Gold Can Be Buried Treasure For The Independent Investor in Hedging Risk. Blackrock Gold ETF (IAU).

iShares

 iShares are a family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by BlackRock. The first iShares were known as World Equity Benchmark Shares (WEBS) but were since rebranded. [1]

Each iShares fund tracks a bond or stock market index. The following stock exchanges list iShares funds: London Stock ExchangeAmerican Stock ExchangeNew York Stock ExchangeBATS ExchangeHong Kong Stock ExchangeToronto Stock ExchangeAustralian Securities Exchange and several European and Asian stock exchanges. iShares is the largest issuer of ETFs in the US and globally.[2][3]

History[edit]

Old logo of iShares

In 1993, State Street, in cooperation with American Stock Exchange, had launched Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipts (NYSE ArcaSPY) (now the ‘SPDR S&P 500’), which were traded in real time and tracked the S&P 500 index. This was the first ETF to trade in the United States, and it continues to trade to this day.

In response, Morgan Stanley launched a series of ETFs called WEBS that tracked its MSCI foreign stock market indices. WEBS, an acronym for World Equity Benchmark Shares, were developed in cooperation with Barclays Global Investors, the fund manager. Unlike the SPDR fund that was a unit investment trust, the underlying vehicle of the WEBS were mutual funds.[4]

In 2000, Barclays put a significant strategic effort behind growing the ETF market, and launched over 40 new funds with an extensive education and marketing effort behind them, branding them iShares. The effort was led by Lee Kranefuss, who worked closely with the inventor of the ETFNate Most, who was by that time Chairman of the WEBs Board and an adviser to Barclays on the iShares effort. (Most had retired from the American Stock Exchange some years earlier and settled in California). WEBS were soon renamed the iShares MSCI Series as part of that program.

On 7 November 2006, iShares announced the purchase of the INDEXCHANGE ETF unit of HypoVereinsbank for €240 million. This solidified the iShares position in Europe as the leading ETF provider.

Barclays added currency hedging features to the Canadian iShares, to distinguish them from US products in response to the elimination of limits on foreign holdings by Canadians in an RRSP. Barclays hedges currency changes in the Canadian – US exchange rate for the S&P 500 and the MSCI EAFE.

On 16 March 2009, Barclays confirmed that it was planning to sell iShares to CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm that had agreed to pay more than $4 billion.[5] However, under a 45-day “go shop” clause, a later bid by BlackRock was announced on 11 June 2009 for the whole of the parent division Barclays Global Investors including iShares, in a mixed cash-stock deal worth around US$13.5 billion (37.8 million shares of common stock and US$6.6 billion in cash).

iShares has increased the number of its “iShares Core” funds.[6][7][8][9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ “What are iShares? – Herold’s Financial Dictionary”www.financial-dictionary.info. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  2. Jump up^ Morgan Stanley research, May 2006
  3. Jump up^ Wagler, Benjamin (2012-09-17). “Ballast”. ballastmag.com. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
  4. Jump up^ Gastineau, Gary (2002). The Exchange-Traded Funds Manual. John Wiley and Sons. p. 35. ISBN 0-471-22092-2. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  5. Jump up^ BBC News (2009-03-16). Barclays shares up on sales talk. BBC News, 16 March 2009. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7945470.stm.
  6. Jump up^ “Just How ‘Core’ Is iShares’ ‘Core’ Series of ETFs?”.
  7. Jump up^ BlackRock Broadens Its iShares Core Lineup
  8. Jump up^ BlackRock Cuts Europe ETF Fees in Race With Vanguard for Assets – Bloomberg Bloomberg
  9. Jump up^ “iShares Core ETFs Gain Institutional Fans – Yahoo Finance”. Yahoo Finance.

External links[edit]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Gold Can Be Buried Treasure For The Independent Investor in Hedging Risk. Blackrock Gold ETF (IAU).

The Independent Investor can Upgrade the Efficiency of their Portfolio thru the IT Technology Industry (Cognizant Technology) (CTSH)

 
Public
Traded asNASDAQCTSH
NASDAQ-100 Component
S&P 500 Component
IndustryIT servicesIT consulting
PredecessorDun & Bradstreet
FoundedJanuary 26, 1994
FounderKumar Mahadeva
HeadquartersTeaneck, New JerseyUnited States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Francisco D’Souza (CEO)
Lakshmi Narayanan (Vice-Chairman)
ServicesIT Servicesbusiness consulting and outsourcingservices
RevenueIncrease US$13.487 billion (2016)[1]
Increase US$2.289 billion (2016)[1]
ProfitDecrease US$1.553 billion (2016)[1]
Total assetsIncrease US$14.262 billion (2016)[1]
Total equityIncrease US$10.728 billion (2016)[1]
Number of employees
256,800 (2017 Q2)[2]
Websitewww.cognizant.com

Cognizant is an American multinational corporation that provides IT services, including digital, technology, consulting, and operations services. It is headquartered in TeaneckNew Jersey, United States. Cognizant is listed in the NASDAQ-100 and the S&P 500 indices. It was founded as an in-house technology unit of Dun & Bradstreet in 1994,[3] and started serving external clients in 1996.[3]

It made an initial public offering in 1998, after a series of corporate splits and restructures of its parent companies. It was the first software services firm listed on the NASDAQ.[3] During the dot com bust, it grew by accepting the application maintenance work that the bigger players were unwilling to perform. Gradually, it ventured into application development, complex systems integration and consulting work. Cognizant had a period of fast growth during the 2000s, becoming a Fortune 500 company in 2011.[4] In 2015, the Fortune magazine named it as the world’s fourth most admired IT services company.[5]

History[edit]

Cognizant began as Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (DBSS),[6][7] established as Dun & Bradstreet‘s in-house technology unit focused on implementing large-scale IT projects for Dun & Bradstreet businesses. In 1996, the company started pursuing customers beyond Dun & Bradstreet.[8]

In 1996, Dun & Bradstreet spun off several of its subsidiaries including Erisco, IMS International, Nielsen Media ResearchPilot Software, Strategic Technologies and DBSS, to form a new company called Cognizant Corporation. Three months later, in 1997, DBSS renamed itself to Cognizant Technology Solutions. In July 1997, Dun & Bradstreet bought Satyam’s 24% stake in DBSS for $3.4 million.[9][10] Headquarters were moved to the United States, and in March 1998, Kumar Mahadeva was named CEO.[11] Operating as a division of the Cognizant Corporation, the company mainly focused on Y2K-related projects and web development.[12]

In 1998, the parent company, Cognizant Corporation, split into two companies: IMS Health and Nielsen Media Research.[13] After this restructuring, Cognizant Technology Solutions became a public subsidiary of IMS Health. In June 1998, IMS Health partially spun off the company, conducting an initial public offering of the Cognizant stock. The company raised $34 million, less than what the IMS Health underwriters had hoped for. They earmarked the money for debt payments and upgrading company offices.[12]

Kumar Mahadeva decided to reduce the company’s dependence on Y2K projects: by Q1 1999, 26% of company’s revenues came from Y2K projects, compared with 49% in early 1998. Believing that the $16.6 billion enterprise resource planning software market was saturated, Mahadeva decided to refrain from large-scale ERP implementation projects. Instead, he focused on applications management, which accounted for 37% of Cognizant’s revenue in Q1 1999.[8] Cognizant’s revenues in 2002 were $229 million, and the company had zero debt with $100 million in the bank.[12] During the dotcom bust, the company grew by taking on the maintenance projects that larger IT services companies did not want.[14]

In 2003, IMS Health sold its entire 56% stake in Cognizant, which instituted a poison pill provision to prevent hostile takeover attempts.[12][15] Kumar Mahadeva resigned as the CEO in 2003, and was replaced by Lakshmi Narayanan.[16] Gradually, the company’s services portfolio expanded across the IT services landscape and into business process outsourcing(BPO) and business consulting. Lakshmi Narayanan was succeeded by the Kenya-born Francisco D’Souza in 2006. Cognizant experienced a period of fast growth during the 2000s, as reflected by its appearance in Fortune magazine’s “100 Fastest-Growing Companies” list for ten consecutive years from 2003 to 2012.[17][18]

In September 2014, Cognizant struck its biggest deal, acquiring healthcare IT services provider TriZetto Corp for $2.7 billion.[19] Cognizant Shares, rose nearly 3 percent in premarket trading.[20]

Acquisitions[edit]

