NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq:JBLU) today announced the appointment of Ed Barnes to the position of Chief Financial Officer effective immediately. Mr. Barnes had been serving as Interim CFO since November 2007.
"Ed is an extremely valuable member of JetBlue's senior management team," said Dave Barger, JetBlue's CEO. "In addition to his broad industry knowledge, Ed brings with him extensive financial management expertise and an ideal skill set for our company. I am confident that Ed will be a great asset for JetBlue as we continue to enhance our financial performance."
Mr. Barnes joined JetBlue in 2006 as Vice President-Cost Management and Financial Analysis. In 2007, Mr. Barnes was named Principal Accounting Officer and Senior Vice President-Finance. Previously, Mr. Barnes was Chief Financial Officer of Assisted Living Concepts, a publicly traded company. He has also held various financial positions at Southwest Airlines Co. and America West Airlines, Inc. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
"I am honored and delighted to have been offered this opportunity, and I look forward to building upon our solid financial foundation," Mr. Barnes said. "JetBlue crewmembers continue to deliver award-winning service efficiently and productively, and I look forward to working with them to find even better ways to run our business."
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 introduced complimentary in-flight e-mail and instant messaging services on aircraft "BetaBlue," a first among U.S. domestic airlines. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 53 cities with up to 600 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.
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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 and the effect of increased congestion in this 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.