With Cabin Redesign, JetBlue Goes Back to Its Innovative Roots

Last summer there was a big hoopla over JetBlue's decision to add checked bag fees, reduce legroom, and add more seats, after the airline was pressured by investors to increase revenue. This was also after ex-CEO David Barger was forced out by Wall Street because he was viewed as too customer oriented. Back in June of 2015, JetBlue executive vice president of commercial products and planning, Marty St. George, told the AP that JetBlue was going to use the revenue from the new bag fees for "the biggest product upgrade JetBlue has had in the history of the company." Well, JetBlue has kept its word and recently announced a major A320 cabin redesign that improves on what passengers love most about JetBlue: comfortable seats, above-average legroom, and free inflight connectivity. 

The new cabin redesign marks a shift in on-board entertainment from preloaded movies and live TV to an internet based entertainment system. The new seat-back screen will be a 10 inch, HD screen that runs Thales STV +, a new streaming inflight entertainment system that is built on a version of Android. The entertainment system features the ability to turn your smartphone into a remote control and is connected to the internet, meaning most content won't be preloaded onto the system. JetBlue is also increasing the number of free live TV channels it provides to 100 and the number of on-demand movies and TV shows it offers to over 300, though JetBlue is still figuring out the pricing of the on-demand content. Compared to JetBlue's current seat-back entertainment hub, which features a 5.6 inch, standard definition screen with only 36 channels of DIRECTV and three movies running on a loop, the new entertainment system is a major upgrade.  

With its cabin redesign, JetBlue is also rolling out free gate to gate, high speed Wi-Fi. Currently, Wi-Fi service is turned off below 10,000 feet. AC and USB ports will be installed at every seat, continuing JetBlue's theme of connectivity in the air. While JetBlue is still going ahead with its plan to add a dozen seats to its A320 aircraft, the airline will be installing new seats that are slimmer and lighter. The seats have already been rolled out on the airline's new A321s to a warm reception from passengers and critics. Though legroom will decrease from a current 34" inches to around 32" to 33", JetBlue hopes its new amenities will more than make up for the loss.  

 JetBlue's new A320 cabin redesign is a brilliant way of strengthening the airline's standing as a passenger friendly carrier while also increasing efficiency and revenue. JetBlue's new entertainment system does away with the under the seat hardware necessary to support the current one, thus decreasing weight, saving fuel, and eliminating the annoying glitches and outages that periodically strike the current generation of seat-back entertainment systems. JetBlue's new seats are slimmer, allowing the carrier to add more seats while decreasing its industry leading seat pitch by about an inch. The new seats, which feature e-leather covers instead of the current leather ones, are lighter, saving the airline fuel.  

 JetBlue's A320 cabin redesign launches its core product past its competitors while also increasing efficiency. With its cabin redesign, JetBlue has effectively balanced passenger comfort with increased efficiency and revenue, easing fears of JetBlue losing its way as an industry innovator.