Company acquiredCountryDateBusinessReference
TMG HealthUnited States USAJune 2017Health Care IT[21]
BrilliantServiceJapan JapanMarch 2017Intelligent Products, Internet of things[22]
AdaptraAustralia AustraliaDecember 2016Insurance Consulting, Project Management[23]
Nova ITAustralia AustraliaDecember 2016HR Services[24] [25]
KIS Information Services (KIS)Germany GermanyDecember 2016IT Services[26]
Mirabeau BVNetherlands NetherlandsNovember 2016Digital Marketing, Customer Experience[27]
Frontica Business SolutionsNorway NorwayOctober 2016IT Services & Solutions[28][29]
Idea CoutureCanada CanadaJuly 2016Digital Services (Innovation and Experience Design)[30]
HeliocentricEl Salvador El SalvadorMay 2016BPO Services[31]
Quick Left Inc.United States USAMay 2016Mobile & Web Apps[32]
ReD AssociatesDenmark DenmarkApril 2016Human Sciences[33]
KBACE TechnologiesUnited States USAJanuary 2016Oracle Cloud, ERP[34]
Storebrand BalticLithuania LithuaniaNov 2015Lithuanian IT unit of Norway’s Storebrand[35]
CNO Financial Group (India)India IndiaFeb 2015IT Application Development[36]
OdeceeAustralia AustraliaNovember 2014IT, Consulting and BPO services[37]
Cadient GroupUnited States USAOctober 2014Digital Healthcare[38]
TriZetto CorpUnited States USASeptember 2014Healthcare Payer Software, Provider Revenue Cycle Software (Consulting, Software, BPO, Hosting)[39]
itaas Interactive TV SolutionsUnited States USAApril 2014Digital Video services[40]
ValueSource TechnologiesIndia IndiaOctober 2013IT services[41]
Equinox ConsultingFrance FranceOctober 2013Financial Services Consulting Firm[42]
SourceNet SolutionsUnited States USAMay 2013BPS for Finance & Accounting[43]
C1 group (6 companies)Germany GermanyDecember 2012btconsult gbbb [process and technology consulting, SAP]; C:1 Solutions GmbH [consulting and enterprise solutions: SAP, BPM, ECM, ERM]; psc Management Consulting GmbH [process and technology consulting]; C:1 SetCon GmbH [software engineering and testing]; Enterprise Services AG [a Swiss company focused on process and IT consulting]; C:1 Holding GmbH[44]
MedicallPhilippinesPhilippinesNovember 2012Medical Transcription[45]
Excellence Data ResearchIndia IndiaAugust 2012Market Research[46]
ING USUnited States USAJune 2012Technology[47]
ZafferaUnited States USASeptember 2011SAP Consulting[48]
CoreLogic IndiaIndia IndiaJuly 2011Mortgage processing[49]
Galileo PerformanceFrance FranceJune 2010Consulting related to the measurement, management and continuous optimization of IT system performance[50]
PIPC GroupUnited Kingdom UKMay 2010Program & Project Management Consulting[51]
UBS India Service CenterIndia IndiaOctober 2009Business process outsourcing, industry research[52]
Pepperweed AdvisorsUnited States USSeptember 2009Business Consulting, Program Management[53]
Invensys Rail R&D India & Invensys Operations Managed R&D Center IndiaIndia IndiaJuly 2009Product Research & Engineering, Manufacturing[54]
Active IntelligenceCanada CanadaFebruary 2009Consulting, implementation and support services for Oracle Retail Merchandising, Planning and Optimization suite[55]
Strategic Vision ConsultingUnited States USJune 2008Business Consulting for media and entertainment companies[56]
T-Systems IndiaGermany GermanyMarch 2008System Integration[57]
marketRxUnited States USNovember 2007Life Sciences Analytics, healthcare KPO[58]
AimNetUnited States USSeptember 2006IT infrastructure services[59]
Fathom ConsultingCanada CanadaApril 2005Telecom & Automotive IT Services[60]
Ygyan ConsultingIndia IndiaFebruary 2004SAP consulting[61]
InfopulseNetherlands NetherlandsDecember 2003IT services[62]
Aces InternationalUnited States USApril 2003Siebel CRM consulting[60]
American Express Travel-related Services account from Silverline TechnologiesUnited States USSep 2002Financial services[63]
UnitedHealthcare Ireland LimitedRepublic of Ireland IrelandJune 2002Healthcare services (a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group)[64]

Services[edit]

Cognizant provides information technology, information security, consulting, ITO and BPO services. These include business & technology consulting, systems integration, application development & maintenance, IT infrastructure services, analytics, business intelligencedata warehousingcustomer relationship managementsupply chain management, engineering & manufacturing solutions, enterprise resource planningresearch and development outsourcing, and testing solutions.

Cognizant Digital Works — created to help clients rapidly build, pilot and scale enterprise-level digital initiatives — is central to Cognizant’s efforts to help clients drive business change across their operations and inform their go-to-market activities.[65]

Business model[edit]

Cognizant’s original corporate headquarters in Chennai, now an offshore delivery center.

Like many other IT services firms, Cognizant follows a global delivery model based on offshore software R&D and offshore outsourcing. The company has a number of offshore development centers outside the United States and near-shore centers in the U.S., Europe and South America.

In its early years, Cognizant gained business from a number of American and European companies with the help of the Dun & Bradstreet brand. The company’s senior executives envisaged the firm as a provider of high-end customer services on-par with the six contemporary major system integrators (AccentureBearingPointCapgeminiE&YDeloitte and IBM), but at lower prices.[66]

Outsourcing controversy and hiring in the U.S.[edit]

Cognizant is number one in Top 10 companies receiving H-1B visas to bring immigrant workers to the United States. The company has been steadily increasing its U.S. work force. In January 2011, the company announced plans to expand its U.S. delivery centers, including a new 1,000-person facility in Phoenix, Arizona.[67] In February 2011, Cognizant said it had 60 full-time recruiters actively hiring in the U.S.[68]

In 2009, an investigation by the US Department of Labor (DoL) found Cognizant in violation of the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Administrative Act. DoL found that 67 of its workers hired under the H-1B program were underpaid. According to Cognizant, this was due to unintentional administrative errors. The DoL investigation revealed that Cognizant had achieved 99.7% compliance in its management of H-1B visa-related issues.[69] The company paid US$509,607 in back wages to the 67 employees. No fines or visa restrictions were imposed, since DoL did not discover any willful violations. Joseph Petrecca, the director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Northern New Jersey District Office, praised the company for taking immediate steps to correct the violations: “This level of cooperation sets a standard for others in the industry.”[70]

In 2016, the company was the subject of a lawsuit by workers for Walt Disney World who said workers from India were brought into the United States on H-1B visas in order to replace them.[71] However in October 2016, federal Judge “Gregory A. Presnel” of the United States District Court in Orlando has dismissed the lawsuits stating “none of the allegedly false statements put at issue in the complaint are adequate”.[72]

Operations[edit]

Regions[edit]

In addition to its global headquarters and delivery center in TeaneckNew Jersey, and the U.S. headquarters in College Station, Texas, Cognizant has 21 other U.S. delivery centers: Bentonville, ArkansasBridgewater, New JerseyDes Moines, IowaHolliston, MassachusettsMinot, North DakotaPhoenix, ArizonaSouthfield, MichiganWilliston, VermontSt. Louis, MissouriUnion, New JerseySacramento, CaliforniaCharlotte, North CarolinaOklahoma City, OklahomaWashington, PennsylvaniaMalvern, PennsylvaniaNaperville, IllinoisCarmel, Indiana Linthicum, Maryland and Tampa, Florida.[73]

The company has more than 255,800 employees globally, of which over 150,000 are in India across 10 locations with a plurality in Chennai. The other centers of the company are in BangaloreCoimbatoreGurgaonNoidaHyderabadKochiKolkata,[74] MangaloreMumbai, and Pune. The company has local, regional, and global delivery centers in the UK, Hungary, The Netherlands, Spain, China, Philippines, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico etc..[75]

Business units[edit]

Cognizant is organized into several verticals and horizontal units. The vertical units focus on specific industries such as Banking & Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail. The horizontals focus on specific technologies or process areas such as Analytics, mobile computing, BPO and Testing. Both horizontal and vertical units have business consultants, who together form the organization-wide Cognizant Business Consulting (CBC) team. Cognizant is among the largest recruiters of MBAs in the industry; they are involved in business development and business analysis for IT services projects.

According to the 2015 financial statements, the major portion of Cognizant’s revenues is derived from clients in the Financial Services (40.3%) and Healthcare (29.5%) industries. Other substantial revenue sources include clients from Manufacturing, Retail & Logistics (18.9%) and Communications, Information, Media & Entertainment and Technology (11.3%) industries. By geography, most of the revenue is derived from North America (78.6%) and Europe (16.2%).[65]

Corporate affairs[edit]

Marketing and branding[edit]

The company’s flagship customer conference is Cognizant Community. It is held annually in the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia (Singapore, India and Japan). The summit, which features notable keynote speakers in the world of business, technology, economics and even adventure sports, has been praised as “a model industry event”.[76]

Finance[edit]

Cognizant was listed on NASDAQ in 1998, and added to the NASDAQ-100 Index in 2004. After the close of trading on 16 November 2006, Cognizant moved from the mid cap S&P 400 to the S&P 500. The company claims it is in excellent financial health, reporting over $2.6 billion in cash and short term investments for the quarter ending 30 September 2012.[77] Net income for 2014 was $1.44 billion as against $1.23 billion in 2013 and 11.9 percent up in the fourth quarter to $363 million.[78]

Corporate social responsibility[edit]

Cognizant’s philanthropic and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are conducted through the Cognizant employees for the financial and administrative support of the Cognizant Foundation.[79][80] Registered in March 2005 as a “Charitable Company” under the Indian Companies Act, the Cognizant Foundation aims to help “unprivileged members of society gain access to quality education and healthcare by providing financial and technical support; designing and implementing educational and healthcare improvement programs; and partnering with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, healthcare institutions, government agencies and corporations”.

Cognizant has a grassroots corporate social responsibility project called Outreach, for which Cognizant’s employees volunteer to support schools and orphanages.[81][82]

At the 2011 Maker Faire, the company announced plans to fund a Maker Space at the New York Hall of Science, a Making the Future after-school program and a partnership with Citizen Schools to promote STEM education in the United States.[83][84]

In 2012 Cognizant Foundation made donation to Vidnyanvahini, a not-for-profit organization located in Pune in India for its Mobile Science Laboratory (MSL).

