Today we’re pleased to announce a new interline agreement with Turkish Airlines, the rapidly growing global airline. If you haven’t been keeping tabs on Turkish lately, you might know they’re a whole lot more than just Turkey. In fact, the airline serves the most destinations of any European airline from a single airport (Istanbul’s Ataturk International).

This summer, Turkish will offer three daily nonstop flights from JFK to Istanbul and one daily flight from Dulles to Istanbul, with transfer via either U.S. city between Turkish Airlines- and JetBlue-operated flights while enjoying one-stop ticketing and check-in plus hassle-free baggage transfer and other benefits. Travelers can connect on these services to Turkey and onward to nearly 200 destinations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Learn more about all of our airline partners

Our schedule between Palm Beach and San Juan:

JetBlue operates up to 21 flights from West Palm Beach, including Boston, New York (La Guardia and JFK), Newark and Westchester County.

If you’re traveling with us today, celebrate the special day with a bag of Linden’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, which we offer for free on our flights.

Wishing everyone a very sweet day!

Image courtesy of jamieanne on Flickr

10 health benefits of chocolate
Popular chocolate chip recipes
Learn more about our free onboard snack offerings

Our new flights will be the only nonstop service between Washington D.C.’s preferred business airport and the capital of Puerto Rico, which is among the 10 largest markets without nonstop air service to Reagan National. In San Juan, customers may travel onward with JetBlue to a few more capital cities, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

What will the structure look like?

The project was a creative collaboration between JetBlue and a few design and construction agencies. Just like the other iconic signs that pepper Long Island City (e.g. Silvercup, Pepsi Cola), our version will be designed in the same vein, with individually cut letters mounted on an open-frame structure. Each letter will be shaped from a steel structure and possess an acrylic face—similar to a light box. The sign will be illuminated at night by sustainable LED light strips, and will appear white for all to see in LIC and from Manhattan’s east side. During the day, it will be blue…naturally!

The revised zoning law allows for a sign no greater than 45’ high off the roof and 150’ wide. Our sign is 41’ by 75’ (“J” is the tallest letter at 25’ 4”!). Serving as an accessory to a historic building, the placement and size of our structure complement the Brewster Building’s architecture.

The sign is currently beginning construction, and we anticipate it will be installed this fall. Stay tuned!

Learn more about our new digs in Long Island City, Queens

Image courtesy of wtlphotos on Flickr

Today we honor all of those mothers in body and spirit who helped to raise and support, love and guide us. We at JetBlue salute all of the moms who work each day to provide the best possible lives and futures for their children of all ages.

Without the moms of the world, we’d be short on clean socks, square meals, and the confidence to go forth into the world and do great things.

For those still looking for that perfect gift, find beautiful flowers, lush plants and gourmet gifts for your mom, wife, grandma, aunt and more and:

• Earn 20 TrueBlue points per dollar spent at FTD*
• Shop for flowers, chocolates, gourmet gifts, jewelry and more
• Find premier brands, like Godiva®, Starbucks® and Mrs. Fields®
• Shop online or call 1-800-SEND-FTD and mention promo code 30678 .

Learn more about the history of Mother’s Day

Triangle Impact, a non-profit organization that connects residents of the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area with local volunteer opportunities, received some extra help from our crewmembers recently. Airport Operations crewmembers participated in the organization’s Big Sweep clean-up event, where they removed litter from the waterways, lakes, and streams at White Deer Park.

Load factor for April 2012 was 85.2 percent, an increase of 5.5 points from April 2011. Our preliminary completion factor was 99.9 percent and our on-time (1) performance was 86.7 percent.  Our preliminary passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) for the month of April increased nine percent year over year. For the month of May, PRASM is expected to increase between three and four percent year over year.

JETBLUE AIRWAYS TRAFFIC RESULTS

(1) The U.S. Department of Transportation considers on-time arrivals to be those domestic flights arriving within 14 minutes of schedule.

Upon boarding Flight 510 at Fort Lauderdale International Airport on Tuesday evening, a customer’s boarding pass was flagged in our system as being on the No Fly list. We notified and collaborated with TSA. TSA cleared the customers to travel on JetBlue.

We are investigating this particular incident. We believe this was a computer glitch. Our crewmembers followed the appropriate protocols, and we apologize to the family involved in this unfortunate circumstance.

JetBlue takes all security concerns very seriously and the safety of all of our customers and crewmembers is our number one priority. There are layers of security checkpoints in place — from booking a flight to checking-in, clearing security and boarding an aircraft – that are enforced by the airline in collaboration with airport authorities and the Transportation Security Administration to ensure all customers enjoy a safe and secure travel experience. Our crewmembers are trained to address each situation discreetly, treating every customer with dignity and respect.

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Posted at 11:30 a.m. ET

Upon boarding Flight 510 at Fort Lauderdale International Airport last evening, several customers were flagged in our system as being on the No Fly list. There are layers of security checkpoints in place — from booking a flight to checking-in, clearing security and boarding an aircraft – that are enforced by the airline in collaboration with airport authorities and the Transportation Security Administration to ensure all customers enjoy a safe and secure travel experience.

