JetBlue Blog

Today marks the 12th anniversary of our start of operations. From humble beginnings with service from JFK to Buffalo and Fort Lauderdale, we’ve grown to more than 70 cities and over 700 flights a day. Thank you to our crewmembers and customers for letting us be part of your lives, and making us what we are today.

Check out our new uniform!

As Boston’s largest carrier and Official Airline sponsor of the Boston Red Sox, today we turned our blue livery grey to honor the classic Red Sox road uniform on a specially painted Airbus A320 aircraft with a unique Red Sox design at Boston’s Logan Airport.

The newly branded aircraft was revealed by our Senior Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Strategy, Marty St. George, and Boston’s Mayor Thomas M. Menino, together with Larry Luccino, Red Sox President/CEO; Sam Kennedy, Red Sox EVP/COO; Bobby Valentine, Red Sox Manager; Wally the Green Monster; and hundreds of our crewmembers. The aircraft enters service today and will surge the skies solidifying our status as Boston’s favorite airline!

Learn more about our recent partnership extension with the Red Sox
Learn more about JetBlue Park, the Red Sox Spring training facility in Fort Myers

Red Sox mascot Wally with our new livery

Marty, our SVP Marketing and Commercial Strategy and Boston Airport Director Ian Deason with Red Sox execs Larry Luccino, Red Sox President/CEO; Sam Kennedy, Red Sox EVP/COO; Bobby Valentine, Red Sox Manager

JetBlue crewmembers and Red Sox management with the new livery

Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine on board our new livery ready to go to Fort Myers

Bobby Valentine exchanges a special Red Sox jersey for a model aircraft sporting the new livery

You may have heard the beary fun contest we partnered with Vermont Teddy Bear Company on to connect four beary-worthy travelers with loved ones this Valentine’s Day. This week, the lucky contest winners are traveling on JetBlue’s love birds to surprise their Valentines in Seattle, Raleigh/Durham, Denver, and Washington D.C. each with one large and cuddly wingman in tow: a four-and one half-foot-tall Big Hunka Love Bear from Vermont Teddy Bear!

Some of the winners have already taken to the skies with their new stuffed friends and delivered bear hugs to their Valentines:

Juliane’s Valentine isn’t her significant other, but a three-year-old boy named Lucas, who has an immune disorder called Hyper IgM syndrome. He and his family just moved to North Carolina for a minimum of six months so he can receive a bone marrow transplant. “Lucas’ mother is the sister I never had,” Juliane relayed. “I’ve known her literally my entire life, and it’s been very difficult for me to watch her go through this from Connecticut, her home state, and not be able to offer any help except from afar.” Juliane looks forward to giving her best friend a bear hug and to delivering a little boy the biggest stuffed animal he’s ever seen!

Contest winner Julianne unites Big Hunka Love Bear with her valentine, 3-year-old Luke

Claudia met her Valentine on her first day of high school, only the feeling wasn’t mutual. Evan was a senior and teased her. Even though they went on to marry others, Claudia always thought about Evan. Years later, she reconnected with him and they clicked. “It was everything a high school girl could have dreamt of,” Claudia said. “It was total, wonderful, romantic true love.” The only problem was that Claudia now lived in Los Angeles and Evan lived in Washington D.C. They’ve had to bear a bi-coastal relationship for 11 years!

Big Hunka Love Bear poses with the flight crew from Long Beach to D.C.

Contest winner Claudia settles in with her wingman for her flight from Long Beach to Washington D.C.

Jennifer has only had one true Valentine since the day she was born – her father. “My father has always been my biggest fan and has supported me through everything and anything,” she relays. Jennifer lives in Albany, New York, nearly 3,000 miles from her father in Seattle. The distance means that they miss out on important milestones, including the birth of Jennifer’s daughter, Audrey, last year. Her favorite memory with her dad is from the day her daughter was born. They connected on video chat, and her father tried to act like he wasn’t crying when he saw his granddaughter for the first time (Jennifer knew better).

Contest winner Jennifer and her daughter arrive in Seattle

We had some fun with Big Hunka Love Bear when we delivered him to the worthy winners in New York, and this made Boston – which has in its possession the last winning wingman scheduled to fly out to Denver tomorrow morning – eager to one-up New York. Our Boston crewmembers put Big Hunka Love Bear to work!

Welcome to A Day in the Life, where we take you behind the scenes at JetBlue to learn more about the important jobs that work in concert to make a major airline run. This time, we visit with Chris, a member of our inflight team, who has one of the most intense and rewarding jobs at JetBlue.

