May 28
Air travel is down 95 percent from a year ago, and major airlines are busy blocking middle seats and adopting new measures to make travelers feel at ease. JetBlue was the first airline to require passengers to wear face masks. CEO Robin Hayes joined Washington Post senior writer Frances Stead Sellers on May 28 at 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the airline industry and the precautions airlines are taking to keep passengers safe.
Highlights
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes says the most important issue the airline industry faces right now is how to give people the confidence to fly again.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes says “there is a tremendous amount of cooperation that goes on in the US between the airlines and our regulator the FAA on all safety matters” but that airlines have to make “common sense” decisions in times of crisis and cannot always wait for regulation. He added that coordination at the international level to ensure consistency across borders would be welcome as the world recovers from the global pandemic.
When asked about whether airlines have been resistant to collect passenger information to aid contact tracing efforts, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes discussed prior requests for airlines to collect data for contact tracing, and cited privacy issues and technological impediments as reasons for their hesitation.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes says air travel for vacations will rebound quickly, but that it will take longer to reach pre-pandemic levels of business travel.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes discussed the company’s choice not to furlough its crew members and employees, a condition to receive CARES Act funds which it has used to pay crew members.
CEO, JetBlue
Robin Hayes is chief executive officer of JetBlue Airways Corp., which encompasses JetBlue – New York’s Hometown Airline® – as well as subsidiaries JetBlue Technology Ventures and JetBlue Travel Products. He joined JetBlue in 2008 and served as the company’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer until becoming president of the airline in January 2014. In February 2015 he was appointed as JetBlue’s third chief executive officer. Prior to joining JetBlue, Robin was executive vice president for the Americas at British Airways. Over the span of a wide-ranging 19-year career with BA, he also served as area general manager for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Senior Writer, The Washington Post