NEW YORK, April 6, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq:JBLU) reported today that its traffic in March increased 38.6 percent from March 2003, on a capacity increase of 36.6 percent.
Load factor for March 2004 was 83.4 percent, an increase of 1.1 points from March 2003. JetBlue's completion factor was 99.9 percent and its on-time performance was 85.0 percent.
JETBLUE AIRWAYS TRAFFIC RESULTS
March 2004 March 2003 % Change
Revenue passenger miles (000) 1,239,511 894,292 38.6
Available seat miles (000) 1,485,339 1,087,107 36.6
Load factor 83.4% 82.3% 1.1 pts.
Revenue passengers 982,941 757,640 29.7
Departures 7,366 5,685 29.6
Y-T-D 2004 Y-T-D 2003 % Change
Revenue passenger miles (000) 3,372,295 2,374,846 42.0
Available seat miles (000) 4,218,520 2,918,071 44.6
Load factor 79.9% 81.4% (1.5) pts.
Revenue passengers 2,650,073 2,010,617 31.8
Departures 20,845 15,411 35.3
SOURCE: JetBlue Airways Corporation
JetBlue is a low-fare, low-cost passenger airline, which provides high-quality customer service. JetBlue operates a fleet of 57 new Airbus A320 aircraft and plans to add another 12 A320s to its fleet in 2004. The airline has 100 EMBRAER 190 aircraft on order with options for an additional 100 with deliveries scheduled to begin in mid 2005. All JetBlue aircraft feature roomy all-leather seats each equipped with free live satellite television, offering up to 24 channels of DIRECTV(R) Programming at every seat (see Note).
Based at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, JetBlue currently operates 246 flights a day and serves 23 destinations in 11 states and Puerto Rico. JetBlue plans to commence new service between Boston, MA and Oakland, CA and between Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, CA on May 4, between JFK and San Jose, CA on June 10, and between JFK and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on May 28. Subject to receipt of government operating authority, JetBlue also plans to initiate service between JFK and Santiago and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on June 10 and June 17, respectively. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and a Saturday night stay is never required. For more information, schedules and fares, please visit www.jetblue.com or call JetBlue reservations at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583). This press release, as well as past press releases, can be found on www.jetblue.com.
Note: DIRECTV(R) service is not available on flights between New York City and Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature which represent our management's beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including without limitation, our extremely competitive industry, our ability to implement our growth strategy including the integration of the EMBRAER 190 aircraft into our operations, our significant fixed obligations and our reliance on high daily aircraft utilization, increases in maintenance costs, fuel prices and interest rates, our dependence on the New York market, seasonal fluctuations in our operating results, our reliance on sole suppliers, government regulation, the loss of key personnel and potential problems with our workforce, the potential liability associated with the handling of our customer data and future acts of terrorism or the threat of such acts or escalation of U.S. military involvement overseas. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to, the Company's 2003 Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
The JetBlue logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=795