The Alliance for Aviation and the National Business Aviation Association are reacting to JetBlue’s new ad campaign called “Welcome Bigwigs” that argues that traveling on JetBlue is a better option to general aviation.
There’s a glaring omission in the ad, the Alliance for Aviation said. JetBlue serves only 44 big city airports in the country, mostly on the East and West coasts. General aviation serves 5,000 U.S. communities.
“JetBlue does not seem to realize that small and medium-sized businesses that rely on general aviation every day are the backbone of America’s industry,” said Alliance spokeswoman Selena Shilad. “Until JetBlue decides to send its flights to Hot Springs, Arkansas and Gallup, New Mexico, general aviation will remain the lifeline to those communities and countless others all across America.”
The NBAA is calling for JetBlue to pull the ad campaign.
The ad overlooks the fact that the vast majority of companies that use business aviation also use commercial airlines on trips when it makes sense, said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen in a statement. NBAA members buy more than $11 billion worth of commercial airline tickets a year.
“I ask that you please immediately pull your ads in recognition of the fact that they amount to nothing more than an attention-grabbing stunt to fill airline seats by maligning the people and businesses who spend billions with your airline and others every year, while also generating more than a million jobs and providing a lifeline for towns across the country,” Bolen said in a letter to JetBlue.