Chris has a non-traditional job. His office is fast-paced (something like 500 miles an hour) and the view from his window is spectacular (think 30,000 feet). He has no boss in sight. He doesn’t need to ask for vacation days; he only needs to pick the shifts for the month that work into his preferred schedule and the remaining time is at his disposal. It’s not all glitz and glamor, though. “People tend to think that being a flight attendant is glamorous; if they only knew!” Chris joked.

Chris often starts his day as early as 5:45 a.m., when he meets the other inflight crewmembers and the flight crew for a cabin briefing onboard the aircraft that his team is assigned to. The captain leads this meeting where they review what they can expect for that particular flight, including the flight loads (how many customers are on the flight), weather and operational conditions, and any other important information like if there are unaccompanied minors, customers needing wheelchair assistance, service animals, or Federal Air Marshals onboard. The crew also likes to identify any pilots or flight attendants from JetBlue or other airlines that might be traveling on that flight to commute for work or to get home; they can serve as additional resources.

Pre-flight brief with the crew

The crew chats casually as they wrap up the brief, joking with one another. “I like to laugh and make things light,” Chris relays. “It helps us to get on the same page and crew coordination is very important because it instills confidence and customers want to know that we’re interacting with one another.”

A typical flight between New York and Florida on one of our A320 aircraft, which carries up to 150 customers, are run by three inflight crewmembers, one captain and one first officer. Each inflight crewmember is assigned a position and Chris is generally F3, which means he’s responsible for the back of the plane (F1 and F2 service the front of the aircraft). Following the brief, Chris heads to the back galley, where he performs what’s known as pre-flight to ensure that the first aid and emergency equipment is intact, the cabin doors are secure and that all provisions are stocked for the scrumptious snack service.

It’s a wish of Chris’, and likely one among most flight attendants, to never have to employ their emergency training, but all inflight crewmembers undergo extensive initial and annual training to review safety and emergency procedures and live by a hundreds-page-long manual that sets standards for everything from uniform requirements to deploying the emergency slide, operating oxygen tanks, and fighting fires. They receive updates every time FAA regulations change and attend First Aid and CPR certification classes every year.

Helping customers stow their baggage in the overhead bins

Chris is based out of Fort Lauderdale, but his last flight doesn’t always arrive there, so he sometimes stays at crew hotels where he’s focused on getting a good night’s sleep to prepare for the next day’s work. If time allows, Chris is passionate about exploring Manhattan. His usual route is between Fort Lauderdale and our New York airports, including JFK, LaGuardia, Stewart Airport just north of New York City in Newburgh and Westchester County Airport. He typically works four days a week; each day consists of two or three flights. He spends an average of six nights away from home monthly.

As customers begin to board, Chris makes himself available to assist with lifting bags into the overhead bins for people (there are always plenty of ladies on their way to Florida happy for assistance). He asks if he can help people even when they don’t specifically seek his help, one of the traits that makes him a poster child for excellence in customer service. “It’s our job to find ways to make the experience comfortable for our customers. Whatever we can do to smile, to engage them in conversation, ask where they’re going, helps relax people and creates a better travel environment.” Showing customers to their seats and assisting with overhead bin luggage also helps flights leave on time, and Chris recognizes his role in helping to make that happen.

Chatting with customers is also the part of Chris’ job that he finds most enriching. He loves learning more about people’s lives and connecting them with one another (his favorite story is of one customer who was wearing a t-shirt from “The Price is Right.” The whole row was extremely quiet until he chatted the one customer up about his shirt and related experiences as a contestant on the show only to find out that the two other customers in the row had coincidentally also been contestants on “The Price is Right” years prior! The three excitedly swapped stories of daytime television game show stardom for the duration of the flight).

When the cabin doors close, Chris does a walk-through to ensure that everyone is seated and seat-belted and that phones and electronic devices are turned off. The F1 in the front of the aircraft begins the safety announcement over the PA and Chris demonstrates the procedures towards the center of the cabin. He then buckles into the jump seat, or the seat reserved for flight crew, in the back galley for takeoff.

Safety demonstration

Once the plane is at cruising altitude, Chris springs into action, prepping for beverage and snack service (caffeine is very popular on the early flights, particularly because we serve Dunkin’ Donuts, Chris relays, so he plans for lots of coffee orders). After going through his portion of the cabin (rows 17-25) offering our pillow and blanket sets and headphones, he continues with our complimentary beverage and snack offerings, and then immediately follows up to collect service items. “I find that going around several times is a great way to make sure everyone has what they want and need,” Chris says. “I ask if they would like another drink, some water, a second snack. Sometimes a customer is sleeping when I come around the first time so I try to catch them on the second.”

