Dive Brief:
- JetBlue executives touted NPS improvements, loyalty gains and premium revenue growth as early proof points of its JetForward turnaround plan on a Q1 2025 earnings call Wednesday. JetForward is the airline’s multiyear plan to return the airline to profitability.
- Loyalty revenue increased 9% year over year in the first quarter, while the airline’s NPS improved double digits year over year, CEO Joanna Geraghty said. The airline has had four consecutive quarters of year-over-year NPS growth.
- “We're proud to have entered 2025 with industry-leading net promoter score performance,” Geraghty said. “NPS is a strong indicator of customer retention and brand loyalty, which will be important as we navigate through the uncertainty.”
Dive Insight:
JetBlue sees its customer experience investments as the way through economic uncertainty. Like other airlines, JetBlue is leaning on premium offerings and its loyalty program as consumers pull back on travel.
“We've got a pretty diverse set of revenue streams that we didn't have back in ‘08 through premium and loyalty, and I think that'll continue to be the area where we see progress perhaps ahead of what we're seeing on the airline side due to the macro backdrop,” Geraghty said.
JetBlue posted a net loss of $208 million in the first quarter, down 71% from $716 million a year ago, according to an earnings report. Still, operating revenue fell 3.1% year over year to $2.1 billion in the quarter. Like other airlines this month, JetBlue pulled its fiscal guidance for the year, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
Though demand for the main cabin is down, premium is strong. Premium revenue per available seat mile outperformed the main cabin by high single digits.
“Encouragingly, we are seeing reassuring signs that the premium segment is holding up better in the current environment, which supports the evolution of our product offering as part of JetForward,” Geraghty said. “Initiatives under our product and perks priority move are advancing nicely.”
In late January, the airline launched our Enhanced EvenMore premium offering, which has met expectations despite lower than expected customer volumes.
Growing the airline’s loyalty program, TrueBlue, is another component of the JetForward plan. New partnerships, additional redemption opportunities and the launch of JetBlue’s premium co-branded credit card in January helped boost loyalty revenue growth, President Marty St. George said.
“Our new premium card is exceeding sign-up goals, a testament to the strength of our loyalty program and the value our customers place on our brand and our product. Co-brand spend also remained robust, up 7% for the quarter,” St. George said.
Partnerships are also expected to improve TrueBlue’s value proposition. Earlier in April, the airline announced the ability to use TrueBlue loyalty points with Japan Airlines, and executives said they will announce another partnership with a domestic airline at some point in the second quarter.
