NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq:JBLU) reported today that its traffic in September decreased 4.8 percent from September 2007, on a capacity decrease of 11.5 percent.
Load factor for September 2008 was 76.7 percent, an increase of 5.3 points from September 2007. JetBlue's preliminary completion factor was 98.9 percent and its on-time (1) performance was 80.9 percent. JetBlue's preliminary passenger revenue per available seat mile for the month of September increased 28 percent year over year.
JETBLUE AIRWAYS TRAFFIC RESULTS
September 2008 September 2007 % Change
Revenue passenger miles (000) 1,748,493 1,836,911 (4.8)%
Available seat miles (000) 2,279,035 2,573,785 (11.5)%
Load factor 76.7% 71.4% 5.3 pts.
Revenue passengers 1,446,584 1,487,948 (2.8)%
Departures 14,823 15,711 (5.7)%
Average stage length 1,093 1,148 (4.8)%
Y-T-D 2008 Y-T-D 2007 % Change
Revenue passenger miles (000) 20,167,440 19,525,540 3.3%
Available seat miles (000) 24,931,580 23,790,936 4.8%
Load factor 80.9% 82.1% (1.2) pts.
Revenue passengers 16,812,158 16,206,105 3.7%
Departures 155,626 146,320 6.4%
Average stage length 1,134 1,128 0.5%
(1) The U.S. Department of Transportation considers on-time arrivals
to be those domestic flights arriving within 14 minutes of schedule.
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 Lots of Legroom and super-spacious Even More Legroom seats. 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 51 cities with 500 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 and our new terminal at JFK; 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 2007 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.