NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq:JBLU) today celebrates the airline's new home at John F. Kennedy International Airport -- the newly constructed Terminal 5. Elected officials, representatives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, business partners, and invited guests join JetBlue executives and crewmembers to inaugurate a new aviation icon. The celebration includes an appearance by the world-famous Radio City Rockettes. Television personality and food and wine connoisseur Ted Allen hosts a "Taste of T5" celebrating the terminal's 22 concessions, created by OTG Management, and the wide variety of 25 retail outlets.
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Celebrating the iconic Eero Saarinen-designed TWA terminal to which the new T5 is linked, a 1937 Lockheed 12A Electra, the oldest flying TWA aircraft, is available for guests to view during the event. The Electra traveled from California via the original route of TWA's first coast-to-coast passenger service trip. In addition, the TWA Clipped Wings, an organization of former TWA flight attendants, will present a fashion show of vintage TWA uniforms.
Other event celebrations include special demonstrations by JetBlue's airline partners Lufthansa, Aer Lingus and Cape Air. The terminal's efficient and customer-friendly design will be on display for all to see. Special areas such as the East Concourse lounge with Moroso-designed furniture, which offers panoramic vistas of aircraft movements on taxiways and runways, are available for the terminal's first guests.
"Eero Saarinen's Terminal 5 is recognized as an icon of aviation history in New York and beyond," said Dave Barger, CEO of JetBlue Airways. "As New York's hometown airline, we are proud to literally connect the new Terminal 5 to our shared aviation architectural history in Saarinen's TWA Flight Center. Our new home will bring the best of the JetBlue Experience from the air to the ground. More customers passing through JFK travel on JetBlue than any other airline, which is quite an achievement since the airline launched just over eight years ago. We will now be able to offer our customers amenities, comfort and an experience befitting a top-rated customer service company."
"Today is an historic day for all of New York," said Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). "JetBlue has brought a national landmark back to life and put it at the epicenter of air transportation here in New York and for the entire world. Terminal 5 will give New Yorkers the state-of-the-art air travel hub we need and deserve. I am grateful to JetBlue who has in word and in deed followed through on its commitment to New York and to ensuring that all New Yorkers, upstate and down, have low-cost travel options. I look forward to continuing to watch JetBlue thrive and grow here in New York and will do everything I can to make sure New York's air transportation system is as safe, affordable, and efficient as possible."
"JetBlue's new terminal represents a major investment in New York City and is a tremendous vote of confidence in our future," said Mayor Bloomberg. "In just eight years time, they've become the largest airline at Kennedy. They have more than 5,400 employees in our city, and we expect that number to keep growing. JetBlue is a classic New York success story, and we've worked hard to help it grow by marketing our city to tourists around the world. Expanding our tourism industry -- last year we hit a record 46 million visitors -- is an important part of our effort to diversify New York City's economy, and as Wall Street stumbles, that effort is more important than ever. We have set a goal of reaching 50 million visitors annually by 2012. Private investments in state-of-the-art terminals like this one will help us meet that goal -- and create thousands of new jobs for New Yorkers in all five boroughs."
"I commend JetBlue for their continued investment in JFK Airport despite the tough economic times that all airlines are facing. This new terminal will provide benefits to consumers as well as my constituents that travel and work at JFK," said U.S. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-6), whose district includes JFK Airport. "With this new terminal, JetBlue not only reaffirms their commitment to reinvesting in JFK Airport, it further magnifies JetBlue's commitment to customer service and providing jobs and opportunities for the residents of Queens and the City of New York."
Congressman John Hall (D-NY-19) said, "As the Vice Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, I know more than most the difficulties that the aviation industry has been facing lately. With all of the turmoil the stock market and this city in particular are experiencing, I am both pleased and excited that despite these difficulties, JetBlue remains dedicated to serving the greater New York City market and to continue to invest for the long term here in New York."
Scheduled to open in October, T5 is one of the first terminals in the U.S. to be completely designed and built post 9/11 and presents a new paradigm in airport design that focuses on efficiency and customer comfort. The tri-level, 635,000-square-foot terminal boasts 26 gates distributed throughout three concourses and includes a 55,000-square-foot central retail and concession Marketplace. Designed to accommodate up to 20 million customers per year with up to 250 daily flights, T5 will handle more than 30 percent of JFK's passenger traffic.
The design and amenities of T5 allow customers to control their own movement and experience through the terminal. Two mirror-image check-in areas with a high proportion of e-ticket kiosks flank a central security checkpoint -- the largest single checkpoint in the United States -- capable of accommodating 20 screening lanes. An automated "in-line" baggage system efficiently moves bags from the check-in lobby, where customers can place bags on the belts themselves, through screening and to the ramp for delivery to waiting aircraft. Electronic displays direct customers to their gates where they may access the terminal's free Wi-Fi network, relax in the large gate areas with ample seating, and enjoy the unparalleled runway views from the building's many windows. Twenty-two food concessions and 25 specialty retails stores are also available to customers throughout the terminal.
JetBlue's T5 is located behind the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA terminal. Kennedy Airport's operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, controls the TWA terminal, and is rehabilitating and restoring the landmark structure in order to reopen it to the public under an adaptive reuse program. T5's design reinterprets the iconic terminal's futuristic vision of air travel with customer-friendly features that reflect the JetBlue brand. The design of JetBlue's new T5 began in March 2004 with groundbreaking occurring in December 2005.
About JetBlue Airways
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.
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