JetBlue Takes Off From Richmond
By Kelly Hannon, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
Mar. 31–RICHMOND — When Les and Ellen Kreisler learned JetBlue would start service to New York from Richmond International Airport, the couple eagerly booked a flight.
They have family in Manhattan, and they regularly trek two hours to catch nonstop flights at Washington Dulles International Airport or Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. They were ecstatic to learn they could wing out of town just a short hop from their home in Short Pump, a suburb of Richmond.
But the Kreislers had no idea they’d reserved seats on JetBlue’s inaugural flight out of Richmond yesterday morning. The Kreislers wheeled their luggage up to Gate B7 and found a maelstrom of celebration. Gov. Tim Kaine and JetBlue’s CEO David Neeleman were mingling with passengers and crew. A bubbly blue beverage was poured into champagne glasses. A sheet cake was cut and served. And when the first JetBlue plane touched down on the runway at 9:42 a.m., two water cannons shot arcs of mist into the sky.
Scanning the scene, Ellen Kreisler decided to join the party. “I’m going to get some coffee,” she said.
Free food and beverages aside, the Kreislers were there to take advantage of JetBlue’s lower fares. It is the eighth airline to fly daily out of the Richmond airport, and the second one that routinely offers budget prices.
Air Tran, another economy airline, also flies out of Richmond.
Ellen Kreisler doesn’t mind that JetBlue’s four daily nonstop flights to New York land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which for her is slightly more inconvenient than LaGuardia Airport.
“The price differential came out ahead, even with the increased cab fare,” she said.
The business community in Richmond worked hard to recruit JetBlue.
Yesterday, Neeleman said he hopes all travelers in Richmond-business and pleasure-will support the airline. If they do, JetBlue can expand its roster of destinations from Richmond. And it will increase competition and lower fares across airlines.
“Remember who brought you the low fares,” Neeleman said. “It wasn’t the incumbent guys here.” JetBlue will add two daily, nonstop flights to Boston beginning April 6.
Fares to Boston will range from $79 to $144 one-way. New York fares will be lower, ranging from $69 to $134 each way.
Businesses and customers in the Fredericksburg area would like to see JetBlue offer nonstop flights to the West Coast, said Troy Bell, spokesman for Richmond International Airport. About 30 percent of Fredericksburg area fliers say the Richmond airport is their first choice for air travel, he said. Part of the attraction could be the ease of traveling to Richmond International versus battling Northern Virginia traffic to reach another airport.
For now, all Bell can say about the likelihood of West Coast destinations is: “We’re committed to working with this airline.” Gov. Kaine heralded JetBlue’s arrival yesterday. He said its presence will be an incentive to other carriers to lower fares.
“This airport is up and coming,” Kaine said.
JetBlue will fly 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft from Richmond. A distinctive marketing feature of the airline has been the inclusion of DirecTV and XM Radio on its flights.
The demise in January of Independence Air, which had a major hub at Dulles, left thrifty travelers in the Fredericksburg area with fewer airline options.
A few budget airlines still fly from Dulles, including Air Tran, Ted and JetBlue.
But Independence Air flew to small regional airports at low cost, sometime $29 one-way. After Independence disappeared, prices went back up, said Mike King, co-owner of Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Fredericksburg.
King flies periodically to see family in Nashville, a city formerly served nonstop by Independence.
“It definitely costs more than it used to. It’s not been a huge change, but yes, it has been a change,” King said.
King sees potential for JetBlue to offer nonstop service to the Midwest, West Coast, Miami and Fort Lauderdale from Richmond. All those locations are currently under-served, or not served at all, and flights from Richmond could siphon off travelers from the Fredericksburg area currently using Washington-area airports.
Norfolk International Airport has already lost one customer to Richmond-Patricia Parker of Fort Lee. She, too, was surprised to be on JetBlue’s first flight to New York. Her daughter booked her flight online.
Parker was headed to New York to see a former church pastor at his new place of worship. She’s relieved to be flying from so close to home.
“I don’t have to go to Norfolk. This should have happened years ago. I think it’s going to go over well,” Parker said.
—–
To see more of The Free Lance-Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://fredericksburg.com/flshome.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
JBLU,