News
JetBlue to keep headquarters in New York
March 22, 2010, New York, NY - JetBlue is keeping its corporate headquarters in New York City after considering a possible move to Orlando, Fla.
March 22, 2010 By The Associated Press
The company said Monday it will move about 1,000 staffers from two area offices to a new location in Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The carrier's main office is currently in neighbouring Forest Hills. It also has a small finance department in Darien, Conn.
The airline mulled a move out of New York for more than a year. It originally considered four other cities and recently narrowed the alternatives to Orlando, the site of its training facility.
Moving to Orlando would have meant a brand adjustment for the carrier, which calls itself "New York's Hometown Airline.'' JetBlue's first flight took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport on Feb. 11, 2000. It is now the biggest carrier at JFK, the seventh-largest in the country and the only airline based in New York.
To help convince JetBlue to stay put, New York City offered to invest up to $3 million in the airline's Terminal 5 at Kennedy Airport and a $7 million tax exemption. The airline in turn said it will create up to 200 new jobs in the city over the next five years.
