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3/2/2005
JETBLUE LEADER WINS JANNUS AWARD
By Ted Jackovics
The Tampa Tribune
March 2, 2005
TAMPA - In one more year when finding achievement in commercial aviation remains a challenge, organizers of the Tony Jannus Award tapped into a longstanding success story by naming JetBlue Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Neeleman the 2005 recipient.
Neeleman, 46, will be honored at a luncheon in St. Petersburg and dinner in Tampa on Oct. 27 sponsored by the two cities' chambers of commerce. Tickets will be available to the public for the event that commemorates the first scheduled U.S. air service, a flight Jannus piloted from St. Petersburg to Tampa in 1914.
Neeleman, the father of nine children, has delivered a range of entrepreneurial and management initiatives to the foundering aviation industry and acumen sharp enough to line up investors such as billionaire George Soros.
"David is always doing several things at once," said JetBlue general manager of Tampa operations Linda Meech, who supervises 56 employees here.
Neeleman co-founded Salt Lake City-based Morris Air in 1984 and sold it to Southwest Airlines in 1993, a period when he got to know Tampa International Airport director Louis Miller, who headed the Utah airport at the time.
"David created opportunities for people to become [reservationists] by working out of their homes over the telephone, a concept he has continued with JetBlue," Miller said. "He stays well connected in doing things for the good of the community."
Neeleman's next venture also remains successful, the low-fare Canadian carrier WestJet that he helped launch after he sold Morris Air. WestJet began service to Tampa International late last year.
After developing and selling the e-ticketing system called Open Skies to Hewlett Packard in 1999, Neeleman obtained $130 million in capital funding from Soros, Weston Presidio Capital and Chase Capital to start JetBlue, a whimsical name the fledgling airline's staff created when it sat down to decide on a brand and asked "Why not JetBlue?"
Neeleman's breakthrough strategy was to place the airline's base at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. JFK was underutilized for domestic flights because competitors persisted in scheduling from congested Newark and LaGuardia airports.
That provided JetBlue instant New York exposure. The airline has since made inroads with service at LaGuardia that businesspeople favor because of its proximity to Manhattan.
Today, JetBlue perhaps is best known among its passengers for its fleet of 71 Airbus A320s, all of them purchased new and equipped with leather seats and 36 channels of Direct TV programming. Those include in-flight displays that allow passengers to track the aircraft's location, speed and altitude.
This year, JetBlue will expand its fleet with shorter- range Embraer E190 airliners, a move some analysts have questioned for departing from the efficiencies of operating a single type of aircraft.
Miller said he has no insider information but believes Florida and likely Tampa will get additional routes with the E190s.
JetBlue will add a seventh Tampa-J.F. Kennedy/New York round-trip Friday and also flies three times daily between Tampa and Boston.
The Tony Jannus Award has honored "the outstanding contributor to scheduled air transportation" since 1964.
The roster of recipients has been worthy of an aviation hall of fame, said John O'Connor, chairman of DMJM Aviation of Tampa in announcing the 2005 events and winner on Tuesday. They include former Eastern Airlines President Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker, Virgin Atlantic President Richard Branson and last year's recipient, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.
Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at 813-259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.
© 2005 The Tampa Tribune
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