JetBlue Releases its Annual Environmental, Social and Governance Report

NEW YORK, April 27, 2018 /3BL Media/ – JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) this week released its 2017 environmental, social and governance (ESG) report outlining the airline’s long-term environmental strategy and labor and safety performance, among other topics.  This year’s report was developed with investors in mind and produced according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards for the airline industry and recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

“Investors are expressing the need for comparable environmental, social governance information across a sector.” said Sophia Mendelsohn, head of sustainability, JetBlue. “Our report is drafted according to industry-specific standards and focuses on how JetBlue is positioned to maximize opportunities and minimize risk from environmental and social issues.”

Highlights from this year’s ESG report include:

• Climate risk – One third of JetBlue’s network is in the Caribbean and Latin America. Despite the inevitable impact from cancelled flights during the active 2017 hurricane season, JetBlue’s response to the hurricanes demonstrated its ability to manage near-term extreme weather events and proved the airline is well positioned to deal with the impacts of a changing climate.
• Safety – Safety is JetBlue’s number one value and a critical element of its competitive advantage. In 2017, the FAA found zero areas of concern during its extensive SMS Approval audit. Additionally, JetBlue successfully completed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), allowing the airline to maintain and expand revenue-generating codeshare and interline agreements with partner airlines.
• Labor – Crewmember Relations continues to be a major part of JetBlue’s award-winning service, culture and brand. JetBlue remains committed to the direct relationship and providing policies that support all crewmembers.

“We focus on transparency with our investors, customers and crewmembers,” said Mendelsohn. “JetBlue recognizes the importance of voluntarily disclosing climate-related risks and opportunities. Adopting rigorous standards are an important step in preparing for the long-term.”

Last year, JetBlue became the first airline and one of the first U.S. publicly traded companies to incorporate SASB disclosures in its ESG reporting. JetBlue is also among the first companies to introduce voluntary climate-related disclosures recommended by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In 2017, JetBlue joined more than 100 other companies and business leaders to publicly commit support for the recommendations of the TCFD.

SASB maintains standards for the disclosure of material sustainability information to investors. SASB standards, available in provisional form for 79 industries including airlines, identify material sustainability factors that are likely to impact financial performance.

The TCFD recommendations seek to improve market understanding and analysis of climate-related risks and opportunities by developing disclosure recommendations that are useful to stakeholders in understanding material risks. Recommendations are focused on four areas that represent how companies operate: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. These areas reflect the types of information investors expressed are most important to their needs.

JetBlue’s Commitment to Environment and Social Issues – JetBlue For Good^® is JetBlue’s platform for social impact and corporate responsibility. Giving back is part of JetBlue’s DNA and is core to its mission of inspiring humanity^®. Centered around volunteerism and service, JetBlue For Good focuses on the areas that are most important to the airline’s customers and crewmembers - community, youth/education and the environment.

JetBlue depends on natural resources and a healthy environment to keep its business running smoothly. The airline focuses on issues that have the potential to impact its business.

For more on JetBlue’s environmental strategy visit www.jetblue.com/green and for JetBlue For Good visit www.jetblueforgood.com.

ABOUT JETBLUE

JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline®, and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood, Los Angeles (Long Beach), Orlando, and San Juan. JetBlue carries more than 40 million customers a year to 101 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America with an average of 1,000 daily flights. For more information please visit www.jetblue.com.