Environmental record[edit]

Cognizant’s sustainability efforts include a Go Green initiative launched in 2008 focused on energy conservationrecycling, and responsible waste management.[85] In October 2012, Newsweek magazine ranked Cognizant 50th among the 500 largest publicly traded companies in America, in its annual Green Rankings.[86]

Fortune 500[edit]

YearRank
2017205[87]
2016230[88]
2015288[89]
2014308[90]
2013352[91]
2012398[92]
2011484[93]

Others[edit]

  • On 24 June 2015, the company signed a multimillion-dollar agreement with Escorts Group in India to help Escorts’ businesses in digital transformation and modernizing its operations across all business segments.[94]
  • On 30 June 2015, it partnered with Singapore-based supermarket retailer NTUC FairPrice to perform digital transformation in NTUC’s business to improve personalized and consistent customer service across multiple channels.[95]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up to:a b c d e “2016 SEC Filing”. SEC.
  2. Jump up^ “Cognizant Reports Second Quarter 2017 Results”. Cognizant. Retrieved August 3,2017.
  3. Jump up to:a b c Mishra, Pankaj (2013-03-21). Cognizant’s Francisco D’Souza: The horizon chasers. Live Mint and the Wall Street Journal, 21 March 2013. Retrieved on 2013-07-30 from http://www.livemint.com/Companies/VduU2oUfVOTxR4MYarjjiJ/Cognizants-Francisco-DSouza-The-horizon-chaser.html.
  4. Jump up^ “Cognizant joins the Fortune 500 club”. rediff. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  5. Jump up^ “World’s Most Admired Companies (Information Technology services), 2015”. Fortune. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  6. Jump up^ “‘Cognizant is like a $4-billion tech startup'”. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  7. Jump up^ “‘Dun & Bradstreet Satyam To Be Rechristened Cognizant Tech”. Business Standard. 4 February 1997. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  8. Jump up to:a b Silvia Sansoni (14 June 1999). “The contrarian”Forbes.
  9. Jump up^ “No modest ambitions for Cognizant”. Express Computer. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  10. Jump up^ “Cognizant back in search of Satyam”Business Standard. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  11. Jump up^ “Kumar Mahadeva quits as Cognizant chief”.
  12. Jump up to:a b c d International Directory of Company Histories, Vol.59. St. James Press, 2004.
  13. Jump up^ “Dun & Bradstreet Spinoff Will Split in Two”The New York Times. 16 January 1998. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  14. Jump up^ Rasheeda Bhagat (9 February 2012). “Cognizant rising by Chennai beach”The Hindu. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  15. Jump up^ IMS sees some positive impact from Cognizant sale by Eric Auchard. Rediff, 16 November 2002 | 1149 IST.
  16. Jump up^ “Cognizant founder steps down”The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  17. Jump up^ Anne VanderMey (14 September 2011). “Fastest-growing: 16 all-stars”. Forbes. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  18. Jump up^ “Cognizant in Fortune 500”. Fortune. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  19. Jump up^ “Cognizant Acquires TriZetto”Bloomberg TV India. 15 September 2014.
  20. Jump up^ “Cognizant to buy TriZetto to boost healthcare business”. Investing.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  21. Jump up^ Mendonca, Jochelle (2017-06-13). “Cognizant to buy TMG Health for undisclosed amount”The Economic Times. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  22. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires Japan’s Brilliant Service”Business Line. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  23. Jump up^ “BRIEF-Cognizant to buy Adaptra”Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  24. Jump up^ “www.novait.com.au: Nova IT | about nova it”archive.is. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  25. Jump up^ “Nova IT | about nova it”www.novait.com.au. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  26. Jump up^ “CNW Group”www.edmontonjournal.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  27. Jump up^ Cognizant. “Cognizant to Acquire Digital Marketing and Customer Experience Agency Mirabeau BV”www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  28. Jump up^ “Akastor agrees to sell Frontica Business Solutions to Cognizant!”. Frontica.
  29. Jump up^ Akastor. “Akastor ASA: Akastor Completes Sale of Frontica Business Solutions to Cognizant”GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  30. Jump up^ “Cognizant Acquires Idea Couture, a Digital Innovation, Strategy, and Design Firm!”. Yahoo!.
  31. Jump up^ “We are starting a new phase for our company!”. Twitter.
  32. Jump up^ “Quick Left’s Right Turn – To Cognizant”. Quick Left.
  33. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires 49% ownership in ReD Associates”. Business Standard.
  34. Jump up^ “Cognizant Acquires KBACE Technologies to Enable Clients to Accelerate Journey to Cloud and Improve Business Agility”.
  35. Jump up^ “US Cognizant to acquire 66% shares in Lithuania’s Storebrand”.
  36. Jump up^ “Insurance Company CNO Sells India Operations To Cognizant”www.indiainsurance.co. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  37. Jump up^ “Cognizant on an odyssey with new acquisition”.
  38. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires digital marketing agency Cadient Group”timesofindia-economictimes.
  39. Jump up^ http://www.trizetto.com/NewsEvents/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?id=7701(Press Release)
  40. Jump up^ “Cognizant buys US video solutions company”The Times of India.
  41. Jump up^ “KBC verkoopt ValueSource aan Cognizant”. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October2013.
  42. Jump up^ “Cognizant Acquires Equinox Consulting, a Financial Services Consulting Firm in France”. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  43. Jump up^ “Cognizant Q2 Net up 19%; raises full-year revenue guidance”Zee News. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  44. Jump up^ “Cognizant to Acquire Six Companies of the C1 Group, a Leading German Consulting and IT Services Group”. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  45. Jump up^ “Cognizant net up 16%”The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  46. Jump up^ “EXCELLENCE DATA RESEARCH PRIVATE LIMITED | Indian Company Info”www.indiancompany.info. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  47. Jump up^ “Cognizant, ING US in $330 mn pact”. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  48. Jump up^ “Cognizant buys Zaffera, a US SAP consulting Company for an undisclosed value”The Economic Times. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  49. Jump up^ Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya (27 July 2011). “Cognizant to acquire CoreLogic’s Indian business”DNA. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  50. Jump up^ “Cognizant buys Paris-based Galileo Performance”Business Standard. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  51. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires PIPC”The Economic Times. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 27 June2012.
  52. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires India unit of UBS for $75m”The Times of India. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  53. Jump up^ “Cognizant buys Pepperweed Advisors”The Hindu. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  54. Jump up^ Bureau, Our (2013-10-03). “Cognizant buys Belgian bank insurance firm’s arm ValueSource”The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  55. Jump up^ Chandra Ranganathan (11 February 2009). “Cognizant acquires Canada consulting firm Active Intelligence”Economic Times. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  56. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires US firm SVC”The Economic Times. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  57. Jump up^ “Cognizant Tech to buy T-System’s India business”Business Standard. 8 March 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  58. Jump up^ Narayanan Madhavan (20 October 2007). “Cognizant to acquire marketRX for $135 m”Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  59. Jump up^ “Cognizant acquires US co AimNet”The Hindu Business Line. 7 September 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  60. Jump up to:a b “Cognizant buys Fathom for $35 mn”. rediff.com. 18 April 2005. Retrieved 27 June2012.
  61. Jump up^ “Cognizant Tech Acquires Pune SAP Firm For $2 Mn”The Financial Express. 23 February 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  62. Jump up^ “Cognizant Acquires Infopulse For $5 M”The Financial Express. 3 December 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  63. Jump up^ “Cognizant Acquires American Express”The Financial Express. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  64. Jump up^ “Cognizant centre in Ireland”The Hindu Business Line. 11 June 2002. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  65. Jump up to:a b “Cognizant Technology Solutions : Annual Report 2015” (PDF). Cognizant.
  66. Jump up^ Peter Cappelli; Michael Useem; Harbir Singh; Jitendra Singh (2010). The India way. Harvard Business Press. pp. 138–143. ISBN 978-1-4221-4759-7.
  67. Jump up^ “Cognizant Expands North American Delivery Center Footprint to Accommodate Rapid Growth”. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
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  71. Jump up^ Preston, Julia (25 January 2016). “Lawsuits Claim Disney Colluded to Replace U.S. Workers With Immigrants”. New York Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
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  83. Jump up^ “Cognizant to Unveil ‘Making the Future’ STEM Education Initiative at World Maker Faire, New York Hall of Science”. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
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  85. Jump up^ Cognizant goes for green I.T. Manila Bulletin. 15 August 2011.
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Independent Investor’s Portfolios could be served best in the Franchise Restaurant Industry in 2017. (Wendy’s Inc.) (WEN)

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Wendy’s

Wendy’s
Subsidiary
IndustryRestaurant
FoundedColumbus, Ohio, United States (November 15, 1969; 45 years ago)
FounderDave Thomas
Headquarters1 Dave Thomas Boulevard, Dublin, Ohio, United States
Number of locations
6,515 restaurants[1] (2014)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
RevenueDecrease US$2.06 billion (2014[2])
Increase US$0.25 billion (2014[2])
Increase US$0.12 billion (2014[2])
OwnerThe Wendy’s Company
Number of employees
31,200 (Q4 2014[2])
ParentWendy’s International
SloganNow That’s Better
Websitewww.wendys.com

Wendy’s is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of March 1999, Wendy’s was the world’s third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,650 locations, following Burger King‘s 12,000+ locations and McDonald’s‘ 31,000+ locations.[3][4][5] On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc, the parent company of Arby’s. Despite the new ownership, Wendy’s headquarters remained in Dublin.[6]Previously, Wendy’s had rejected more than two buyout offers from Triarc Companies Inc. Following the merger, Triarc became known as Wendy’s/Arby’s Group (now The Wendy’s Company), a publicly traded company.

