The high points during JetBlue Airways’ first 10 years are almost too many for Dave Barger to recall, the low points almost impossible to forget.
The new terminal the low-cost carrier opened at New York’s JFK airport in 2008 was huge, said Jet Blue’s CEO, who was in Salt Lake City last week to celebrate the carrier’s 10th anniversary with 2,141 reservation and airport employees in Utah.
Getting a sixth consecutive customer satisfaction award from J.D. Power and Associates last summer was big, too, Barger said.
Pulling off the switch to a new online reservation system in January was important — even though passengers couldn’t book tickets, check in or change itineraries for 24 hours, he said.
But what amazes the 52-year-old executive most is that JetBlue survived and prospered in the years after its February 2000 launch, especially given the bookend of the Great Recession. The next 10 years were marked by everything from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to deep turmoil in the airline industry, as other carriers filed for bankruptcy, merged or went out of business.
“As we look at the history book, we can’t find another pure start-up, post-deregulation in 1978, that has successfully flown into a second decade without some kind of financial restructuring, or merger-and-acquisition activity, or they just never make it 10 years. They don’t even get out of the box,” Barger said.
To be sure, JetBlue’s journey hasn’t been easy. Although it became a darling of the airline industry, and its founder, former Utah wunderkind David Neeleman, became a celebrity, JetBlue has had to navigate through some very tough times.
“It is a great company, in terms of customer service. It’s a superior product, but it’s one lousy investment,” said airline analyst Vaughn Cordle.
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