NEW YORK, March 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq:JBLU) today announces a new leadership structure for the low-fare airline's People Department, designed to support crewmember needs as JetBlue grows.
"JetBlue is preparing now for our future growth, in the most important areas of our company," said David Neeleman, JetBlue's Chairman and CEO. "Starting with our People department, JetBlue is making the necessary structural changes designed to keep our internal culture feeling small as our airline enters a new era of expansion. As we bring the JetBlue Experience to new destinations and customers, it is vital that we recruit the best possible talent to our airline, and provide the best care and training to keep our airline the first choice among customers."
Vinny Stabile has been appointed Senior Vice President, People. Mr. Stabile joined JetBlue in September, 2001, as Vice President, People, and will continue to lead the team responsible for recruiting talent to JetBlue, and in providing the People-related services, including Benefits, Compensation and Compliance.
Santo Barravecchio has been named Vice President, People Services and Compliance. Mr. Barravecchio joined JetBlue in September, 2001, as Director, People Services and Compliance, and will be responsible for leading the specialized human resources functions of Benefits, Compensation, and Compliance. Mr. Barravecchio has been instrumental in building these functions, and will now devote his leadership to ensuring JetBlue's culture of respect and caring for every crewmember remains unique in the industry.
Dean Melonas has been named Vice President, Recruitment, an area that will become increasingly important to JetBlue's ability to deliver the JetBlue Experience as the airline grows to new destinations. Mr. Melonas joined JetBlue in September of 1999 as Manager, Inflight Training, and was instrumental in seeing JetBlue through the certification process for the A320, including developing the curricula and manuals as well as facilitating training programs associated with Flight Service, Emergency Procedures and Aircraft Cabin Systems. In July of 2001, Mr. Melonas moved into the People Department as Director of Pilot Recruitment. Since that time, his role has expanded to include oversight of all recruitment-related functions. In this new role, Mr. Melonas will be responsible for ensuring that the new crewmembers that join JetBlue in the months and years to come will be colleagues of the airline's current caliber, so that JetBlue's culture remains a competitive advantage.
JetBlue University, led by Captain Mike Barger, Vice President, has been and continues to be responsible for designing and implementing training programs that nurture crewmembers in their current roles and make them competitive for other career opportunities as our airline grows. This department, which previously reported to Al Spain, Senior VP Operations, will now report to Mr. Stabile upon Captain Spain's retirement.
In the six years since its launch, JetBlue Airways has focused on creating a new airline category -- a value airline with values. Based out of New York City, the low-cost carrier currently serves 34 destinations with more than 410 flights daily. Onboard JetBlue, customers enjoy roomy leather seats and 36 channels of free DIRECTV(r) programming (a), the most live TV available on any airline. On flights longer than two hours, a selection of first-run movies and bonus features from FOX InFlight(tm) is also available. JetBlue offers customers generous brand name snacks and beverages, including freshly-brewed Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and delicious wines selected by the airline's Low Fare Sommelier, Josh Wesson from Best Cellars. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations, call 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583) or visit www.jetblue.com.
(a) DIRECTV(r) service is not available on flights to/from Bermuda, Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic; however, where applicable FOX InFlight is offered complimentary on these routes. FOX InFlight is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. JetBlue's in-flight entertainment is powered by LiveTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of JetBlue.
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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, increases in fuel prices, maintenance costs and interest rates, our ability to implement our growth strategy including the integration of the EMBRAER 190 aircraft into our operations, our significant fixed obligations, our ability to maintain our culture as we grow, our reliance on high daily aircraft utilization, our dependence on the New York metropolitan market, our reliance on automated systems and technology, our reliance on sole suppliers, additional government regulation and changes in our industry due to financial condition and external geopolitical conditions. 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 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.