INTRODUCTIONJetBlue Airways entered the market in 2000 from a position of financial strength, leadership ability and several rare advantages not common to others in the industry: 1) David Neeleman, the founder, had several years of industry experience from launching and selling an airline (Morris Air), bringing explicit and tacit knowledge into his new venture; 2) Neeleman was offered the opportunity to work directly with his idol, Herb Kelleher, at Southwest Airlines (the king of the low-cost leaders) after Southwest purchased Morris Air from Neeleman; and 3) Substantial financial support from venture capitalists who had financed Neeleman's previous ventures and were more than willing to support and capitalize on his idea for a new low-cost passenger airline. With a clear mission and vision, he implemented a low-cost, business-wide differentiation strategy, which aimed to position JetBlue as the leading low-cost passenger airline in the industry, differentiating itself through high-quality customer service, providing customers with a geographically diverse flight schedule of both short and long haul flights, along with efficient and reliable service. JetBlue's mission is to "bring humanity back to air travel." Its low-cost strategy is second to none, not even Southwest. Using Southwest as a model and reference point early in Neeleman's career in the industry, he was able to copy the Southwest model and expand it with his ability to find more innovative ways to reduce costs along the organization's value chain, while using technology to increase productivity and further increase operational efficiency. JetBlue's value chain demonstrates its ability to successfully compete in several key areas against the industry's competitive bases and creates processes focused on cost reduction, with the specific purpose of continuously creating value for its customers, i.e. determining fare prices, customer service, routes served, flight times, aircraft types, safety and reputation records, in-flight entertainment systems and frequent flyer programs. JetBlue Value Chain: Primary Activities Inbound Logistics/Outbound Logistics: Focus on underserved markets and large metropolitan areas, utilizing underutilized airports with less congestion which adds to the ability to be on the ground quicker. Point-to-point routing system, unlike low-cost competitors who use the hub-and-spoke system, working with larger airlines to provide flight connections. Operations: Using a fleet of unique type aircraft. The Airbus A320 has an increased seating capacity of 30 seats (24 after further seat reconfigurations), is cheaper to maintain, consumes less fuel and reduces training costs, compared to other aircraft models used in the industry.