraer at a cost of $3 billion.

The low-cost carrier, which has been profitable since 2001 despite the sharp industry downturn, said the thrust of the plan is to stimulate demand for discount service in medium-sized cities serving 200 to 500 passengers per day in each direction. Until now, the New York-based airline has focused on markets with more than 600 passengers per day.

"This is not a departure from our business plan," chief executive David Neeleman told Wall Street analysts. "This is an augmentation into three or four times as many markets."

Neeleman said the company has identified nearly 900 cities where it could possibly introduce service with the Embraer 190, which has room for 100 passengers and can travel up to 2,100 miles. While he would not specify where the Embraer 190 will be introduced, untapped markets that JetBlue has previously expressed interest in include Charlotte, N.C.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Richmond, Va. The airline also plans to add flights in smaller markets it already serves.

JetBlue already serves Salt Lake City International Airport. Neeleman, a Utah native and former president of Salt Lake-based Morris Air, said he has toyed with the idea of adding a second New York-to-Salt Lake flight, perhaps during the peak summer travel period.

"We could fly New York to Salt Lake with this (Embraer) airplane," Neeleman told the Deseret News Tuesday. "It's a very comfortable airplane, and people will love flying on it.

"If we do add more service to Salt Lake, this would be the airplane."

More planes also could mean more JetBlue jobs in the Salt Lake area, Neeleman said. The company already employs about 850 people here.

"As we move more and more to our bookings on the Internet, our agents are becoming more customer service agents," he said. "We don't just do reservations in Salt Lake. We actually do customer commitment, where we're able to service our customers. We do crew support, where anyone in the whole airline who has a problem and picks up a phone, they call Salt Lake."

The work force in the Salt Lake area has been great, Neeleman said, and the time may soon come when some JetBlue crews will be based here.

"Anything we can move to Salt Lake, we'll move to Salt Lake," he said.