Approximately 85% of Wendy’s restaurants are franchised, all of which are located in North America. Wendy’s and its affiliates employ more than 47,000 people in its global operations. In fiscal year 2006, the firm had $2.469 billion (USD) in total sales.[7] While Wendy’s sets standards for exterior store appearance, food quality and menu, individual owners have control over hours of operations, interior decor, pricing and staff uniforms and wages.

Wendy’s menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries and beverages, including the Frosty. Unlike Burger King andMcDonald’s, the company does not have a signature sandwich, such as the Whopper or the Big Mac. Instead, it has the Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy 1/4 lb. Single (introduced in 2011 as a reworking of the longstanding Wendy’s Single), a square-pattied burger made with fresh ground beef rather than round frozen patties. Wendy’s uses these square hamburger patties – which will hang over the edge of a circular bun – as its signature item.

History[edit]

Wendy’s flagship restaurant inDublin, Ohio.[8]

The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries and the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream mixed with frozen starches. The idea for Wendy’s “old fashioned” hamburgers was actually inspired by Dave Thomas’s trips to Kewpee Hamburgers in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes, much like the well-known restaurant that Thomas eventually founded inColumbus, Ohio, in 1969. The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons and was closed on March 2, 2007, after 38 years of business due to declining sales.[9][10] Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth childMelinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas.[11] Photographs of her were on display at the original Wendy’s restaurant until it closed. In August 1972, the first Wendy’s franchisee, L.S. Hartzog, signed an agreement for Indianapolis, Indiana.[12] Also, in 1972, Wendy’s aired its first TV commercials that were only broadcast locally in Ohio. This series of commercials was titled “C’mon to Wendy’s”, because they stressed Wendy’s superiority through the “Quality Is Our Recipe” slogan and featured an animated Wendy similar to the one from the corporate logo along with dancing hamburgers.

In December 1976, Wendy’s opened its 500th restaurant, located in Toronto, Canada.

Wendy’s founded the fried chicken chain Sisters Chicken in 1978, and sold it to its largest franchiser in 1987.[13]

In 1979 the first European Wendy’s opened in Munich.[14] The same year Wendy’s became the first fast-food chain to introduce the salad bar.[15]

Wendy’s entered the Asian market by opening its first restaurants in Japan in 1980, in Hong Kong in 1982 and in the Philippines and Singapore in 1983.[16][17][18][19] In 1984 Wendy’s opened its first restaurant in South Korea.[20]

In response to a 1986 slowdown in the chain’s performance, Wendy’s restructured its cleanliness standards, menu and other operational details to ensure that stores met the goals and standards of the parent company so that its franchises were competitive in the market.[7] Wendy’s closed all its outlets in Hong Kong in 1986 and in Singapore in the following year.[17][19]

From 1988 to 1990 Wendy’s expanded operations globally to Mexico, New Zealand, Indonesia, Greece, Turkey, Guatemala, as well as the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy.[21][22]In 1988, Wendy’s expanded its bar to a full-blown buffet called the Superbar for $2.99. The Superbar had various stations: “Mexican Fiesta”, the Italian “Pasta Pasta,” and the “Garden Spot”, salad and fruit. The Superbar was popular but difficult to maintain thus was discontinued in 1998.[23]

In 1989 Wendy’s opened its first restaurant in Greece at Syntagma Square being the first foreign fast food chain in the country. After opened 12 restaurants in 3 cities the company finally abandoned the Greek market in 2002.[24]

In 1996 the chain expanded in Argentina by opening 18 local restaurants. However, all of them closed only four years later due to the economic crisis in the country.[25]

In 1998 Wendy’s pulled out of South Korea by closing all its 15 restaurants and in 2000 exited from the UK, Argentina and Hong Kong.[14][20][26]

Garden Sensations salads were added in 2002.[15]

Wendy’s signed a franchise agreement to re-enter in Singapore market in 2009.[19]However, it quit Japan after 29 years of presence in the country due to differences with its local franchisee.[16][27]

In 2011 Wendy’s returned to Japan and Argentina announcing a development agreement for 50 restaurants in the country.[27][28] It also entered the Russian market for first time with plans to open 180 restaurants over a 10-year period.[29]

In 2013 Wendy’s opened the first restaurant in Georgia and made a deal to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.[30]

In 2014 Wendy’s closed all its restaurants in Russia.[29] In September 2014 several pork based products were introduced to be on sale until early November. These included a standard pulled pork sandwich with slaw and three sauce options, a BBQ Pulled Pork Cheeseburger and cheese fries with pulled pork, cheddar cheese sauce, onions and barbecue sauce.[31]

In April 2015, Wendy’s announced they would be closing their Singapore outlets.[32]

In May 2015, Wendy’s announced they would be expanding into India, with its first outlet located in Gurgaon.[33]

Wendy’s is planning to sell 540 of its restaurants. The divesture is the second step in a three-step action plan to improve the brand. Other steps include new openings and remodeling of existing stores. In 2015, the brand expects to open 80 new restaurants. It will remodel 450 of its existing locations. The brand’s goal is to remodel at least 60% of its North American locations by 2020 year-end.[34]

Menu[edit]

Wendy’s offers two different hamburger patties, a “Junior” 1.78 ounce (50.4 gram) patty and its “Single” 4 ounce (113.4 gram) patty. 4-ounce patties are sold in single, double and triple sizes whereas the junior patties sell in single and double patties. The previous size of 2 ounces per junior patty was altered to its current size in 2007 to save on expenses from rising food costs. Originally Wendy’s had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, fried and grilled. The spicy chicken sandwich started out as a promotional sandwich. It was later put on the menu full-time in 1996 due to its popularity and the fact that, compared to most promotional sandwiches, it was much simpler to make (it used the same condiments as the standard breaded chicken sandwich).

The Frescata line of sandwiches also went from being promotional items to main-menu items. After going through several revisions, the Turkey and Swiss and the Ham and Swiss were put on the menu full-time. However, the Frescata sandwiches were discontinued in mid December 2007.

Occasionally, some Wendy’s restaurants would offer a fried fish sandwich for some of its customers who desire fish instead of beef or chicken.

In 1988, Wendy’s was the first fast-food chain to create a single price-point value menu where all items listed on that menu were priced exclusively at 99¢. The menu was restructured in 2007 due to rising costs as the Super Value Menu with prices ranging from 99¢ to $2.00 USD.

Breakfast[edit]

In mid-2007 Wendy’s began a national debut of its new breakfast menu in its U.S. and Canadian stores. Wendy’s experimented with serving breakfast for a short time in 1985, but the endeavor was unsuccessful due to many issues.[35][36] While approximately 12 Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S. and its territories have been serving breakfast since then, Wendy’s has not had a company-wide breakfast offering.[36][37] The new breakfast menu was expected be fully deployed to all Wendy’s in the United States by the end of 2009, but as of July 2014, many Wendy’s franchises across the country still do not have a breakfast menu.

The newer breakfast menu differs slightly from the one featured in 1985, and it is structured similarly to its lunch/dinner menu, with value meals and various sides like blended fruit.[37] Menu items include several breakfast sandwiches served on biscuits, frescuit and Kaiser rolls, breakfast burritos and side orders of hash browns, muffins, and cinnamon sticks.[38] In order to avoid the same issues the original 1985 breakfast offerings faced, the new menu was designed for ease of operation, lower costs, and reduced preparation time.[36]

Notable menu items[edit]

A busy front counter at a Wendy’s restaurant in Niagara Falls, Ontario

A Wendy’s outlet in Manila,Philippines.

