NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq:JBLU) announced that Christoph Franz, CEO of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd, has been appointed to its Board of Directors effective immediately. Dr. Franz represents the Deutsche Lufthansa Group, whose $300 million investment in JetBlue was recently completed.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors, I heartily welcome Christoph to JetBlue," said Dave Barger, JetBlue's CEO. "Our partnership with Lufthansa and its world-renowned leadership team will help strengthen our airline as we continue to build momentum with our award-winning service and strong financial position. Christoph, as the leader of Swiss International Air Lines, brings tremendous knowledge and understanding of the airline industry to JetBlue and we believe he will be an asset to us in many ways."
Christoph Franz, age 47, is Swiss International Air Line's Chief Executive Officer and has served in that capacity since 2004. Prior to that, Mr. Franz spent nine years in top management positions with Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), the German national railway, ending as a member of the executive board in charge of Passenger Transportation. He holds a doctorate in Business Administration at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt.
"I am honored to represent Deutsche Lufthansa's investment in JetBlue as a member of the Board of Directors," Dr. Franz said. "JetBlue has proven that a North American airline can create a new and successful business model, based on value and low cost. I look forward to contributing to JetBlue's future success in this role."
New York-based JetBlue Airways has created a new airline category based on value, service and style. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue is now pleased to offer customers the most legroom throughout coach (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch for U.S. airlines). JetBlue introduced complimentary in-flight e-mail and instant messaging services on aircraft "BetaBlue," a first among U.S. domestic airlines. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 53 cities with up to 600 daily flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583) or visit www.jetblue.com.
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature which represent our management's beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including, without limitation, our extremely competitive industry; increases in fuel prices, maintenance costs and interest rates; our ability to implement our growth strategy, including the ability to operate reliably the EMBRAER 190 aircraft; our significant fixed obligations; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and maintain our culture as we grow; our reliance on high daily aircraft utilization; our dependence on the New York metropolitan market and the effect of increased congestion in this market; our reliance on automated systems and technology; our being subject to potential unionization; our reliance on a limited number of suppliers; changes in or additional government regulation; changes in our industry due to other airlines' financial condition; and external geopolitical events and conditions. Further information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to, the Company's 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
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