It sounds like Jet Blue is poking their finger into AA's eyes! Ouch! Kenneth Lin > What would compel them to do this? They already have low unit costs and high > load factors, not to mention AA pulling "More Room" back? > > JetBlue to Add More Legroom Across Fleet > Thursday July 3, 7:55 am ET > Low-Fare Carrier Will Offer Most Customers a Seat Pitch of 34 Inches > Starting Fall, 2003 > > > NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 3, 2003--Beginning in September, JetBlue > Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU - News), New York's low-fare airline, will provide two > inches more legroom for most customers without changing its fare structure. > > By taking out one row of seats, the airline will extend seat pitch (the > space from the back of one seat to the back of the seat behind it) to 34 > inches throughout their Airbus fleet, with the exception of nine rows near > the front of the cabin which will remain at 32 inches. With the new > configuration, JetBlue's A320 aircraft will now comprise 156 seats, down > from 162 (102 seats now will have 34 inches of pitch while 54 seats will > remain at 32 inches). > > "We've always offered an award-winning and very comfortable product but now > we've figured out a way to give more customers even more room without > changing our fare structure," said David Neeleman, JetBlue's Chairman and > CEO. "This way about two-thirds of the aircraft will have 34 inches of > pitch, making it the most generous legroom of any low-fare airline. We're > always looking to give our customers more: more comfort, more service, more > value, and more entertainment. And travelers can expect more innovation from > JetBlue in the months to come." > > The first aircraft with the additional legroom is expected to be in service > starting September 6. The airline plans to have completed work across the > fleet by November 19. JetBlue expects the improvement to its product > offering will further enhance its brand and, together with yield management, > will strengthen the airline's ability to offset any potential decline in > operating revenues resulting from the reduction in seat capacity. > > JetBlue is a low-fare, low-cost passenger airline, which provides > high-quality customer service. JetBlue operates a fleet of 44 new Airbus > A320 aircraft and is scheduled to place into service another nine A320s by > the end of 2003. The airline recently placed an order for 100 EMBRAER 190 > aircraft with options for an additional 100. The first EMBRAER 190 is > scheduled to be delivered in mid 2005. All JetBlue aircraft feature roomy > all-leather seats each equipped with free live satellite television, > offering up to 24 channels of DIRECTV® Programming at every seat.** > > From its base at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, > JetBlue flies to: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm > Beach, FL; Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, NY; Long Beach, Oakland, > Ontario, and San Diego, CA; Burlington, VT; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; New > Orleans, LA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Seattle, WA. > From Washington DC, the airline serves Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Long Beach > and Oakland, CA. From Long Beach, CA, the airline serves Atlanta, GA, > Oakland, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Salt Lake City, UT. > > _________________________________________________________________ > MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus