JetBlue Airways is an American low-cost airline owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU). The company is headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Its home airport is John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In 2001, JetBlue began a focus city operation at Long Beach in Los Angeles County, California, and another at Logan International Airport, Boston in 2004. It also has focus city operations at Fort Lauderdale, Washington-Dulles, as well as Orlando International Airport. The airline mainly serves destinations in the United States, along with flights to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Mexico.

JetBlue also maintains a corporate office in USCity: Utah and a satellite office in USCity: Connecticut. JetBlue is a non-union airline.

Founding

In September 1999 the airline was awarded 75 initial take off/landing slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and received formal U.S. authorization in February 2000. It started operations on 11 February 2000.

JetBlue's founders had set out to call the airline "Taxi" and therefore have a yellow livery to associate the airline with New York. The idea was dropped, however, for several reasons: the negative connotation behind New York City taxis; the ambiguity of the word taxi with regard to air traffic control; and threats from investor JP Morgan to pull its share ($20 million of the total $128 million) of the airline's initial funding unless the name was changed . The airline's founders also considered making its home base in Trenton, New Jersey, but this idea did not gain much support.

9/11 aftermath, profitable years

JetBlue was one of only a few U.S. airlines that made a profit during the sharp downturn in airline travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Since its IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2002, JetBlue has become one of the most popular airline stocks in history and currently has about two billion dollars in market capitalization. Financial results were strong for the airline throughout the 2002–2004 years, and many analysts and journalists lauded the airline for its success. The airline sector responded to JetBlue's market presence by starting mini-rival carriers: Delta Air Lines started Song, and United Airlines launched another rival called Ted. Song has since been disbanded and is being reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines, and United has announced that Ted will also be discontinued as a separate brand.

In 2002, JetBlue acquired LiveTV, LLC for $41 million in cash and the retirement of $39 million of LiveTV debt. LiveTV equips JetBlue with 36 channels of live DirecTV satellite TV programming at every seat. Two years later, JetBlue announced it would add 100 channels of XM Satellite Radio, Fox TV programs and 20th Century Fox movies to its in-flight entertainment.