We take all security concerns very seriously. If a customer is flagged by our system at any point during this process, we work in close collaboration with the TSA to confirm if customers can subsequently be cleared to fly. Our crewmembers are trained to address each situation discreetly, treating every customer with dignity and respect. We’re fully cooperative with the TSA and are jointly investigating what happened in this particular incident.

The safety of all of our customers and crewmembers is our number one priority.

From left to right: Lashonne, Chris, and Jaclyn

Chris, the newest member of the team, joined JetBlue less than a year ago with big shoes to fill, but he already has blue flowing through his creative veins. “We have a strong brand, and my job is to take JetBlue to the next level,” he relays. Chris is a manager of brand design. He works alongside two other designers – Lashonne, who has been with JetBlue for nine years and Jaclyn, who started as an intern close to two years ago and moved into a full-time position – and they collaborate with the larger Brand team to create, protect and evolve JetBlue’s visual assets.

Just about everything visual that JetBlue creates comes through the design team, and anything that touches the customer during the travel experience is a reflection on JetBlue. Basically, the team handles a lot (think: three people that handle our design work for our 14,000 crewmembers and millions of customers)!

“We take a look at what others are doing, and carve our own path,” Lashonne shares. Anyone who knows the JetBlue brand, knows that we have a distinctive look and feel and Lashonne and Chris and Jaclyn are the ones who create and refresh it. The team’s current radar includes expanding the use of our color palette, pushing the boundaries of playful design and ultimately creating the most welcoming environment for those flying with us, all while remaining faithful to our core values and sensibilities.

Our visual language is the way in which we speak to our customers though our channels including, but not limited to, jetblue.com, signage in the airports, advertising, the interior of our aircraft, the back walls at the airports, our uniforms, our logos and our products. They work closely with lots of other workgroups at JetBlue including Corporate Real Estate, Communications, Interactive (the team that oversees our digital assets), IT, Cargo, Flight, Inflight, Airports, and they also work with outside business partners to ensure the JetBlue is accurately represented out there in the world.

The progression of our tailfin designs over the past decade

“We serve as the visual voice of the brand,” says Lashonne. Whether it’s creating collateral for a marketing campaign, an event with a partner like Lufthansa or Hawaiian, or banners for the newly redesigned website, this group works each day to keep JetBlue’s look fresh and exciting.

The team’s’ job is much more than just graphic design – their objective is to go one step beyond what most brands do in wanting to “create an experience” for their customers, something Chris points out is fleeting. “We aim to create memories at JetBlue, because that’s what stays with you even after your trip has ended,” he relays. “Our goal is to make the entire travel experience, from time you book your flight on jetblue.com or on the JetBlue iPhone App, to time spent in the airport, on your flight, and even after you’ve landed, a friendly, consistent, and memorable experience.”

The small, but talented design team employs a mantra to everything that they touch – Nice, Smart, Fresh, Stylish and Witty – the five, core brand elements that we use to describe JetBlue’s personality. Some of the things the team has to consider when designing something, whether a new livery or a sign at JFK, is not just what it looks like but also what purpose it serves and how long it can live before it will need updating. They have to think about what information should be included on the sign and where it should be positioned so that it’s of most use to our customers traveling through JFK. The team’s work, in essence, is not just about making JetBlue look pretty, but about providing a seamless and pleasant experience for our customers.

Prior to joining JetBlue, Chris worked for a variety of organizations including the Wildlife Conservation Society, Two Twelve Associates where he worked on Shea Stadium, former home of the New York Mets, London-Sire Records designing CD packaging, and Elan creating snowboards. His first experience with JetBlue dates back to the early days of the airline when his mother saw an article in the newspaper for a new airline flying out of his hometown of Burlington, Vermont. After years of expensive puddle-jumping, Chris decided to take JetBlue up on its offer for affordable fares and free snacks, and “the first time I flew JetBlue, the experience delivered on its promises.”

Lashonne traversed the magazine landscape in her previous career life, working as a designer on the marketing side for Conde Nast publications, though she’s been with us for so long she hardly remembers her life before blue! “We’ve grown a lot over the past decade and our design has as well,” she relays. “JetBlue is now a household name.”

Jaclyn focuses largely on designing JetBlue’s digital assets – our web banners, email templates, and images for social media pages for starters, and finds herself most creative when she’s listening to music in the morning or late afternoon. She enjoys the creative liberty granted with her position, and takes seriously her responsibility to uphold the standards of a company with a cool reputation. “We offer a great product,” Jaclyn says. “The design is so much a part of the customer experience and we have the ability to make an impact.”

“You don’t have to be a designer to know that people cherish memories,” Chris explains. “People fly with us for an enhanced experience and a part of that needs to be visual. Our job is to continue to make that better.”

Check out the previous editions of A Day In The Life and meet Jeff and Greg from Schedule Planning, Loretta in Security, Chris in Inflight,  Morgan in Social Media, Don in Air Traffic System Control, and Mike in Ground Operations, and stay tuned for the next edition!