Strategy of JetBlue, a U.S. Airline.

Introduction
In early 2003, JetBlue Airways no – frills American airlines, posted a profit of $ 17.6 million for the first quarter of 2003. In the same period, the American airline industry announced losses of around $2 billion. JetBlue was one of the few bright spots in an industry which has been reeling under the woes of over – capacity and losses for over two years. The Company managed to succeed in a period when big names in the American airline industry like American Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and others suffered huge losses and were a few steps from the bankruptcy. The American airline industry was in a bad state owing to the effects of terrorism, war and economic downturn. The major carriers alone were estimated to have an outstanding debt of over $100 billion. Passenger traffic was also falling consistently. In this scenario, a number of low cost airlines began to make their presence felt in the industry. Southwest Airlines, was the inspiration for most of the low- cost startups. However not all start-ups airlines succeed. The most important cause for failure was the inability of these low –cost airlines to bring about a balance between cost – cutting and quality of service, which JetBlue succeed to do.
JetBlue, Modeled itself on the lines of Southwest Airlines and managed to succeed in a depressed and highly competitive industry, because of its innovative approach to business and its efforts in becoming a cost leader by cutting down on unnecessary frills and wasteful expenses. The airline managed to cut costs without compromising on the quality of service, in fact it provided more amenities than the other airlines , including personal television sets for every flyer and comfortable leather seats, creating a feeling of luxury. JetBlue strategy was to identify and eliminate non – value costs and use