  • Frosty dessert – a frozen dairy dessert sold in chocolate and vanilla flavors. The Frosty flavors are also sold as a float. Recently, Frosty Shakes – a Frosty blended with either caramel, strawberry or chocolate fudge syrup – have been served at Wendy’s.
  • Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy – In late 2011, Wendy’s altered the recipe for their Single, Double, and Triple burgers, which had been staples of the menu for decades, in order to rerelease each as part of the new Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy line. As before, they were constructed from the same basic patty (and the words “Single,” “Double,” and “Triple” were retained at the end of the new names), but the patty was now thicker, and its square edges had been rounded off slightly. The cheese began to be stored at a warmer temperature, allowing it to melt more completely over the patty, alterations were made to the bun and the selection of produce (white onions were replaced by red onions), and the condiments now consisted of ketchup and mayonnaise rather than ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard.[39]
  • Big Classic – A sandwich that directly competed with the Burger King Whopper (no longer available in US stores). Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and onions served on a Kaiser-style roll. A second version with bacon was available, called the Big Bacon Classic, which was replaced with the Bacon Deluxe in 2009 when the Applewood Smoked Bacon was introduced.
  • Baconator – Single Baconator is one quarter-pound patty topped with mayonnaise, ketchup, three strips of bacon and two slices of cheese; Double Baconator has mayonnaise, ketchup, six strips of bacon, two quarter-pound (113.4 gram) patties and three slices of American cheese; and the Triple Baconator (1360 calories) is three quarter-pound patties with nine strips of bacon, four slices of cheese, ketchup, and mayonnaise.
  • Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger – Introduced in January 2014, the Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger is made with a quarter-pound beef patty, aged Asiago cheese, thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, rosemary garlic aïoli, and oven-roasted tomatoes.[40][41] At launch, the sandwich was priced at $4.79 in the United States and was part of a strategy to market higher-priced menu items to help position Wendy’s as a premium fast food chain.[42] Wendy’s advertised the sandwich as a limited-time product that would be withdrawn in March 2014.[43][44] According to the company, the sandwich has 670 calories.[45] The debut of the burger received positive reviews. Syndicated fast food columnist Ken Hoffman called the burger “another winner” and “worth the carbs,” [46]while the Phoenix New Times declared it was “one of the better burgers in the entire fast food industry.”[47] Reviewers at the Sioux City Journal offered more mixed evaluations, with only two of four taste testers saying they would be likely to try the burger a second time.[48]

Advertising[edit]

After successful early growth of the chain, sales flattened as the company struggled to achieve brand differentiation in the highly competitive fast-food market. This situation would turn around in the mid-1980s. Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful “Where’s the Beef?” North American commercial campaign written by Cliff Freeman. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used by Walter Mondale in a debate with Gary Hart in the Democraticprimary election) and served to promote Wendy’s hamburgers. Peller, age 83, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Pregospaghetti sauce, saying she “finally found” the beef.[49]

Peller was soon after replaced by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas himself. Soft-spoken and bashful, the “Dave” ads generally focused on Thomas praising his products and offering a commitment to quality service, although there would occasionally be “wackier” ads as well. In 1997, the company pulled its advertising from the sitcom Ellen after the show’s main character came out as a lesbian. The result was a boycott initiated by the gay and lesbian community.[50] After Dave Thomas’ death in 2002, Wendy’s struggled to find a new advertising campaign. After a round of conventional ads describing the food they serve, in 2004 they tried using a character they made called “Mr. Wendy” who claimed to be the unofficial spokesperson for the chain. These proved to be extremely unsuccessful. After seven months, Wendy’s returned to an animated campaign focusing on the difference between Wendy’s square hamburgers and the round hamburgers of competitors.

Wendy’s marketing arm engages in product placement in films and television and is sometimes seen on ABC’s reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, serving food to the more than 100 construction workers. A recent Wendy’s commercial features the tune from the Violent Femmes song “Blister in the Sun.”

With their “That’s right” ad campaign not a success, Wendy’s unveiled a new ad campaign, featuring an animated Wendy that’s voiced by Luci Christian highlighting certain menu items. The new ad campaign made its debut in late January 2008, with a new slogan: “It’s waaaay better than fast food. It’s Wendy’s.”[51] The company’s slogan, “you know when it’s real,” was introduced in 2009.

In April 2012, Morgan Smith Goodwin began appearing as the redhead in ads with the slogan “Now that’s better.”[52][53]

In 2013, social media advertising featuring Nick Lachey directed at millennials promoted the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger.[54]

A 2014 campaign to promote the Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta sandwich entitled “L’Estrella de la Toscana,” or “Star of Tuscany” in English was launched on television and social media.[55] A 2014 campaign to promote the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger was run until November 2014 was shown to many people watching TV starting on March 18, 2014

About Andrew

I am an independent investor who has managed a stock portfolio for over four years. Our portfolio consists primarily of small and mid cap stocks that are diversified across numerous sectors/industries. Our investment strategy seeks to achieve mid to long term growth based on fundamental and technical market information.Our philosophy is that managing a stock portfolio is no different than managing any other type of asset (ex. residential or commercial property). A disciplined investment plan must be tailored towards an individual’s financial needs and reflect their level of risk tolerance. We believe that “Markets Reward Those That Seek Knowledge”.

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Independent Investors Can Maintain a Steady Altitude in Their Equity Curve Thru the Airline Industry. (JetBlue Airlines) (JBLU).

 
JetBlue Airways Logo.svg
IATAICAOCallsign
B6JBUJETBLUE
FoundedAugust 1998[1]
Commenced operationsFebruary 11, 2000[1]
AOC #YENA176J
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer programTrueBlue
Fleet size228
Destinations101
Company sloganYou Above All[2]
Inspiring Humanity[3]
Traded asNASDAQJBLU
DJTA Component
S&P 400 Component
HeadquartersBrewster Building, Long Island City, New York, United States
Key people

Former Executives

  • David Barger Former President-CEO, 1998–2015
  • Rob Maruster Former Vice president of operational Planning-COO, 2005–2014
RevenueIncrease US$ 6.632 billion (2016)[4]
Operating incomeIncrease US$ 1.312 billion (2016)
Net incomeIncrease US$ 759 million (2016)[4]
Total assetsIncrease US$ 9.487 billion (2016)
Total equityIncrease US$ 4.013 billion (2016)
Employees20,000 [5]
Websitejetblue.com

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQJBLU), stylized as jetBlue, is an American low-cost carrier, and the 6th-largest airline in the United States.[citation needed] The company is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, with its main base at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It also maintains a corporate office in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.[6][7]

The airline mainly serves destinations in the United States, along with flights to Aruba, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and many more. As of April 2017, JetBlue serves 101 destinations in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

A jetBlue Airways A321-200 at New York JFK Airport.

JetBlue was incorporated in Delaware in August 1998.[1] David Neeleman founded the company in February 1999, under the name “NewAir.”[8] 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 Neeleman’s words, JetBlue looks “to bring humanity back to air travel.”

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 and Fort Lauderdale.[9]

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.[10]

2000s[edit]

JetBlue was one of only a few U.S. airlines that made a profit during the sharp downturn in airline travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.[11]

The airline sector responded to JetBlue’s market presence by starting mini-rival carriers: Delta Air Lines started Song and United Airlines launched another rival called Ted. Song has since been disbanded and was reabsorbed by Delta Air Lines and Ted reabsorbed by United.[12]

JetBlue Founder David Neeleman in 2006

In October 2005, JetBlue’s quarterly profit had plunged from US$8.1 million to $2.7 million largely due to rising fuel costs. Operational issues, fuel prices, and low fares, JetBlue’s hallmark, were bringing its financial performance down. In addition, with higher costs related to the airline’s numerous amenities, JetBlue was becoming less competitive.

Regardless, the airline continued to plan for growth. Thirty-six new aircraft were scheduled for delivery in the year 2006.

For many years, analysts had predicted that JetBlue’s growth rate would become unsustainable. Despite this, the airline continued to add planes and routes to the fleet at a brisk pace. In addition in 2006, the IAM (International Association of Machinists) attempted to unionize JetBlue’s “ramp service workers,” in a move that was described by JetBlue’s COO Dave Barger as “pretty hypocritical,” as the IAM opposed JetBlue’s creation when it was founded as New Air in 1998. The union organizing petition was dismissed by the National Mediation Board because fewer than 35 percent of eligible employees supported an election.

JetBlue experienced its first ever quarterly loss during the fourth quarter of 2005, when the airline lost $42.4 million, enough to make them unprofitable for the entire year of 2005. The loss was the airline’s first since going public in 2002. JetBlue also reported a loss in the first quarter of 2006. In addition to that, JetBlue forecasted a loss for 2006, citing high fuel prices, operating inefficiency, and fleet costs. During the first quarter report, CEO David Neeleman, President Dave Barger, and then-CFO John Owen released JetBlue’s “Return to Profitability” (“RTP”) plan, stating in detail how they would curtail costs and improve revenue to regain profitability. The plan called for $50 million in annual cost cuts and a push to boost revenue by $30 million. JetBlue Airways moved out of the red during the second quarter of 2006, beating Wall Street expectations by announcing a net profit of $14 million. That result was flat when compared to JetBlue’s results from the same quarter a year before ($13 million), but it was double Wall Street forecasts of a $7 million profit, Reuters reports. The carrier said cost-cutting and stronger revenue helped it offset higher jet fuel costs. In October 2006, JetBlue announced a net loss of $500,000 for Quarter 3, and a plan to regain that loss by deferring some of their E190 deliveries and by selling 5 of their A320s.

In December 2006, JetBlue, as part of their RTP plan, removed a row of seats from their A320s to lighten the aircraft by 904 lb (410 kg) and reduce the inflight crew size from four to three (per FAA regulation requiring one flight attendant per 50 seats), thus offsetting the lost revenue from the removal of seats, and further lightening the aircraft, resulting in less fuel burned.[13]

In January 2007, JetBlue returned to profitability with a fourth quarter profit in 2006, reversing a quarterly loss in the year-earlier period. As part of the RTP plan, 2006’s full year loss was $1 million compared to 2005’s full year loss of $20 million. JetBlue was one of the few major airlines to post a profit in that quarter.

