JetBlue Blog

We’re hosting the fourth annual Airbus A320 plane pull at JFK Hangar 81 today. Some “Bobbies” from London’s Metropolitan Police Department will go head-to-head in time trials against JFK Crewmembers, British Airways crew, TSA employees, as well as New York’s Finest State Troopers and other local authorities.

Both sides of the pond are joining forces to raise money and awareness about a UK-based foundation called J-A-C-K (Joining Against Cancer in Kids). The charity is dedicated to raising funds for research on neuroblastoma, a rare childhood brain cancer. The Brits are hoping for their first win; for the past three years, the Yanks have won by pulling the A320 aircraft 100 feet with the fastest time!

Monday, May 20
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
JFK Hangar 81

This week at New York’s JFK we celebrated a great milestone in our growth story – the topping out of T5i, our new international arrivals facility. The age-old tradition marks the hoisting of the top-most beam during construction. The celebration was all about recognizing the work of the countless iron workers, carpenters, electricians, tradesmen and tradeswomen who are bringing our expanded home to life. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were topping out T5!

After a decade of international operations in New York, we’ll soon have our own arrivals facility and be bringing Federal Inspection Services in-house. It will truly make a world of difference for our customer and crewmember experience.

As planned today, T5i will include six contiguous “swing” gates capable of domestic and international use. The site will also be able to accommodate wide-body aircraft. Its added capacity is expected to take us well into the foreseeable future, however, there is still room for additional growth on the site if the need arises. Our customers will no longer have to transfer terminals, so they’ll enjoy shorter connecting times from international to domestic flights. They’ll also be able to enjoy all the amenities T5 offers. Of course, T5i is also a positive for our international airline partnership strategy since our partners will have a viable new terminal option for their operations.

Stay tuned for more updates on our new international arrivals terminal.

Summer is calling! We’re excited to launch our seasonal service as we celebrate our inaugural Seattle to Anchorage route, a complement to our existing Anchorage to Long Beach service. Alaska is hands down the best place to stay cool this summer!

Plus, it’s time to bust out your Nantucket reds! Seasonal service kicks off this week to both Nantucket (from BOS, JFK) and Martha’s Vineyard (from JFK). And that’s not all…our Boston to Bermuda route is back, too, a flight we’ve been flying seasonally since 2007.

Image courtesy of specialkrb on Flickr

Book your summer travel now!

We partnered with the Jets to fly their photogenic cheerleaders down to the equally photogenic beaches of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands this week.

This is the fourth time we’ve flown the Jets cheerleaders down to the Caribbean for their shoot and the first to Grand Cayman.  This is also the first time our Jets aircraft has touched down in the Cayman Islands!

  
Learn more about our service from New York and Boston to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Learn more about our sponsorships

Today we’re hosting a book signing for two of our own JetBlue crewmembers at T5, just outside of The Paradies Shops.  E190 Pilot Brian Nastovski (“Just Breathe”) and JFK-based Inflight crewmember Heather McKeown (“Above and Beyond: Inspiring Adventures into the Blue”) will be featured. During the event, our crewmember authors will have a chance to share their work with folks traveling through our home at JFK’s Terminal 5.

Brian’s first project, released in January 2013, is entitled “Just Breathe.” “Just Breathe” chronicles Brian’s life after divorce and offers advice to help others survive. Brian introduces his ESP (Emotional, Spiritual, Physical) method to change your life after divorce.

In “Above and Beyond: Inspiring Adventures into the Blue,” Heather presents a compilation of stories that encompass the microcosm of the traveling public who have been put in her flight path. This inspiring, humorous, and empowering book is evidence of how close a flight attendant can get to someone in the space of one airplane ride.

If you are in T5 on Friday, stop by The Paradies Shops and say hello to Brian and Heather!

Welcome to Tech Thursdays, penned by Miguel, tech expert and our Airport Operations Supervisor in San Jose, California. This month’s topic touches on some worthy tools to help smooth out your summer travel experience.

Planes are full and there are plenty of kids and families traveling, which can only mean one thing: Summer traveling season is upon us! If you’re like me, you’re making sure that all your flight, hotel and theme park tickets are all ready to go. With the mass of humanity traveling to the same places as you are, it’s nice to have some edge to help ease the anxiety and headache of travel. I found several free apps for the iPhone and iPad that might help.

At the Airport

Let’s start at the airport. I’m guessing that you won’t be as familiar as a Jetblue crewmember who knows every nook and cranny of the airports we work in. Me? I can tell you which door in what gate in SJC makes what sound when opened. But I digress.

If you’re going to an unfamiliar airport, TravelNerd should be in your collection. This app shows all the airlines in a given airport and what terminal they are located. To avoid the head-scratching-tourist-look, you can also pretend to be in-the-know by consulting the TravelNerd maps of each terminal. It will show restaurants, amenities, restrooms and ground transportation but don’t be surprised if a section is empty. I don’t think TravelNerd’s database is fully updated but it does serve as a good guide. I found that TravelNerd is easy to use and navigate.

