NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq:JBLU) today announces the appointment of Trey Urbahn to the position of Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Urbahn will be responsible for the low-fare airline's Revenue Management, Route Planning, Marketing and Sales performance, and will report to JetBlue CEO David Neeleman.
"Trey's expertise in the field of revenue optimization, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit and track record of success will help JetBlue keep and grow our competitive position," said Mr. Neeleman. "Our airline will have grown to 50 destinations by the time we turn seven years old. With Trey joining us, our leadership team is now in place to reach our full potential as a company."
Mr. Urbahn joins JetBlue from OneSky Jets, an innovative provider of on-demand private jet travel where he served as Executive Chairman and will remain on its board of directors. Prior to leading OneSky, Mr. Urbahn was CEO of FareChase, Inc. a travel meta search company. FareChase was acquired by Yahoo! in 2004 and now powers its travel search. Mr. Urbahn was also a founding officer of Priceline.com, pioneering the concept of buyer-driven e-commerce. Earlier in his career, Mr. Urbahn's experience included revenue management, finance, and marketing planning roles at United, Northwest, USAir, and Alamo Car Rental.
"JetBlue has created a powerful brand by defining a breakthrough and elegantly simple value equation -- a better product at a lower cost. In an industry where mediocrity is both expected and delivered, the JetBlue experience has been embraced by consumers as a refreshing and welcome change," Mr. Urbahn said. "I look forward to contributing to JetBlue's success story going forward."
In the six years since its launch, JetBlue Airways has focused on creating a new airline category -- an airline that offers value, service and style. Based out of New York City, the low-cost carrier currently serves 47 destinations with up to 470 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(r) coffee, and delicious wines selected by the airline's Low Fare Sommelier, Josh Wesson from Best Cellars(r). On overnight flights from the West, the airline now offers Shut-Eye Service(tm), with a comfort kit designed exclusively for JetBlue by Bliss Spa and other special amenities including a "good morning" hot towel service. 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/?source=pr.
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(a) DIRECTV(r) service is not available on flights outside the continental United States; however, where applicable FOX InFlight(tm) is offered complimentary on these routes. FOX InFlight(tm) is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. JetBlue's in-flight entertainment is powered by LiveTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of JetBlue.
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 attract and retain qualified personnel and 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 being subject to potential unionization; our reliance on a limited number of suppliers; changes in or additional government regulation; changes in our industry due to other airlines' financial condition; and external geopolitical events and conditions. Further 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.