For his own personal snack service, Chris finds it important to keep nutritious options with him, including fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and cereal, and understands well that staying healthy and keeping his energy levels up are key to on-the-job success.

Chris secures his position in the jump seat for takeoff

After snack service, Chris spends the remainder of the flight responding to specific customer requests, inspecting the lavatories, walking around to collect service items (his guise for checking on everyone to make sure they’re happy), and communicating with the flight crew for important information that may need to be relayed to customers, like changes in arrival time or gates, turbulence, or to help watch the front galley if one of the pilots need to leave the flight deck to use the restroom.

Upon descent, Chris helps prep the cabin for landing, making sure that everyone is in compliance with landing procedures, including turning electronic devices off, stowing luggage, and bringing their tray tables and seats to the upright and locked position. He helps customers retrieve their luggage and sees them off with a big smile, while simultaneously working to “turn” the aircraft, or to clean the cabin to get it ready for the next flight. Often, not more than 30 minutes later, a whole new batch of customers begin boarding and the whole process starts again.

Serving our yummy free snacks; who wants seconds?

Chris’ secret recipe (do not read other airlines!) is his smile. During the entire day, through very early boarding and packed flights to crying babies and one unfortunate encounter with an air sickness bag, Chris did not once lose the genuine smile that came from within and shone through on his face.

Chris has been with JetBlue since our infancy 11 years ago, and would like to continue making us proud until retirement.

Check out the previous editions of A Day In The Life and meet Morgan in Social Media, Don in Air Traffic System Control, and Mike in Ground Operations.

Teddy's Big Hunka Love Bear checking in for his flight to Seattle at our terminal (T5) at JFK

We’ve teamed up with Vermont Teddy Bear to connect four beary-worthy travelers with loved ones this Valentine’s Day. Starting today, the lucky contest winners will travel on JetBlue’s love birds from New York’s John F. Kennedy, Boston’s Logan and Long Beach, Calif. airports to surprise their Valentines in Seattle, Raleigh/Durham, Denver, and Washington D.C. each with one large and cuddly wingman in tow: a four-and one half-foot-tall Big Hunka Love Bear from Vermont Teddy Bear!

Meet the winners

Jennifer has only had one true Valentine since the day she was born – her father. “My father has always been my biggest fan and has supported me through everything and anything,” she relays. Jennifer lives in Albany, New York, nearly 3,000 miles from her father in Seattle. The distance means that they miss out on important milestones, including the birth of Jennifer’s daughter, Audrey, last year. Her favorite memory with her dad is from the day her daughter was born. They connected on video chat, and her father tried to act like he wasn’t crying when he saw his granddaughter for the first time (Jennifer knew better).

Juliane’s Valentine isn’t her significant other, but a three-year-old boy named Lucas, who has an immune disorder called Hyper IgM syndrome. He and his family just moved to North Carolina for a minimum of six months so he can receive a bone marrow transplant. “Lucas’ mother is the sister I never had,” Juliane relayed. “I’ve known her literally my entire life, and it’s been very difficult for me to watch her go through this from Connecticut, her home state, and not be able to offer any help except from afar.” Juliane looks forward to giving her best friend a bear hug and to delivering a little boy the biggest stuffed animal he’s ever seen!

Brandy is in a long-distance relationship with her avid-skiing, fly-fishing boyfriend. Brandy, who lives in Vermont, travels back and forth to Breckenridge, Colorado to visit her main squeeze. Her two daughters have never met him but have referred to him as “Cupid,” ever since he left coins for them as a gift on a recent visit. Brandy looks forward to uniting her three loves with a big Hunka Love Bear on the mountaintop in Colorado.

Claudia met her Valentine on her first day of high school, only the feeling wasn’t mutual. Evan was a senior and teased her. Even though they went on to marry others, Claudia always thought about Evan. Years later, she reconnected with him and they clicked. “It was everything a high school girl could have dreamt of,” Claudia said. “It was total, wonderful, romantic true love.” The only problem was that Claudia now lived in Los Angeles and Evan lived in Washington D.C. They’ve had to bear a bi-coastal relationship for 11 years!

A history of love at JetBlue

While it’s the first time the airline has teamed up to fly giant teddy bears, it’s not the first time JetBlue has acted in the name of love. From proposing pilots and flight attendants, to customers who met on JetBlue and those who took their engagement photos to new heights, the airline with the big heart always goes the extra mile to celebrate love.

