JetBlue Airways and Airbus Reach Agreement to Retrofit the Airline's Airbus A320 Fleet with Sharklets

NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), New York's Hometown Airline™, is proud to announce today that it has signed a letter of intent with Airbus to acquire 110 ship-sets of retrofit Sharklets for the airline's in-service A320 aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2014. Just last week, JetBlue Airways unveiled the first of its A320 aircraft to be outfitted with Sharklets. Sharklets are newly designed wing tip devices that are expected to improve the aerodynamics of Airbus aircraft and significantly cut fuel burn and emissions by up to four percent.

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"Airbus has been a tremendous partner in developing the Sharklets solution for our A320 fleet; we believe we have made an excellent choice for our aircraft," said Dave Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways. "We feel the Sharklets are a prudent investment in our fleet, our environment and our people that will maximize performance and efficiency, while minimizing our carbon footprint."

"It's only fitting that JetBlue is the first airline in the world to make the decision to retrofit its in-service fleet with the fuel-saving upgrade of Sharklets, and we are very pleased to have them on board for this solution," said Tom Williams, Airbus' Executive Vice President - Programs.  "JetBlue has been a real partner in the Sharklet program, and this agreement further builds on that strong relationship.  Airbus seeks to work continuously with our customers to enhance the value our products and services deliver to them.  These Sharklets will make JetBlue's already efficient and reliable in-service A320 fleet even more competitive."

Sharklets are an option for the A320 Family aircraft and offer JetBlue the option of an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 1,000 pounds. Sharklets are standard on all members of the A320neo Family. JetBlue is not only the first carrier to fly with Sharklets in North America but, with the conclusion of this agreement and the retrofitting, will have the largest A320 fleet in the world with Sharklets. JetBlue's future Airbus deliveries also will come outfitted with Sharklets.

About Airbus
Airbus is a global leader in aircraft manufacturing, with customer focus, commercial know-how, technological leadership and manufacturing efficiency that have propelled it to the forefront of the industry. In addition to providing a modern and comprehensive product line consisting of aircraft ranging from 107 to more than 500 seats, the company also delivers a wide range of customer services in all areas of support, tailored to the needs of individual operators all over the world.

About JetBlue Airways       
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline™ with other focus cities in Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles (Long Beach), San Juan and Orlando. Known for its award-winning service and free inflight entertainment as much as its low fares JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch) as well as super-spacious Even More Space seats. 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 75 cities with 750 daily flights and plans to launch service to Charleston, S.C., Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2013, as well as Medellin, Colombia, subject to receipt of government operating authority. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information call 1-800-538-2583 (TTY/TDD 1-800-336-5530), 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. When used in this document and in documents incorporated herein by reference, the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "indicates," "believes," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "targets" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. 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; volatility in financial and credit markets which could affect our ability to obtain debt and/or lease financing or to raise funds through debt or equity issuances; 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 and our new terminal at JFK; 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; a continuance of the economic recessionary conditions in the U.S. or a further economic downturn leading to a continuing or accelerated decrease in demand for domestic and business air travel; 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 2011 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.

SOURCE JetBlue Airways

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