JetBlue Embraer 190

Let us not forget the first thing we ever talked about was getting JetBlue to flying their Embraer 190 from Worcester to their hub (JFK) 2-4 per day, from which you can get direct flights around the country. Check out this story of the Embraer forwarded to me by Harry--thanks Harry.


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B44180398%2D9A09%2D43EE%2D8190%2D570300E9228B%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=

Here is part of it:



JetBlue chose that heavily traveled corridor in early November to try out the first of its newest planes, whose 100 seats mean its capacity is about one-third smaller than the airline's mainstay jets. It was no ordinary part of the country to introduce the Brazilian-built plane.
First there's the formidable winter weather. Then the fierce competition. And the mix of business travelers and college kids. And it's one of the busiest travel markets.
But such conditions made for exactly the kind of mix JetBlue wanted for the debut the Embraer 190, with 56 fewer seats than its workhorse Airbus A320.

Changing planes like that is all the more remarkable for an airline with an increasing group of its most faithful fliers drawn to the consistent service and feel of the bigger Airbus jets. "I think truly the risk would've been not moving forward with the Embraer 190 as opposed to moving forward with [it]," Barger said. Customer and crew member feedback has so far been good, he said. Most low-cost carriers don't mix up their fleets, but JetBlue is moving ahead, becoming the first airline to put the plane into use, and it has committed to acquiring 101 of them, with options for 100 more. The shift in strategy comes at a critical time as the company's profitability is on the wane.

Though it operates an uncommonly lean business with high margins by its industry's standards, the low-cost carrier isn't immune to high fuel costs. On Wednesday, JetBlue is expected to report a first-ever annual loss, according to a Thomson First Call survey. The airline needs revenue from new routes served by the Embraer jet as well as its other Airbus jets it's acquiring to grow faster than its costs.

JetBlue believes the Embraer 190 will give it the ability to fly to 800 new routes. On those it already serves, executives say, it can better match capacity with demand -- smoothing out earnings by reducing the number of empty seats in the off-season.