JetBlue CEO Plans Press Briefing On New Oakland-Washington DC/Dulles Service

OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and airport officials will greet JetBlue Chief Executive Officer David Neeleman when he arrives at Oakland International Airport at 1:05 p.m. today (May 1) to discuss the airline’s new nonstop service between Oakland and Washington DC/Dulles International Airport.

Port of Oakland Executive Director TayYoshitani and Steven Grossman, director of aviation at Oakland International Airport, will join Brown and Neeleman at a press briefing in front of the JetBlue ticket counter in Terminal 1 at 1:15 p.m.

JetBlue will operate two flights a day between Oakland and Washington DC/Dulles, starting today. The schedule is as follows:

Oakland to Washington/Dulles
Depart – Arrive
11:15 a.m.--7:20 p.m.
11:50 p.m. -- 7:55 a.m. (next day)

Washington/Dulles to Oakland
Depart – Arrive
8:55 a.m. --11:30 a.m.
8:20 p.m. -- 10:55 p.m.

JetBlue will also begin service between LA/Long Beach and Washington/Dulles today.

"We’re very excited to be adding service between two West Coast cities and the Capitol region," said David Neeleman, JetBlue’s CEO. "Now Bay Area residents can also enjoy our friendly onboard service and amenities such as free DIRECTV as they travel to Washington DC."

Regular JetBlue fares on the new routes currently range from $129 each way, for a seven-day advance-purchase fare, to $299 each way for a "walk-up" fare. JetBlue also offers a discount of $5 each way on all bookings made on its web site, www.jetblue.com, through May 31.

Service between Oakland and the East Coast has been expanding rapidly this year. United Airlines also will inaugurate Oakland-Dulles service this month, and American, Continental and JetBlue are offering an expanded nonstop schedule to the New York area.

"The success of our transcontinental service shows that passengers want to fly out of Oakland," Grossman said. "We are pleased that the airlines are responding to the passenger demand and offering convenient and affordable flights."

In 2001, JetBlue was voted the country’s #2 Domestic Airline in the Condé Nast Traveler 14th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards and received the highest score of any airline in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2001 Business Travel Awards (#1 U.S. airline in the coach-only category). The airline also was voted #2 Best Domestic airline in the 2001 Zagat Airline Survey.

JetBlue aircraft are outfitted with roomy all-leather seats each equipped with free LiveTV satellite television, offering up to 24 channels of DIRECTV programming at every seat. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and a Saturday night stay is never required. For more information, schedules and fares, please visit www.jetblue.com or call JetBlue at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583).

Oakland International Airport served 11.4 million passengers and handled more than 600,000 metric tons of air cargo in 2001. Oakland International has approximately 200 flights a day on 11 domestic and international carriers to 33 nonstop destinations, including Washington/Dulles. The airport is a revenue division of the Port of Oakland.

Oakland International is the only Bay Area airport with a dedicated shuttle bus that meets every Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system train at the nearby Coliseum station. On-airport parking rates are $18 a day in the long-term lot and $15 a day in the economy and overflow lots. For toll-free information assistance on ground transportation and parking services, call 1-888-IFLYOAK (435-9625).