JetBlue streaks into Syracuse, Low-cost carrier brings air fares at Hancock Airport back to Earth

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 11, 2001 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE - Syracuse's business community never looked so happy to be at Hancock Airport. On May 7, a terminalfilling crowd gathered early at Gate 15 to welcome JetBlue and what they believed would be a new era in Syracuse airfares.

"The era of sky-high airfares in Syracuse is over," pronounced U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, leading off the slate of political speakers who came to help JetBlue CEO David Neeleman celebrate his entry into the market.

JetBlue's maiden flight to Syracuse marched toward the terminal through an arch of triumph, courtesy of two airport fire engines spraying water over the taxiway. The longawaited arrival of the low-fare carrier to the Syracuse market culminated in a three-hour victory celebration featuring politicians, businesspeople, and even a few regular travelers caught in the glare of the media spotlight.

Schumer, instrumental in helping JetBlue acquire its Kennedy Airport landing rights, emerged from the first flight alongside Neeleman. The two crossed into the terminal past a gauntlet of cheering staffers and emerged into the waiting area through an arch of blue balloons. State Comptroller H. Carl McCall emerged close behind the two, but didn't stay for the festivities.

More than 100 others, many of them JetBIue employees clad in special "Jet Orange" shirts, filed past the cheering committee assembled at the end of the gangway. Camera crews and photographers deployed themselves to capture every passenger's exit. Several travelers appeared bewildered by the media attention as they deplaned.

Syracuse's business community wasn't bewildered with the attention. Orrin MacMurray, president and CEO of the C&S Companies, says the new competition's effect oil prices will help his business's bottom line. C&S bids on engineering projects across the country and has offices as far away as San Diego. With its headquarters at Hancock, the company specializes in airport engineering.

"This is going to have a positive impact on our travel budget," says MacMurray.

David Cordeau, president of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, and Irwin Davis, executive vice president of the Metropolitan Development Association, both helped welcome JetBlue to town. The organizations have long sought airfare relief for their members.

"Business and leisure travelers must support JetBlue," says Davis.

Michael Lorenz, head of the Pyramid Companies' Carousel Center expansion project, says Pyramid employees will be using JetBlue.

Several in the community, such as Cordeau, have expressed concern that travelers would take matching fares on competing airlines, forgetting that JetBlue brought the fares down.

A parade of politicians drove home the use-it-or- lose- it message during a press conference and while working the crowd.

Onondaga County Executive Nicholas Pirro says affordable airfares are essential to attracting and retaining businesses. Schumer later added that when he spoke with executives of companies that left Central New York or that considered moving operations to the region, Hancock's high airfares were their top concern.

Schumer also contrasted JetBlue's modem fleet with its competitors' aircraft and service. He described a typical $700 turboprop campaign flight to Syracuse from New York City in 1998.

"If it was a nice day," joked Schumer, "maybe we got peanuts."

The affordable connection to New York, said Schumer, would open Central New York to the world through JFK airport's extensive network of connecting flights. Many JetBlue flights also fly on to destinations in the south and west.

Syracuse Congressman Jim Walsh also spoke about his $700 flights from Syracuse to Washington. He cautioned the community against the ultimate effect of flying on JetBlue's price-matching carriers.

"If they leave," said Walsh, "those fares are going right back through the roof."

JetBlue promises better service at a lower price. The airline's entry into the market has apparently led to a steep drop in the price of flying. In the past week, other carriers have lowered their fares to New York to match the $109 round-trip advance price offered by JetBlue.

As its first Syracuse flight emptied out, one clue as to how JetBlue is able to keep its costs down while providing better service emerged.

"Who's working the ticket counter?" asked the cheering committee's supervisor.

Two young women raised their hands. "You can go," the supervisor said. "Everyone else get on and clean the plane." The crisply uniformed JetBlue staff headed down the jetway toward the parked aircraft.

JetBlue employs a cleaning crew while its planes are parked in the evening. During the day, the job falls to the flight staff, including the captain and occasionally even Neeleman and other executives.

In February 1999, Neeleman announced his plans to start a new carrier he tentatively named "New Air." Within months, he had secured $130 million in financing from backers such as investor George Soros, Chase Capital, and Weston Presidio Capital. With the help of politicians such as Schumer, the new airline, now called JetBlue, landed 75 slots at JFK for its future operations. By February 2000, the airline had begun daily flights between Buffalo and New York.