While its financial performance started showing signs of improvement, in February 2007, JetBlue faced a crisis, when a snowstorm hit the Northeast and Midwest, throwing the airline’s operations into chaos. Because JetBlue followed the practice of never canceling flights, it desisted from calling flights off, even when the ice storm hit and the airline was forced to keep several planes on the ground. Because of this, passengers were kept waiting at the airports for their flights to take off. In some cases, passengers who had already boarded their planes were kept waiting on the tarmac for several hours and were not allowed to disembark. However, after all this, the airline was eventually forced to cancel most of its flights because of prevailing weather conditions.[14] The fiasco reportedly cost JetBlue $30 million.[15]

In 2007, JetBlue was also facing reliability problems with its Embraer 190 fleet. For a couple months JetBlue contracted ExpressJet to operate four Embraer 145 regional jets on behalf of JetBlue. While this was going on two E-190 aircraft at a time were sent to an Embraer maintenance facility in Nashville, Tennessee.[16] ExpressJet operated routes between Boston Logan and Buffalo, New York and Washington Dulles, and between New York–JFK and Columbus, Ohio (has terminated) and Richmond, Virginia.[17]

David Barger after a presentation in October 2010

Following the February 2007 incident in which the airline was forced to cancel nearly 1,700 flights due to winter storms, JetBlue’s board of directors replaced founder and Chief Executive Officer David Neeleman with Dave Barger.[18] He had politicked the board, while Neeleman was busy publicly apologizing. Barger’s ascendancy caused widespread demoralization in the ranks.[19] He became JetBlue’s new Chief Executive Officer on May 10, 2007.[20] Neeleman, the company’s founder and largest individual investor, became a nonexecutive chairman as a result of the change.[21]

On July 24, 2007, JetBlue reported that its second-quarter revenue increased to $730 million, compared to $612 in 2006. Second quarter net income grew to $21 million for the quarter, from $14 million the previous year. CEO David Barger said the airline will take delivery of three fewer planes this year and will sell three planes from their current fleet, “slowing capacity growth … to strengthen our balance sheet and facilitate earnings growth”, but will continue to add two to four new destinations each year.[22]

In July 2007, the airline partnered with 20th Century Fox’s film The Simpsons Movie to become the “Official Airline of Springfield.” In addition a contest was held in which the grand prize would be a trip on JetBlue to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of the film. The airline’s website was also redecorated with characters and their favorite JetBlue destinations and the company was taken over by the show/film’s businessman villain Montgomery Burns.[23][dead link]

In August 2007, the airline added exclusive content from The New York Times in the form of an in-flight video magazine, conducted by Times journalists and content from NYTimes.com.[24]

On November 8, 2007, JetBlue appointed Ed Barnes as interim CFO, following the resignation of former CFO John Harvey.[25]

On December 13, 2007, JetBlue and Germany-based Lufthansa announced their intent to sell 19% of JetBlue to Lufthansa, pending approval from US regulators. Following the acquisition, Lufthansa stated they plan to seek operational cooperation with JetBlue.[26] Lufthansa plans to offer connections to JetBlue flights in Boston, New York (JFK), and Orlando International Airport (no longer a connection).[27]

JetBlue expanded service to the Caribbean, including to St. Maarten and Puerto Plata commencing January 10, 2008. With these additional destinations, JetBlue serves a total of twelve Caribbean/Atlantic destinations including Aruba; Barbados; Bermuda; Cancún; Nassau; Aguadilla; Ponce; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Santiago; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

In the March edition of Airways Magazine, it was announced that once JetBlue partnered with Yahoo! and with BlackBerry producer Research in Motion, that the airline would offer free, limited Wi-Fi capabilities on a single aircraft, N651JB, an Airbus A320-200 dubbed “BetaBlue.” People access e-mail with a Wi-Fi capable Blackberry, or use Yahoo!’s e-mail and instant messaging with a Wi-Fi capable laptop, while in flight over the US. LiveTV in Melbourne Florida, created and operated the “BetaBlue” prototype. The “BetaBlue” system utilized the bandwidth and infrastructure of defunct Airfone.[28]

On March 19, 2008, JetBlue added Orlando, Florida as a gateway focus city to international destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America. New international routes from Orlando International Airport include Cancún, Mexico, Bridgetown, Barbados, Bogotá, Colombia, Nassau, Bahamas, San José, Costa Rica, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In conjunction with the addition of new routes the airline will continue significant expansion of operations at Orlando International Airport including a planned 292-room lodge that will house trainees attending the existing “JetBlue University” training facility (opened in 2015).[29]

On April 8, 2008, JetBlue introduced a new “Happy Jetting” brand campaign. The marketing campaign, developed in partnership with JWT New York, emphasizes competitive fares, service and complimentary onboard amenities such as free satellite television and radio, snacks, and leather seats.[30][31]

On May 21, 2008, JetBlue named Joel Peterson chairman and Frank Sica vice chairman of its board of directors, replacing David Neeleman, who stepped down as CEO in 2007.[32]

On August 4, 2008, the Associated Press reported that JetBlue would replace their recycled pillows and blankets with an “ecofriendly” pillow and blanket package that passengers would have to purchase for use. Each package will cost $7, and will include a $5 coupon from retailer Bed, Bath and Beyond. This decision is the latest in a series of moves designed to increase revenue. JetBlue told the Associated Press that it expects to collect $40 million from passengers selecting seats with extra legroom and $20 million from passengers paying $15 to check a second bag. As of September 8, 2008 JetBlue charges passengers $10–$30 for an extended-leg-room seat depending on the length of the flight.[33]

In September 2008, JetBlue began operating Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin‘s campaign aircraft, an E190.[34][35]

On October 13, 2009, the airline unveiled a modification to its livery in commemoration of the upcoming 10th anniversary of the airline in February 2010. Besides a new tail design, the revised livery includes larger “billboard” titles extending down over the passenger windows at the front of the aircraft. The logo word ‘jetBlue’ will no longer be silver and blue but now a dark, navy blue.[36]

JetBlue’s JFK Terminal 5

On October 22, 2008 JetBlue opened its new primary hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Terminal 5, or simply T5. The mostly new terminal, costing approximately $800 million,[37] partially encircles the historic TWA Flight Center, the former Trans World Airlines terminal designed by Eero Saarinen, which remains closed. According to the plan, passengers will eventually be able to check in for flights in the landmark building, then transfer to the new structure via the original passenger departing-arrival tubes from Saarinen’s original terminal and its 1969 addition by Roche-Dinkeloo.[38]

The first flight arrived from Bob Hope Airport (B6 #358) at 5:06 am followed by arrivals from Oakland International Airport and Long Beach Airport, respectively.[39][40] The last flight to operate out of T6 was a departure to Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, departing at 11:59 pm.

2010s[edit]

On June 16, 2010, JetBlue began selling snack boxes on Airbus A320 flights over 3 hours, 45 minutes. There are 5 options for $6 each.[41]

In March 22, 2010, JetBlue turned down incentives from the City of Orlando and announced its headquarters would keep its Forest Hills office,[42][43][44][45]start leasing and using a new office in the Brewster Building in Long Island City, New York.[46][47] in Queens Plaza in Long Island City,[45] move its headquarters there in mid-2012,[48] and start a joint branding deal with New York State using the iconic I Love NY logo.[45]

On October 14, 2010, the California Council of the Blind and three individuals with visual impairments have filed a lawsuit against JetBlue Airways in Federal Court on allegations that JetBlue’s website and airport kiosks are not accessible.[49]

On October 18, 2011, CFO Ed Barnes resigned, effective immediately. The company’s treasurer, Mark Powers, was appointed interim CFO until a replacement for Barnes could be found.[50]

On June 13, 2012, JetBlue ranked ‘Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low Cost Carriers in North America’ by J.D. Power and Associates, a customer satisfaction recognition received for the eighth year in a row.[51]

A JetBlue Airbus A321 (N937JB, Never a dull mo-mint) at JFK Airport. This is one of a handful of JetBlue planes with a business-class “Mint” cabin, used only on transcontinental services.

In October 2013, JetBlue introduced Mint, a premium cabin service on transcontinental and select Caribbean flights. The service began in 2014, using the Airbus A321-200 aircraft ordered by JetBlue. These planes are outfitted with winglets, as well as with “lie flat” seats, and moveable partitions that can create small suites on the airplane.[52] Called “Mint” by JetBlue, these planes are configured with 16 business-class seats and 143 economy seats, instead of an all-economy configuration of 190 seats.[53]

On April 22, 2014, JetBlue’s pilots voted to unionize for the first time since the airline was founded, with 71% casting ballots in favor of joining the ALPA.[54]

On September 18, 2014, Dave Barger announced his resignation from the company effective February 16, 2015, following several reports that investors and the board were unhappy with his performance.[55][56] He was replaced on the board and as CEO by Robin Hayes.[57]

During the last few days of June and the first few days of July 2015, JetBlue began charging for bags in certain booking classes, leaving Southwest Airlines the only major U.S. carrier to not charge for bags. For the classes in which bag check fees are charged (generally the lowest class of fares offered; JetBlue offers 3 classes of fares), the cost is $20 for the first bag and $35 for the second, which is the lowest in the United States besides Frontier Airlines with similar prices.[58]

In 2016, JetBlue was unsuccessful in acquiring Virgin America, which was acquired by Alaska Airlines Group.[59]

In July 2016, JetBlue announced commercial flights from the United States to Cuba will commence in late August.[60][61] On August 31, 2016, JetBlue Flight 387 from Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport to Abel Santamaría Airport, in Santa Clara, became the first scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in 55 years.[62] Only charter flights were allowed under previous rules, which required that passengers had to arrive more than 4 hours before the scheduled departure and often endure long lines for documentation checks, late flight arrivals, and pay high baggage fees.[63]

