JetBlue Turns 20

JetBlue Airways turned 20 on Tuesday.  The New York-based airline’s first revenue flight was Flight 1 between New York and Fort Lauderdale on February 11, 2000.

The airline was founded with a pledge “to bring humanity to air travel.”

“No one believed that a start-up airline in 2000 could survive 20 months, much less 20 years,” said Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue, adding that “taking care of people” proved to be “a viable business model.”

Since launch, the airline said it has distributed 102 million bags of Terra Blue chips to over 470 million passengers.

The airline is celebrating its 20th anniversary with special sales and promotions.  Passengers on Tuesday’s Flight 1 from New York to Fort Lauderdale received “breakfast treats and surprise gate-side giveaways” before departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)