This little story on JetBlue Airways caught our eye on Reuters on Thursday (our emphasis):
NEW YORK (Reuters) – JetBlue Airways is offering a $599 one-month pass for unlimited travel on Wednesday in a bid to get more passengers airborne and jump-start a sluggish summer for the airline industry. The pass, valid until August 21, allows holders to visit any of the airline’s 56 destinations. The pass is valid between September 8 and October 8 this year with no blackout dates and with every available seat up for grabs.
People can book flights up to three days before they want to travel. If they cancel or change their reservations less than three days before the flight, they are subject to a $100 fee. To buy the pass, customers must enroll in JetBlue’s loyalty program, TrueBlue. Recent traffic data shows JetBlue’s load factor– a measure of how full a plane is– fell 0.5 percent in July. Airline traffic slid last month as consumers continue to grapple with nearly double-digit unemployment and businesses pare back spending.
The New York-based carrier flies in the United States, the Caribbean and South America. The pass includes fees for domestic flights, but taxes for Puerto Rico and international flights are not included.
So, is this a sign of desperation or actually quite genius?
And the big question, considering the airline is partly owned by Lufthansa, will we see something similar in Europe?
Related links:
Airplane graveyard forensics - FT Alphaville
On aerospace over-supply – FT Alphaville