The human fliers and their large, furry wingmen will enjoy JetBlue’s comfy leather seats with plenty of room to stretch out, free snacks, and individual TVs with 36 channels to choose from. The contest was sponsored by Vermont Teddy Bear and posted on the company’s Facebook page and website. All entries were reviewed by a panel at Vermont and JetBlue and winners were selected based on creativity and romantic appeal.

Grabbing a bag tag from our airport operations crewmembers for his stuffed luggage

Enjoying a quick massage at XpresSpa before his flight

Catching a ride down the slide in our play area

Stuffed from lunch, but still eying the fresh salmon at Deep Blue Sushi

Enjoying our 36 channels of DirecTV (his favorite channel is Animal Planet)

Posing with the flight crew

Bearing witness to the pilot's pre-flight check in the cockpit

Getting love our from contest winner and travel companion to Seattle

Enjoy more images of Big Hunka Love Bear’s adventures at our terminal on our Flickr page

Broward County’s Aviation Department recently hosted an official groundbreaking for the South Runway expansion project at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The $791 million project will lengthen the runway by 8,000 feet and elevate it over the FEC Railroad and Federal Highway. Construction is expected to be completed in 2014 and will result in additional capacity for future growth at the airport.

In addition to generating 11,000 jobs over the life and contributing $1 million per day into the local economy, the project will restore 34 acres of wetlands at West Lake Park.

Our COO Rob Maruster was in attendance and spoke on behalf of JetBlue. Other attendees included Ray LaHood (U.S. Secretary of Transportation); Richard Biter (State Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary); Michael Heurta (acting head of the FAA); U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, (whose district includes part of south Broward); U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston; John Rodstrom (Broward Mayor); Kent George (FLL Director of Aviation).

You might remember a series of hidden camera videos we put out last year highlighting some of the things that set us apart from the others, including first checked bag free, nonstop flights, 36 channels of DirecTV at every seat, and a full can of soda.

We were pleased to air a brand new “Ground Rules” video on the best day of the year for commercial-viewing: during Sunday’s football game in Boston. Check out the below commercial and stay tuned for more new Ground Rules advertisements scheduled to air in the coming months!

Rendering of how the JetBlue sign will look at our new headquarters in Long Island City

To mark our presence in our new home in Long Island City, we are planning to construct a 40-foot tall lighted JetBlue sign on the roof of 27-01 Queens Plaza North. It will be constructed on the 8th floor, next to the outdoor terrace. When complete, it will be easily seen from the east side of Manhattan across the river. We are currently proceeding through New York City’s review process, which requires updated rules for rooftop sign construction on Queens Plaza. This updated regulation will enable us to proceed as planned.

After the recent votes in two local community boards, we need to gain approval from the Queens Borough President’s Office, the City Planning Commission and the City Council and Mayor.

Stay tuned for more information soon about our upcoming move!

We told you that Gossip Girl filmed an upcoming episode at our home base of operations at JFK’s T5 – and four of our crewmembers were cast for a scene! We’re excited to share that the episode will air tonight at 8 p.m. ET! Tune in to catch our home on the big screen!

On Friday we launched our new and improved jetblue.com and mobile.jetblue.com sites and introduced a new iPhone application, refreshing look and feel of our digital offerings with smart technology to personalize and simplify your entire experience — from the point of booking through the time of travel.

Our new site boasts Akamai integration for speed and a new targeting engine that is geographically relevant, sending messaging based on your location, travel history and preferences that are seamlessly linked to our loyalty program, TrueBlue. To create this personalized experience, sign in to your TrueBlue account on our homepage, and you”ll be able to view travel information about upcoming flights without any clicks. Additionally, social media widgets are now prominently featured on our website footer, making it even easier to share travel details with friends and family.  What’s more, the new site offers an innovative new “Pick Me Up” feature, allowing you to send your airport information to loved ones along with pick up location, maps and traffic information for traveling convenience.

Our newly redesigned mobile site offers increased ease of use and navigation with some of the same innovative features as jetblue.com, including a friendly reservations booking engine, check in, and flight status.

Our new iPhone mobile application introduces on-the-go ease for booking, check- in, flight status, and more. We continues to expand our digital presence with geo-location and push notifications to help you stay informed about important real-time travel information. It wouldn’t be JetBlue if we didn’t roll out some fun  extras with the application including virtual postcards where you can share your travel experiences with friends and family or easily post to your favorite social network. The app also includes features for easy sharing of itineraries, with access to our in-flight amenities, including snack and beverage offerings, movie previews, and even DIRECTV schedules for the duration of your flight.