The aspirations of JetBlue to be a travel tech company

JetBlue Airways sees itself adding a business line that is different from flying planes — namely, travel technology. During a talk last week, JetBlue’s chief digital and technology officer Eash Sundaram outlined a plan for JetBlue to refashion itself as a tech company and lifestyle brand, too. “Selling an air ticket is, by far, what airlines focus on, but if we turn ourselves into a travel tech company, we’ll have a lot more products we can offer,” said Eash Sundaram, chief digital and technology officer. In 2020, JetBlue derived only 7.5% of its $2.95b in operating revenues from non-airline revenue. It’s still mainly an airline. Sundaram said JetBlue is looking at efforts to “future-proof” its business by diversifying beyond just flights. “We look at future-proofing JetBlue in two ways,” Sundaram said. “One is, ‘Do we have products that can sustain themselves through the course of the ups and downs of the airline industry?’… People look at us as a lifestyle brand and not just an airline now.” Rather than wholly originating software or hardware, JetBlue’s approach will mainly be to co-create solutions with partners’ help.<br/>