JetBlue’s founder joins bid to start private jet commuter service

David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue Airways, registered a new aviation business this summer in Connecticut, sparking immediate speculation in the airline industry that he might be starting a new US airline. He is—sort of. Neeleman, 57, is joining a plan to launch a charter air enterprise, tentatively called Azura Airways, using two Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets with as few as 16 seats, said Trey Urbahn, an industry veteran and longtime adviser to Neeleman. Small jets with 50 seats or fewer have fallen out of favor among U.S. carriers, which have turned to larger regional jets and more mainline flying in recent years. The venture by Neeleman and Urbahn is targeting what they see as an underserved portion of the charter market for companies with regular movements of employees among corporate locations, university sports teams and wealthy people who don’t have private jets. “I’m not starting an airline,” Neeleman said Tuesday. “I’m helping out a couple of friends. It’s not like David Neeleman sees a great opportunity here. We’ll do a couple of planes and see how it goes.” The endeavor’s first flights could occur as soon as October, he said. The effort already has a couple of companies as customers.<br/>