JetBlue adds 6 N.Y. flights, targeting shuttles

By Keith L. Alexander

Washington Post Staff Writer

updated 12:12 p.m. ET July 11, 2006

JetBlue Airways has announced that it will launch its own limited version of a New York shuttle out of Washington Dulles International Airport this summer with introductory fares as low as $39 each way, sharply undercutting competing carriers.

Beginning Aug. 17, JetBlue will operate six daily nonstop flights from Dulles to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, where the airline is based.

The introductory fares require a 14-day advance purchase and must be bought by June 30. The tickets must be used between Aug. 17 and Sept. 30. Regular fares will be $50 to $145 each way, with one-way walk-up tickets starting at $90.

JetBlue is taking aim at the two dominant shuttles -- Delta Air Lines and US Airways -- that fly between New York's LaGuardia Airport and Reagan National Airport. Their one-way fares range from about $300 for advance tickets to $500 for walk-up seats. Passengers with corporate discounts pay significantly less.

Delta also will begin operating three flights a day between Dulles and JFK on July 5 to feed its international departures from New York. Gina Laughlin, a Delta spokeswoman, said the airline planned to be "competitive" with JetBlue on the Dulles-JFK route but doesn't believe the budget carrier will be much of a threat to the shuttle services. With Delta's 16 flights a day from National to LaGuardia every hour on the half-hour, Laughlin said that "business people want a convenient experience, which is why they choose the shuttle." She added, "And convenience includes LaGuardia and Reagan National."

LaGuardia is about a half-hour closer to Manhattan than Kennedy International, so it remains to be seen if passengers will be willing to accept the tradeoff of a cheaper JetBlue fare for a longer drive into the city.

Passengers may have a hard time getting JetBlue's cheapest seats because the low-cost carrier, like other airlines, is offering fewer of them. With higher fuel prices and record passenger loads, JetBlue says it is no longer discounting all of its seats. The more popular flights, such as those on Sundays or on holiday weekends, offer fewer discounted seats.

"We're not going to sell all seats at the lowest fares if we don't have to," said Adam Green, JetBlue's manager of route planning.

Southwest to enter fray
The airline will use its Embraer 190, 100-passenger aircraft, which offer satellite TV and satellite radio at each seat.

JetBlue executives said the airline decided to offer the flights to New York in part to capitalize on the growing Northern Virginia corridor. The airline also wanted to give Washington customers more connecting flights to its 30 destinations from its New York hub airport. New York becomes the sixth nonstop JetBlue flight out of Dulles.

By adding New York, JetBlue completes its service triangle with nonstop flights between New York, Boston and Washington. The New York-Washington market is the nation's 11th-largest route, the airline said.

"Every day, 1,000 fewer people fly each way between New York and Washington, D.C. today compared to summer, 2001," David Neeleman, JetBlue's founder and chief executive, said in a statement. "We think there's a good reason why: Fares are too high, which makes taking the train or driving a viable alternative. We want to make flying affordable again between our nation's capital and New York City."

A growing number of travelers, upset by rising airfares, have switched to low-cost ground transportation along the eastern corridor. Amtrak, which runs between Washington's Union Station and New York's Penn Station, has fares of $63 to $168 each way depending on the train.

With the growth of the Northern Virginia area, Dulles has attracted increased interest from airlines. The loss of Independence Air, a Dulles-based budget carrier that went out of business in January, has provided opportunities for other carriers to expand service at the airport. In the fall, another low-fare carrier, Southwest Airlines, will begin operating at Dulles. Southwest is expected to announce its destinations and fares this summer.

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