How Jet Blue Cracked Boston

The airplane carrier business is extremely competitive and cutthroat, but is the past few years JetBlue has proven its versatility in its immersion into the Boston market.  The airline first approached the Logan International Airport about bringing its business to the city soon after its start in 2000, but was quickly turned down.  Four years later they came back and were finally allowed to do business in Boston, and they have certainly proven their worth to Logan.

What they did was adjust their company to cater to local demands, which in Boston's case, was to cater to business travel.  In its earlier years, JetBlue primarily served vacation travelers, offering flights from Boston to warm destinations such as the southwest, Florida, and the Caribbean.  However, this had a very seasonal demand, so to counter this they turned their focus to business travelers.  They began to offer multiple daily flights to business destinations to satisfy the needs of business travelers at a time when larger airlines were scaling back, only flying to their hubs to avoid high fuel costs.

Also, JetBlue managed to keep its fares at a very competitive rate at this time, and they had the distinct advantage of flying more places out of Boston than their competitors.  They also joined a global computer reservations system to help with complex ticketing transactions, as they were well aware that business is constantly changing and they wanted to provide a platform where business travelers could have a stress-free transfer of flights.  They also had the options of additional legroom and expedited security screening, which they often took advantage of despite its minor charges.  Today, business travel is over 30% of JetBlue's business out of Boston.

This story is very relevant to what we have been talking about in class lately.  JetBlue noticed this area where there was a lack of supply to meet the demand of business travelers.  They changed their CPV and a lot of their policies to make them more of a business traveler-friendly airline.  It reflects the ideology that strategy is something that is constantly changing and CEOs have to constantly and effectively evaluate their businesses and implement change.  You have to ask the essential questions, "If your company were shuttered, to whom would it matter and why?", "Which of your customers would miss you the most and why?" and "How long would it take another firm to step into that void?".  In JetBlue's case they have been putting themselves in a position where they are vital to the frequent fliers of Boston's business world.  They have been careful not to expand too quickly, but enough so that their impact is felt and they spread their brand name.  There's clearly more to this airline than the TV's in the headrests, and upper management should continue to pursue and tackle new opportunities as effectively as they did here in Boston.

Source: Wall Street Journal