In Mint Condition: JetBlue CEO Reflects on the Road to Premium PaxEx
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American low-cost carrier JetBlue was born in 2000 out of the concept of equality – its identity was inextricably linked to the absence of a premium product offering, explained the airline’s CEO and president, Robin Hayes. “Jetblue was founded with a very clear concept of treating everyone well,” he said. “The seed was set for an airline that wasn’t ever going to have a premium experience.”
Yet, fourteen years later, JetBlue is well known for its Mint premium travel experience, which includes some of the longest lie-flat beds in the transcontinental market, a tapas-style dining service and complimentary in-flight connectivity. The premium product came in response to JetBlue’s 20 percent revenue deficit in the transcontinental market, which Hayes attributes to the carrier’s inability to reach a customer segment willing to pay extra for a better product. With Mint, these travelers could enjoy a premium experience at lower price point compared to that offered by legacy rivals. “Not only had we fixed our transcon problem; we had turned transcon into a profit driver for the company,” Hayes said.
“Not only had we fixed our transcon problem; we had turned transcon into a profit driver.”
But Mint wasn’t met without resistance from airline leaders, board members and crewmembers – many who believed all passengers should be treated the same. “Now we were saying, ‘Actually, we are going to treat this group of customers differently,” Hayes said. The leadership was tasked with ensuring that crewmembers could put their heart and soul behind the product – after all, “they are the product,” Hayes said. Today, crewmember service in the Mint cabin is the feature that resonates most with passengers, Hayes reveals.
When Mint launched, it was offered on 11 airplanes, and by the end of 2017, it will have 31. But it won’t end there, Hayes said: “There is such a head of steam building around this product that I don’t think we are going to end with 31 airplanes.”