JetBlue Airlines 2010 Annual Report Download - page 2

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Dear Fellow Shareholders,
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of our first flight, I visited every JetBlue location in 2010, meeting
thousands of crewmembers, customers and investors. It was a year marked by significant change, not only
in our industry, but within JetBlue. I came away from my travels with a new appreciation for the
investment you have made in our company, a renewed sense of purpose to do my best to protect your
investment, and a sincere admiration for the people who deliver the JetBlue Experience every day.
The airline industry is not for the faint of heart, but I can’t imagine any business more exciting, rewarding
and vital to our national and global economy. Within this space, JetBlue has sought to carve out a niche as
a contrarian airline, the “un-airline,” focused on delivering investor returns by building customer loyalty
through a unique product and brand, the foundation of which is attracting and retaining outstanding
crewmembers. We have sought to reinvent the traditional airline customer service model, to prove that it
can be done the right way and done well. We ended our first decade similar to the way we began –
succeeding in the midst of turmoil, optimistic despite the volatility in the cost of energy and the changing
competitive environment, confident that we will be able to generate positive returns for our shareholders
over the long run, be the carrier of choice for our customers and a great place to work for our
crewmembers.
JetBlue is the only post-deregulation airline to fly into a second decade under its own brand, without having
to restructure or grow through merger and/or acquisition. Our organic growth strategy, with operational
anchors in New York, Boston, and the Caribbean, paired with our “open architecture” model for airline
partnerships, sets the stage for what we believe we can achieve in our second decade: To Become the
Americas’ Favorite Airline by bringing humanity back to air travel.
We generated net income of $97 million in 2010. Had it not been for a severe winter storm in the Northeast
during the holiday peak in December, one of our most profitable years would have been even more
successful. Despite the $30 million in lost revenue due to the storm, the rising cost of energy and industry
consolidation resulting in larger competitors, JetBlue achieved solid results. In addition, we ended the year
with a healthy balance of approximately $1 billion in cash and investment securities and generated more
than $200 million in positive free cash flow, reflecting our commitment to sustainable growth and building
long-term value.
2010: A “Building” Year
We approached 2010 with a plan to refresh our business model to meet the changing demands of the
market place and to capture new revenue opportunities. We continued to take a measured approach to our
capital spending by making sound value-adding investments that we believe will position JetBlue well for
the long-term. To that end, we entered the year with strategic goals that outlined key initiatives in four
areas:
Keep Our Edge: Invest in tools that will power our business, and make the direct relationship we enjoy
with all crewmembers a true competitive advantage.
Build a Low Cost Culture: Maximize asset utilization, invest capital where there is an immediate and
sustainable return and run an efficient operation.