The TSA and the lines at the checkpoint are probably not in most travelers’ must-experience list but the security checkpoint process has improved immensely since it has been modified in 2001. The TSA has also created an app with an endearing name called, MyTSA. And you know what? It’s pretty useful.

Travelers can check and post security wait times at different airport terminals. It does rely on user participation so the numbers might be more accurate in bigger airports. I love the “Can I bring my…” feature because this is one of the most asked questions by customers. You can simply type in the item in question and MyTSA will give you the TSA regulation. I’d recommend using this tool prior to packing if you can. I’ve seen customers throw away expensive bottles of perfume because they were carrying too much in their carryon bag. It also has a Traveler’s Guide section that gives tips and guidance from packing to necessary travel documents to have.

Inflight

Since you’re travelling on Jetblue (big thanks!), don’t forget to use our Jetblue app. Besides giving you the ability to check-in on the go, you can check your flight status and plan on which movie, DIRECTV channel to watch or the SiriusXM channel you want to listen to. You and the kids can also create attractive postcards in the Cool Stuff section using your smartphone or tablet cameras.

At Your Destination

So, you have your rental car and a car full of wide-eyed, giddy little munchkins to visit that famous downtown attraction or new theme park. Next question: Where do you park? Don’t fret. I’ve got you covered. ParkMe is an app that shows you where to park without paying an arm and a leg. All you have to do is type in the place you want to go and voila, it shows you where to go. ParkMe is more than just a glorified sidewalk pointer though. This little gem shows drivers not only where the garage or street parking spots are, but also how much it will cost to park. Markers also indicate if the parking spot is open, semi-full or closed.

Of course, nothing beats preparation when it comes to summer travel but I hope some of my recommendations help alleviate some stress and help you enjoy your time with family and friends.

Be sure to check out more travel tips and share your own with SoFly!

Read Miguel’s previous columns, learn more about Miguel and stay tuned for the next edition of Tech Thursdays!

Thank you.

It would take us a long time if we tried to say thank you to all our customers. Let’s just say if we were accepting a Tony Award or an Oscar, we’d very quickly get ushered off the stage.

But we want to say thank you to each and every one of you because JetBlue was just awarded highest honors in airline customer satisfaction among low-cost carriers by J.D. Power & Associates 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study℠. And while in and of itself this is great, we’re thrilled that this is a recognition we’ve received every year from 2006 to 2013. We were also ranked highest in customer satisfaction among all U.S. major airlines in 2005, when low-cost and traditional network carriers were combined in a single category. All that to say, this year’s achievement marks our ninth consecutive J.D. Power & Associates recognition and we’re stoked.

You could say we’re on Cloud Nine.

The study is based on responses from more than 11,800 customers who flew on a major North America airline between May 2012 and April 2013. It measures overall customer satisfaction based on performance in seven measures (in order of importance): cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding/deplaning/baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservation.

It is our pleasure to serve you. If we’ve done our job right, we’ve done more than simply fly you from point A to point B. Hopefully we’ve enhanced your journey, maybe with a little extra legroom or the ability to pack a little more for your vacation with a free first checked bag or a complimentary snack and TV show that helped the flight go by a little faster. Or maybe it was with some extra help on the phone with a reservation or a smile from a crewmember at the airport or as you boarded your flight.

Either way, we couldn’t do it without the 15,000 JetBlue crewmembers delivering the JetBlue experience every day, so a huge shout out to them.

Thank you for trusting us and giving us the opportunity to serve you. We hope to see you again on a future flight real soon.

JetBlue received the highest numerical score among five low cost carriers in the proprietary J.D. Power & Associates 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study℠. Study based on responses from 11,849 passengers who flew on major North American airline between April 2012-March 2013. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed in May 2012-March 2013. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

We’re pleased to announce today a deepening of our partnership with Emirates. We’ve applied for government approval to place our “B6″ code on flights operated by Emirates, the airline of Dubai, known as a bilateral codeshare agreement.

Under the expanded agreement, JetBlue will place our “B6” airline code on all flights currently operated by Emirates between the U.S. and Dubai International Airport, as well as between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Milan, Italy.

The agreement doesn’t change the customer experience. In fact, through the existing agreement, customers enjoy (and will continue to enjoy) the convenience of a single combined ticket for Emirates and JetBlue-operated flights, plus other benefits including one-stop check-in and baggage transfer.

Members of Skywards, the Emirates reward program, can earn miles on JetBlue-operated flights and also redeem miles for flights to any of JetBlue’s 77 destinations and counting throughout the Americas. Similarly, members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program can earn points for Emirates-operated flights worldwide.

The agreement deepens a three-year partnership between JetBlue and Emirates. Emirates started placing its code on select JetBlue-operated flights in April 2012, expanding an interline agreement that dates back to 2010.

Learn more about our partnership history with Emirates
Full press release

We’re proud to launch today SoFly, a new interactive feature on jetblue.com where you can find unique travel advice and inspiration from customers like you, and keep the buzz going by sharing your own JetBlue experiences.

From the time that you’re thinking about a trip to your time at the airport, inflight and at your destination, you can find tips and tricks and share your own (including travel photos!) with SoFly. Check out the below screenshots to get a peak and learn more about SoFly and share your travel experiences now!