JetBlue Airways Corporation

Product Details

Nicely engraved stock certificate from the JetBlue Airways Corporation dating back to 2002. This document, which carries the printed signatures of the company Chief Executive Officer and Secretary, was a printed by the Jeffries Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 12" (w) by 8" (h).

Images

You will receive the exact certificate pictured.

Historical Context

JetBlue was incorporated in Delaware in August 1998. David Neeleman founded the company in February 1999, under the name "NewAir". JetBlue started by following Southwest's approach of offering low-cost travel, but sought to distinguish itself by its amenities, such as in-flight entertainment, TV at every seat, and Sirius XM satellite radio.

In September 1999, the airline was awarded 75 initial take off/landing slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport and received formal U.S. authorization in February 2000. It commenced operations on February 11, 2000, with services to Buffalo, New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

JetBlue's founders had set out to call the airline "Taxi" and therefore have a yellow livery to associate the airline with New York. The idea was dropped, however, for several reasons: the negative connotation behind New York City taxis; the ambiguity of the word taxi with regard to air traffic control; and threats from investor JP Morgan to pull its share ($20 million of the total $128 million) of the airline's initial funding unless the name was changed.

JetBlue's headquarters are in the Brewster Building in Long Island City, New York. JetBlue previously had its headquarters at 80–02 Kew Gardens Road, and then in the Forest Hills Tower, both in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, 6 miles from the current office in Long Island City. In 2001 the airline had announced that it wanted to take 74,000 square feet of space in the Forest Hills Tower, and by December 2002 announced that it planned to increase its leased space.

In 2009, JetBlue announced that it was looking for a new headquarters location, and was considering moving either within the New York City metropolitan area or to the Orlando, Florida area. In April 2009, Helen Marshall, the president of the Borough of Queens, said that the City of New York was trying to keep JetBlue in the city; in January 2010, the CEO of JetBlue, Dave Barger, and Governor of Florida Charlie Crist met in Tallahassee, Florida to discuss a possible move to Orlando. A decision was expected by March 2010, although a move would not happen until 2012, when its lease in the Forest Hills Tower expired.

On March 22, 2010, JetBlue announced it would remain in the New York City area, in Long Island City, because of the airline's historical links to the city, the cost of staff relocations, the airline's desire to retain access to financial markets, and because Aer Lingus and Lufthansa, JetBlue's marketing partners, fly into JFK Airport.