In November 2016, JetBlue painted one of their Airbus A320 aircraft, N763JB, in a 1960s retrojet livery, dubbed “What’s Old is Blue Again”. The livery’s maiden flight was on Friday, from New York JFK to Palm Springs.[64]

Destinations[edit]

As of April, 2017, JetBlue Airways flies to 101 destinations in North, Central, and South America; some countries include Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Maarten, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.[65]

On May 6, 2015, JetBlue became one of the first airlines to be granted a license to commence charter flights to Cuba, with flights departing from New York City.[66] The new service launched on July 3, 2015, operating once weekly, on Fridays, with 150-seat Airbus A320s.[67][68]

Airline partnerships[edit]

JetBlue Embraer 190 (N198JB) and Airbus A320 (N528JB)

In 2008, JetBlue partnered with Irish flagship carrier Aer Lingus to allow passengers to switch between airlines on a single ticket for flights with connections in New York–JFK or Boston Logan. Unlike traditional codeshare agreements, the companies cannot sell seats on each other’s flights, so customers initiate the purchase on one airline’s website and then are transferred to the other site to complete the transaction.[69][70]

After making a codeshare agreement with Lufthansa that went into effect in 2010, JetBlue transitioned to the Sabre reservation system used by Lufthansa,[71] enabling the airlines to sell tickets on each other’s flights, transfer luggage and passengers between the two carriers, and combine frequent flyer programs,.[72] By making use of JetBlue’s North America routes as a feeder network, the agreement put Lufthansa in a position to operate quasi-hubs in New York–JFK and Boston Logan.

Also in 2010, JetBlue entered into interline booking agreements with South African Airways[73] and American Airlines[74] to facilitate luggage transfers between airlines for passengers with connecting flights on a different carrier. The agreement with American included JetBlue’s 18 destinations not served by American and American’s 12 international flights out of New York–JFK and Boston Logan. In addition, American gave JetBlue 8 round trips slots out of Washington National in D.C. and 2 out of Westchester, New York. In return, JetBlue gave American 6 round trips out of New York–JFK. The agreement with American Airlines has since ended according to JetBlue’s website.[75]

In 2011, JetBlue made interline agreements with Virgin Atlantic and Jet Airways, both of which have since been terminated.[76][77] Since 2012, JetBlue has had an interlining agreement with Air China.

Codeshare agreements[edit]

JetBlue has entered into a number of codeshare agreements with other airlines, meaning airlines agree to share certain flights, which both airlines market and publish on their own flight schedules under their respective airline designators and flight numbers. JetBlue codeshares with the following airlines:[78]

Fleet[edit]

JetBlue Airbus A320 at Orlando Airport

As of April 2017 the JetBlue Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:[79][80]

JetBlue Airways Fleet
AircraftIn ServiceOrdersPassengersNotes
MEMSCTotal
Airbus A320-200130042108150
042120162
Airbus A320neo25
TBA
Deliveries start 2020 through 2022.[81]
Airbus A321-2004026041149190
041159200
1641102159Mint Configuration
Airbus A321neo60[82]
TBA
Deliveries begin in 2019[83]. Option to substitute orders from A321neo to A321LR.
Embraer E190602401684100Launch customer.[84] Fleet under review. Scheduled for delivery from 2020-2022.[85]
Total230135

A JetBlue E190AR taxiing at New York JFK Airport

Corporate affairs[edit]

Headquarters, 27-01 Queens Plaza North

Headquarters[edit]

Its headquarters are in the Brewster Building in Long Island City, New York.[46][47]

JetBlue previously had its headquarters in the Forest Hills Tower in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City.[86][87] The previous Forest Hills facility is 6 miles (9.7 km) from the current office in Long Island City.[88] In the summer of 2001, the airline announced that it wanted to take 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2) of space in the Forest Hills Tower. By December 2002, the airline announced that it planned to increase its leased space and use contiguous and efficient floor plates. Steven Cuozzo of the New York Post said that the JetBlue plan was “possibly the largest office lease” in Queens in 2002. In December 2002, between 600 and 800 JetBlue employees worked at the Forest Hills Tower. Prior to the move to the Forest Hills Tower, the airline headquarters were across the street, at 80–02 Kew Gardens Rd.[87]

In 2009, JetBlue announced that it was looking for a new location for its headquarters. The company began considering moving the headquarters either within the New York City metropolitan area or to the Orlando, Florida area.[89] In April of that year, Helen Marshall, the president of the Borough of Queens, said that the City of New York was trying to keep JetBlue in the city. Her spokesperson, Dan Andrews, said that the mayor’s office looked for office space in Queens and in other boroughs.[90] In January 2010, the CEO of JetBlue, Dave Barger, and Governor of Florida Charlie Crist met at the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee, Florida to discuss a possible headquarters move to Orlando.[91] Barger said that he anticipated that JetBlue would decide whether to move by March 2010.[92] JetBlue officials stated that if the airline moves its headquarters, it would not happen until 2012, when its lease in the Forest Hills Tower expires.[93]

On March 22, 2010, JetBlue announced it will remain in the New York City area. Its new headquarters are in Long Island City, in the borough of Queens.[94] Barger stated that the airline decided to keep the headquarters in New York City because of the airline’s historical links to New York City, the cost of relocating most of the airline’s staff, the airline’s desire to retain access to financial markets, and the fact that Aer Lingus and Lufthansa, JetBlue’s international marketing partners, fly into John F. Kennedy International Airport.[95] JetBlue plans to combine its Forest Hills and Darien, Connecticut offices, together about 1,000 employees, into about 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) in the Brewster Building in Long Island City by mid-2012.[96]

Crew bases[edit]

JetBlue operates five bases for its pilots and inflight crew members:[97]

Marketing strategy[edit]

JetBlue’s first major advertising campaign incorporated phrases like “Unbelievable” and “We like you, too”. Full-page newspaper advertisements boasted low-fares, new aircraft, leather seats, spacious legroom, and a customer-service-oriented staff committed to “bringing humanity back to air travel”.[98] With a goal of raising the bar for in-flight experience, JetBlue became the first airline to offer all passengers personalized in-flight entertainment. In April 2000, flat-screen monitors installed in every seatback allow customers live access to over 20 DirecTV channels at no additional cost.[99]

As JetBlue gained market share, they found a unique positioning where they competed with other low-cost carriers (e.g. Southwest, and Frontier), as well as major carriers (e.g. American, United, and Delta). Amenities such as their live in-flight television, free and unlimited snack offerings, comfortable legroom, and unique promotions fostered an image of impeccable customer service that rivaled the major airlines while competitive low fares made them a threat to low-cost no-frills carriers as well.[100]

During the company’s growth stage, advertising messages moved from the engaging and customer oriented to less personal slogans and campaigns. Frequent changes in its values statements resulted in mixed and frequently wasted marketing dollars spent. Slogans varied from “More” to “Happy Jetting” and many other failed attempts.[101]

JetBlue N605JB celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

A new marketing strategy has been partnerships with professional sports teams and venues. As the official airline of the New York Jets, JetBlue has specially painted the exterior of one of their Airbus A320s (N746JB) in the team’s colors. Aircraft N605JB is based on the design of the Boston Red Sox road uniform and sports a grey fuselage with navy lettering. This aircraft was unveiled in February 2012, just in time for the opening of the Red Sox new spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida named JetBlue Park at Fenway South. Additionally, JetBlue and MasterCard have pledged to refund select flight purchases made online at JetBlue.com using a MasterCard.[102] JetBlue has also partnered with various other sports teams and sporting venues in cities they serve.

JetBlue also utilizes various forms of advertising media. They use print, online, and television ads as well as advertisements on popular social media sites including Hulu and YouTube. JetBlue emphasizes a secondary slogan, “If you wouldn’t take it on the ground, don’t take it in the air” poking fun at competitors with hidden fees, little, or no amenities and what JetBlue considers an unacceptable level of customer service.[103]

According to Martin St. George, senior vice president of marketing and commercial strategy at JetBlue, the new “You Above All” campaign was created to get JetBlue back to their “DNA” and speak to the “core of who we are as a brand.” This motto is meant to support their efforts to always put the customer first and “bring humanity back to air travel”.[101]

Customer Bill of Rights

In February 2007, a Valentine’s Day storm triggered an “organizational meltdown” leading to an extremely high level of cancellations and controversies. For example, some passengers were held on board their plane awaiting clearance for take off for nearly 11 hours before they returned to their gate and the flight was cancelled.[104]

Various consumer rights organizations and activists called for the creation of a government mandated “Bill of Rights” to protect air travelers from future experiences similar to the one previously described. On February 20, 2007, JetBlue released an apologetic response to the events that had taken place less than a week before with the creation of their Customer Bill of Rights, which offers financial reciprocation if a customer’s flight is delayed or cancelled.[105]

TrueBlue[edit]

JetBlue’s frequent-flyer program is called TrueBlue. Under the original TrueBlue program, flights were worth two, four, or six points based on distance of the flights, and double points were awarded for flights booked online.[106]

In September 2009, JetBlue made changes to its TrueBlue program.[107] In the new program, members receive three points for every dollar spent toward a flight, excluding taxes and fees; members earn an additional three points for every dollar spent on a flight if they book online on the JetBlue.com website. An additional two points are awarded if the member uses JetBlue cobranded American Express credit card to purchase the flight. The price of flights in points depend on the fare of the flight in U.S. dollars. The new program launched on November 9, 2009.[108][109]

