Introduction JetBlue Airways is an American low-cost airline headquartered out of New York City with its main base

is the John F. Kennedy International Airport. JetBlue was founded in August 1998 by David Neeleman, along with Joel Peterson as Chairman and David Barger as President and CEO. As of December 31st, 2009 JetBlue serves 60 destinations in 21 states (including Puerto Rico) and eleven countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. JetBlues fleet consists of 110 Airbus A-320 and 43 Embraer 190 aircraft. All of JetBlues aircraft have leather seats, XM satellite radio and DirectTV entertainment service with 36 channels. JetBlue also operates one of the youngest fleets with an average age of 5.1 years between their two types of aircraft.

Some of JetBlues notable incidents/accidents include the emergency landing of flight 292 on September 21, 2005, where the front landing gear on an A-320 aircraft failed to retract. The infamous February 14th, 2007 ice story that hit the John F. Kennedy airport, stranding passengers on flights across the nation leaving passengers on several aircrafts without access to food or restrooms for over 9 hours, and the August 26th incident on flight 1052 where a flight attendant cursed out a passenger, activated the emergency evacuation slide. As a result of the Valentines Day 2007 incident JetBlue created the

Customer Bill of Rights which offers compensation for events of that nature in the future. SWOT Analysis Strengths JetBlue has differentiated itself by providing various facilities to customers such as in-flight entertainment, XM radio, and DirectTV in every seat. JetBlue provides 60 destinations to 21 states in 11 countries, including Latin America and Caribbean. JetBlue was one of the only airlines to in the U.S. that yielded a profit despite the decline in air travel after the 9/11 attacks. JetBlue has turned into one of the most admired airline stocks in history and has about $2 billion in market capitalization. Their new marketing campaign gave emphasis to service, complimentary, and aggressive fares onboard services. The Readers Choice Award listed JetBlue as the number one U.S. airline for six years in a row. It is also ranked at the top in Customer Satisfaction amongst low cost carriers in North America. Weakness

Operational issues, low cost fares but high fuel cost, and JetBlues trademark contributed in bringing down economic performance.

JetBlues higher cost linked to the airlines several facilities was making the company less competitive.

JetBlue witnessed unsustainable growth rates with the constant addition of routes and planes.

Estimated a loss due to increase prices in fuel, fleet cost, and operating efficiency.

JetBlue has less international destinations because it only serves 11 countries. They do not conduct business in numerous unsaturated markets such as Asia.

Opportunities China and other raising economies are becoming increasingly interested in air travel. The addition of new planes has created the possibility of creating new routes. Many industries are beginning to increase international tourism and investments, which are essential to globalization. They operate in the largest single market in the world, being the United States.

Traveler traffic is predicted to increase 6% annually through 2014. Tourism has increased all across the world consequently requiring more flights.

Threats Demand for air travel fluctuates not always guaranteeing customers. Fuel prices are increasing and show no sign of reversing. Customers are complaining that they are not receiving their refunds on time. Strong competitors most notably SouthWest Airlines. Increasing impact of government regulations to industry operations. Competition

AirTran Holdings (AAI): AirTran Holdings is one of the largest low-fare passenger airlines in America. The airline has managed to achieve low operating costs despite relying on a hub-and-spoke system, in which most of its flights originate and terminate at its hub in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite AirTran's continued reliance on the hub and spoke system, management has cited other operational factors as cause for the airline having a cost structure that is among the lowest in the industry.

American Airlines (AMR): AMR is the second largest airline in the world based on available seat miles and revenue passenger miles on an average day, American Airlines flies approximately 3,400 flights between 250 countries.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL): Delta Air Lines is the 2nd largest passenger airline in the world by available seat miles. In recent years, the company has faced financial difficulties due to price competition from discount airlines like JetBlue and Southwest. Delta was forced into bankruptcy in September 2005. Since exiting bankruptcy, the company has followed a revised operating strategy creating a network shift towards more profitable international routings.

Southwest Airlines Company (LUV): Southwest Airlines is the largest domestic carrier by total passenger. Southwest emphasizes maintaining low operating expenses, primarily through extensive fuel hedging. Due to their ability to provide low costs, Southwest was able to remain profitable for 35 consecutive years, a record unmatched in commercial aviation history.

United Continental Holdings (UAL): The merger between Continental Airlines and United Airlines created the second largest airline fleet in U.S history. While not directly competing against JetBlue's low cost structure, UAL is a major stronghold in aviation. US Airways Group (LCC) US Airways is a major domestic air carrier with destinations throughout the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe. The airline declared bankruptcy in 2002, due to reduced travel after 9/11. US Airways

could never fully recover due to high fuel costs and tough labor negotiations, forcing the company into a merger with America West in 2005. While the US Airways name was maintained for brand purposes, the merger left America West executives and stockholders with more control over the new company. Grand Strategy Matrix RAPID MARKET GROWTH

SLOW MARKET GROWTH The above chart shows that JetBlue strategy was to thrive by weak competitive positioning in a rapid growth market.