NEW YORK, May 15, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq:JBLU), operator of the world's largest Airbus A320 fleet, has been recognized with the prestigious Airbus Award for Operational Excellence. The award honors the low-fare, low-cost airline for having the world's best A320 technical dispatch reliability among carriers with a fleet size of more than 50 aircraft. JetBlue received the award at the biennial Airbus A320 Family Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand, where it was also recognized for having the highest daily aircraft utilization of any Airbus A320 operator.
This is the third consecutive time JetBlue has been recognized by Airbus for its fleet reliability -- once in the category of airlines with 50 or fewer aircraft, and twice in the category of airlines with more than 50 aircraft.
"High reliability and high aircraft utilization are key components of JetBlue's low-cost carrier model, so we take great pride in our third consecutive award for industry-leading technical dispatch performance," said Dave Barger, JetBlue's President and CEO. "Our Tech Ops crewmembers bring tremendous value to the JetBlue Experience and rightfully take great pride in their work."
JetBlue currently operates 102 Airbus A320 aircraft, and continues to take regular delivery of the modern, fuel-efficient jets as it grows its fleet and expands service from focus cities in New York, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, LA/Long Beach, and Washington, DC.
In an effort to increase customer comfort, JetBlue recently removed one row of seats from its A320 fleet, increasing seat pitch to 34-36 inches between rows -- the most legroom in coach of any airline. The low-fare, high-frills airline continues to put customers first as it expands its live entertainment offerings to include at least 100 channels of XM Satellite Radio at every seat on its A320 fleet, complementing the existing 36 channels of free DIRECTV(r) programming it offers every customer.
New York-based JetBlue Airways has created a new airline category based on value, service and style. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue is now pleased to offer customers the most legroom throughout coach (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch for U.S. airlines). JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 52 cities with up to 575 daily flights. 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.
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.
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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 ability to operate reliably the EMBRAER 190 aircraft; 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 2006 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.