Forget about O”Leary and some of his questionable ethics. The British based Irish airline he runs may be causing headaches in Europe but what he is doing is nothing compared with JetBlue, brand new out of JFK in February 2000. Chief Operating Officer Dave Barger stole the show last week at the ERA”s annual get together, hosted by the City of Salzburg, established, as pointed out by an official, long before Rogers and Hammerstein were even on their way to existence. He mightily impressed delegates with statistics that Europe”s regionals can only dream of ” average load factors of 84%, the lowest seat mile costs in the business of 6.29 cents and an utilisation of 12.6 hours a day for its Airbus A320s. The airline was profitable within six months of start up, largely due to the fact that it was the industry”s best financed carrier (investors included George Soros). JetBlue combines low fares with ”frills” including all leather seating and 24 satellite TV stations. Barger quipped that it is 10 year olds who are influencing Mum and Dad to fly JetBlue so they can watch the Nickelodeon Channel!. Business passengers are choosing the airline because of its high frequencies out of New York JFK and its attractive frequent flyer programme, True Blue. The airline continues its strong growth and will accept 132 new A320s, one every month, up to the year 2008. Barger highlighted the importance of the JetBlue brand. ”We could”ve called the airline NY Taxi, but our operating criteria is safety and security, draw your own conclusion,” he said. The moral of the story is that even in these difficult times there are openings for new carriers. But you have to get it right. (See also On Tour)