JetBlue expansion could mean more Vegas in airline’s future

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

When JetBlue Airways takes delivery of 17 new jets later this year, Las Vegas figures to be one of the destinations at which the respected discount carrier will expand.

"Las Vegas has been a good market for us," said Nigel Adams, vice president of customer service for the New York-based airline. "We haven't made any commitments, but if you look at the cities where we fly, you can see we have a number of opportunities."

Adams and several airline executives were in Las Vegas Tuesday for JetBlue's inaugural run between Boston and McCarran International Airport today. In addition to offering the single nonstop round trip between McCarran and Logan International Airport in Boston, the airline is adding round trips to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and to Long Beach, Calif.

With the expanded schedule, JetBlue will have six round trips to New York, three to Long Beach and the single Boston flight, all operating from the airline's new home at Gate D16 in the newly opened wing at McCarran.

By offering a full slate of flights throughout the day from the single gate, it became economically feasible for JetBlue to hire its own ramp staff in Las Vegas.

After starting with three flights and 15 employees in 2002, JetBlue has grown to 10 daily flights and 46 employees based at McCarran. Prior to the most recent expansion, JetBlue outsourced its ramp responsibilities to a subcontractor.

"We prefer to have our own employees on the ramp so that our customers get the entire JetBlue experience from front to back," said Mark Busalacchi, general manager of JetBlue at McCarran.

And JetBlue is poised to grow even more. As one of the few airlines to have a string of profitable quarters -- 17 as of the quarter ended March 31 -- the company is on track to receive more planes.

In the company's most recent quarter, it recorded net income of $7 million, 6 cents a share, on revenue of $374.2 million, compared with $15.2 million, 14 cents a share, on revenue of $289 million for the same quarter a year ago.

In a departure from the company's current success story, the airline will take delivery of a new aircraft type later this year.

In addition to adding 10 new Airbus A320 twin-engine jets, the workhorse of the JetBlue fleet, the company will buy seven Embraer E190 jets, the first of 100 the airline has ordered.

The Brazilian airliner will accommodate 100 passengers with 25 rows of two-by-two seating. Unlike the 100-passenger regional jets several airlines fly, the E190 fuselage will be similar to those in an Airbus jet or a Boeing 737. The seats, in fact, will be slightly larger than those in the A320.

Adams said JetBlue doesn't plan to deploy any E190s in the West, but by adding them for markets that currently operate with 156-seat A320s, the switch in aircraft will free planes for other growing JetBlue markets.

The company has said in the past that the strategy for the E190 will be to go into developing markets with the smaller plane, then upgrade to the Airbus when the traffic warrants it. The E190s will be equipped with the in-seat DirecTV satellite television entertainment systems currently offered by JetBlue on its A320s.

Adams made no commitments regarding additional cities where the airline could add Las Vegas service, but he noted the company is strong in Florida, with a presence in Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.

While the company is growing its West Coast presence -- it currently offers flights to Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix and Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Burbank, Ontario and Long Beach, Calif. -- it's unlikely that the company would dedicate the E190 jets to connect those cities to Las Vegas. In the past, the company has shown a reluctance to compete head to head with rival Southwest Airlines.

Harry Kassap, manager of air service development at McCarran, said JetBlue's expansion in Las Vegas coincides with the most significant growth curve in the airport's history, with the number of flights offered and construction of capital projects at the airport at all-time highs.

"But there's still a lot of opportunity to connect more dots," Kassap said.