More Is Better Than Less: Joe Issa Likes ‘JetBlue Eyeing Opportunities in Jamaica’

It was 76-year-old late English anthropologist, social scientist and cyberneticist Gregory Bateson who once said, “Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money,” a quote which entrepreneur Joe Issa has no problem with, as he expresses pleasure in JetBlue’s interest in flying more visitors to Jamaica.

“It is good enough to add more airlift to increase visitor arrivals to Jamaica; but when it comes from one of the world’s top airlines its even better…It’s value added, as it will enrich the travel experience to and from Jamaica and compliment our inland quality service,” said Issa, executive chairman of the Cool Group of over 50 companies.

Issa – whose group business model has been likened to that of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group of over 400 companies – was reacting to recent news that New York-based air carrier JetBlue is planning to add a second weekly flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Montego Bay, as well as increase seating capacity for the Fort Lauderdale to Kingston route, according to the Observer newspaper.

Only recently, Issa tipped Jamaica to hold its own in Trip Advisor’s next survey following its 2016 ranking in which it was well placed in several categories, including No. 3 in the top 25 destinations, and JetBlue was ranked No. 4 in the top 10 airlanes in the world.

“As JetBlue continues to grow, we look forward to continuing to offer more opportunities for our customers to travel to and from Jamaica,” the airline was quoted as saying, adding, “We continually evaluate new route opportunities to better serve our customers and where they want to fly.”

“In fact, just last December JetBlue converted the Boston to Montego Bay route from a seasonal (winter) fixture to a permanent one, contributing to a 40 per cent increase in global flights from that focus city in 2016,” the paper wrote.

It quoted the company as saying: “Boston-Montego Bay is an important route for our customers based in Boston, as well as those in Jamaica. Since we launched the route seasonally in 2010, it has continued to perform strongly for us and this strength has given the route the right to grow to year-round service…but there is the potential for additional frequencies (of flights) during high-demand periods, particularly the December holidays.”

It said in 2016, JetBlue carried 14,400 passengers of which 7,600 came via its non-stop route between Boston and Montego Bay, while 6,800 were fom its focus cities of New York, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. The airline said it was hopeful that by adding more routes and seats, demand would continue to increase.

JetBlue is said to be collaborating with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) to promote Jamaica across its network.

“Our ‘Change at Jamaica’ campaign last winter was a prime example of the successful collaboration we’ve done with the JTB in the past to allow potential customers to learn [about] the wonderful destination Jamaica is,” JetBlue told Business Observer.