In June 2013, JetBlue announced that TrueBlue points will never expire for any reason. The current policy states that if members book a flight online, they can earn double with 6 points per dollar. Flights bought elsewhere result in 3 points per dollar spent.[110][111]

Subsidiaries and investments[edit]

JetBlue Technology Ventures[edit]

JetBlue Technology Ventures (JTV or Jetblue Tech Ventures for short) is a whole owned subsidiary of JetBlue that was founded in November 2015.[112] It’s meant to be the venture capital investment arm of JetBlue that invests in startups in the travel and hospitality space. They’ve invested in things like hybrid planes,[113] machine learning algorithms,[114] and ground transportation.[115] As of April 2017, JetBlue Technology Ventures has invested in five startups and has yet to disclose how much money has been invested or how much equity they have been given. Although they have shared that Investments, will range in size from $250,000 to $1 million.[116]

JetSuiteX[edit]

On October 25, 2016 JetSuiteX announced that JetBlue had made a minority equity investment in JetSuiteX. Part of the agreement also gave JetBlue a seat on JetSuite’s board of directors. Reasons for the investment was outlined by CEO Robin Hayes “Our investment in JetSuite makes sense as we continue to execute on our west coast plan and invest in innovative ideas that reflect the disruptive spirit of JetBlue.”[117]

TWA Flight Center Hotel[edit]

The TWA Hotel the old TWA terminal that’s being converted into a 505-room hotel that sits in front of Jetblue’s Terminal 5 at JFK. JetBlue has started that it estimates the ownership of the hotel would be between 5–10% of the final total investment.[112]

LiveTV[edit]

LiveTV was bought by JetBlue in 2002 and became a whole owned subsidiary until it was sold to Thales for $400 million.

Incidents and accidents[edit]

JetBlue Flight 292, an Airbus A320 (N536JB), makes an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport

JetBlue has had six incidents involving its aircraft, although none have resulted in any casualties or hull losses.

  • September 21, 2005: Flight 292 en route from Burbank, California, to New York City performed an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport (pictured on the right) following a failure of the front landing gear during retraction when it turned 90 degrees. The plane landed after holding for about three hours to burn fuel and lighten the aircraft. The aircraft came to a stop without incident on runway 25L, the third-longest runway at LAX. The only apparent damage to the plane upon landing was the destruction of the front wheels, which were ground down to almost semicircles, and the tires; the front landing strut held. The passengers were unable to see themselves landing despite the DirecTV service in each seat, as it was turned off before landing.[118]
  • August 9, 2010: Flight 1052, The incident involved a flight attendant after JetBlue Airways Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh to New York City landed. The incident garnered significant media attention when, upon landing, Steven Slater, a flight attendant, announced over the plane’s public address system that he had been abused by a passenger and that he quit his job. He then grabbed two beers and exited the plane by deploying the evacuation slide and sliding down it. Slater claimed to have been injured by a passenger when he instructed her to sit down. Slater’s account of the event was not corroborated by others.
  • March 27, 2012: The incident on Flight 191 involved the captain being locked out of the cockpit and being subdued by passengers following a panic attack and/or mental illness.[119][120][121]
  • March 25, 2016: Flight 29 en route from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Nassau, Bahamas performed an emergency landing at Lynden Pindling International Airport after reporting a main landing gear failure prior to arrival. The pilots landed the Embraer 190 on its main landing gear with the nose gear only partially extended.[122][123][124]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  84. Jump up^ Schlangenstein, Mary (October 29, 2013). “JetBlue Defers Embraer Jets as Airbus Order Has Priority”. bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  85. Jump up^ http://mediaroom.jetblue.com/~/media/Files/J/Jetblue-IR-V2/investor-update/04252017Updates.pdf
  86. Jump up^ Jetblue Boston Marathon Invitational entry Essay Contest.” JetBlue Airways. Retrieved on May 18, 2009.
  87. ^ Jump up to:a b Cuozzo, Steve. “JETBLUE TRIPLES SIZE OF ITS QUEENS OFFICES.” New York Post. December 24, 2002. Retrieved on January 20, 2010. “74,000 square feet at 118–29 Queens Blvd., also known as Forest Hills Tower” and “Boulevard in Forest Hills – possibly the largest office lease in Queens this year. JetBlue was previously at 80–02 Kew Gardens Rd., across the street.”
  88. Jump up^ Leave New York City? Fuggedaboutit!” JetBlue Airways. March 22, 2010. Retrieved on August 23, 2012.
  89. Jump up^ Clarke, Sarah K. and Scott Powers. “Orlando is a front-runner for JetBlue headquarters.” Orlando Sentinel. October 13, 2009. Retrieved on October 14, 2009.
  90. Jump up^ Newman, Philip. “Forest Hills’ JetBlue looks for new space around city.” Forest Hills Ledger. Wednesday April 8, 2009. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
  91. Jump up^ Hafenbrack, Josh. “JetBlue considering move to Orlando.” Orlando Sentinel. January 19, 2010. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
  92. Jump up^ JetBlue CEO talks of moving headquarters to Orlando.” Associated Press at USA Today. January 20, 2010. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
  93. Jump up^ Mutzabaugh, Ben. “Will JetBlue move its headquarters from New York to Orlando?.” USA Today. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
  94. Jump up^ JetBlue to remain ‘New York’s Hometown Airline’ – Yahoo! Finance. Finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-22.
  95. Jump up^ JetBlue to Keep NYC Headquarters, Rejecting Orlando (Update3).” Bloomberg Businessweek. March 22, 2010. Retrieved on July 6, 2010.
  96. Jump up^ JetBlue Plants Its Flag in New York City with New Headquarters LocationArchived July 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine..” JetBlue Airways. March 22, 2010. Retrieved on July 7, 2010.
  97. Jump up^ “JetBlue Plans New Focus City At Orlando International Airport”. JetBlue. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  98. Jump up^ JetBlue Airways Open For Business. JetBlue. 01/11/2000. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  99. Jump up^ JetBlue Decides Not To Charge For 24-Channel LiveTV Inflight Satellite Entertainment Service. JetBlue (July 25, 2000). Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  100. Jump up^ Photo Release – JetBlue and Bliss Spa Say Buh-Bye to Red-Eye, Hello to Shut-Eye Service: Shut-Eye Service Tailored for Customers on Trans-Continental Night Flights. Investor.jetblue.com (April 4, 2006). Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  101. ^ Jump up to:a b JetBluePress Releases. Jetblue.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  102. Jump up^ Blue Turns Green as JetBlue Airways Unveils Specially Painted Airbus A320 Aircraft Paying Homage to the New York Jets. Investor.jetblue.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  103. Jump up^ Elliott, Stewart. “JetBlue Pokes Fun at the Competition”, New York Times. Oct. 13, 2010. Web. Nov. 11, 2010
  104. Jump up^ Zeller Jr., Tom. “Held Hostage on the Tarmac: Time for A Passenger Bill of Rights?, The Lede – New York Times. Feb. 16, 2007. Web. Nov. 11, 2010.
  105. Jump up^ Jaffe, Matthew. “JetBlue Offers Passengers Bill of Rights”. ABC News. Feb. 20, 2007. Web. Nov. 11, 2010.
  106. Jump up^ “TrueBlue program: Jet more and earn award flights”. JetBlue. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  107. Jump up^ “New TrueBlue program”. JetBlue. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  108. Jump up^ JetBlue’s Revamped TrueBlue Program Touches Down. Investor.jetblue.com. November 11, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  109. Jump up^ JetBlue | TrueBlue: Frequently asked questions. Trueblue.jetblue.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  110. Jump up^ “JetBlue | TrueBlue: Start earning”. Trueblue.jetblue.com. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
  111. Jump up^ “JetBlue | TrueBlue: Reasons to join”. Trueblue.jetblue.com. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
  112. ^ Jump up to:a b http://otp.investis.com/clients/us/jetblue_airways/SEC/sec-show.aspx?Type=html&FilingId=11868801&CIK=0001158463&Index=10000
  113. Jump up^ https://www.fastcompany.com/40401803/this-startup-backed-by-jetblue-and-boeing-plans-on-flying-electric-planes-by-the-early-2020s
  114. Jump up^ http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160325005143/en/JetBlue-Technology-Ventures-Selects-Silicon-Valley-Based-FLYR
  115. Jump up^ http://www.pymnts.com/businesswire-feed/jetblue-technology-ventures-announces-investment-in-ground-transportation-services-startup-mozio/
  116. Jump up^ http://fortune.com/2016/03/26/jet-blue-venture-capital/
  117. Jump up^ https://x.jetsuite.com/in-the-news/jetblue-makes-strategic-investment-in-jetsuite
  118. Jump up^ LAX05IA312. Ntsb.gov. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  119. Jump up^ “JetBlue Pilot Charged with Interference with a Flight Crew” (Press release). FBI. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  120. Jump up^ Osbon Complaint Affidavit
  121. Jump up^ Nicas, Jack; Pasztor, Andy (28 March 2012). “JetBlue Captain’s ‘Medical Situation’ Diverts Flight”. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  122. Jump up^ “Watch this JetBlue flight take a hard landing at an airport in the Bahamas”. Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  123. Jump up^ Batchelor, Amanda (2016-03-26). “JetBlue plane makes hard landing in Nassau”. WPLG. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  124. Jump up^ “JetBlue: No injuries after landing gear problem at Bahamas airport”. CBS News. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
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