JetBlue must be doing something right but labor trouble could spell trouble ahead.
While rivals struggle to survive and to deflect the wrath of the flying public the Little Airline That Could is flying high.
Consider:
• Members of the North American Travel Journalists Association named JetBlue the Best Airline in each of the last four years
• The Airline Quality Rating report, released April 3, placed JetBlue first for the third straight year in its annual study of airline customer service
• JetBlue was named Best Domestic Airline for Value by readers of Travel + Leisure voting in the magazine's World's Best Values Awards survey for 2006
• Readers of Conde Naste Traveler have also named JetBlue Best Domestic Airline several years in a row.
JetBlue boasts -- not without reason -- that it offers passengers an experience rather than a flight.
All JetBlue planes contain leather seats with individually-controlled DirecTV service (36 channels) available without charge.
All of the line's E190 aircraft also have XM Satellite Radio, with more than 100 channels, and the remaining A320 craft in the JetBlue fleet will have it installed by year's end. XM service, featuring live broadcasts of up to 15 major-league baseball games daily, will also be free.
On flights longer than two hours, passengers may purchase a feature film for FOX InFlight. Otherwise, plastic-sealed headsets are given to passengers gratis before they board. Snacks, soft drinks, and Dunkin' Donuts coffee are available without charge.
Air Tran is the only other carrier that offers XM Satellite Radio, a mix of music, news, and sports stations many of them commercial-free. Artist and song information, as well as sports scorfes, will appear on seat-back panels to augment the audio/visual experience.
JetBlue's fares are all one-way, all seats are assigned, and Saturday-night stays are not required.
To keep planes flying on time, JetBlue often flies to alternative airports in major cities, such as Long Beach instead of LAX and Oakland instead of San Francisco. It also tries to avoid peak flight times, operating numerous red-eye flights that arrive or depart when airports are otherwise empty.
JetBlue also expedites deplaning by allowing passengers willing to walk down steps to exit through rear exits in warm-weather cities.
A JFK-based discounter launched six years ago, JetBlue continues to expand rapidly. Between now and July 20, it will add new routes to Pittsburgh, Portland, and Raleigh-Durham, giving it a presence in 41 different cities.
However, there could be labor trouble just over the horizon. JetBlue, the largest U.S. airline without unions, may face an International Association of Machinists election to organize the carrier's baggage handlers.
The Machinists union filed with the National Mediation Board last week seeking a representation election. JetBlue said it's aware of the union's actions and would prefer to "talk directly with employees, without union representation," a company spokesman said.
