by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:00 PM ET, Fri May 25, 2018
JetBlue is moving its travel products subsidiary to Fort Lauderdale, a city that is a major center of operations for the airline.
New York's hometown airline will continue to be based in the Big Apple, but by locating the subsidiary and the core airline teams separately, "each can focus on successfully delivering the best customer experience and creating value for owners" the airline said in a statement.
The two entities will continue to collaborate on future products from JetBlue.
"Just as our venture capital arm JetBlue Technology Ventures has found success by being based in Silicon Valley, Fort Lauderdale will be the perfect location to grow JetBlue Travel Products," Andres Barry, the recently appointed president of JetBlue Travel Products, said in a statement. "In Broward, JetBlue has established a major network serving cities across the U.S. as well as top leisure destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America. With its vibrant economy, especially in travel and tourism, we believe it makes a lot of sense to base our business here. We look forward to becoming an even greater part of the community in Broward County."
JetBlue Travel Products consists of the JetBlue Vacations brand and other non-air travel products including travel insurance, cruises, car rentals and more.
Fort Lauderdale is one of JetBlue's six focus cities and a major hub for its international flights to and from the Caribbean and Latin America, two regions which now account for one-third of the airline's network. The airline serves 59 destinations from Fort Lauderdale and is growing toward 140 daily departures.
The South Florida region is very important to JetBlue for other reasons as well. The airline's inaugural flight, Flight #1, took off from New York's JFK Airport in February 2000 bound for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
JetBlue Travel Products is laying the foundation for the next level of ancillary earnings growth, the airline said. Barry will work to expand its presence throughout the broader travel experience.
"JetBlue's selection of Fort Lauderdale for its travel products headquarters is great news," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee which oversees the airline industry, said in a statement. "The company's commitment to expanding its operations in South Florida will support jobs and the economy."
JetBlue is already a top employer in South Florida, with more than 1,800 local crewmembers.
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