JetBlue paints one of its planes to honor military vets
JetBlue says it's honoring the nation's military veterans by adding a special "Vets in Blue" paint job to one of its Airbus A320 jets.
The new paint scheme — "livery," in airline vernacular will feature a blue fuselage along with yellow ribbon on the tail. Its rollout is timed to coincide with the upcoming Veterans Day holiday, on Tuesday (Nov. 11).
"'Vets in Blue' is JetBlue's unique way to salute veterans both at our airline and in our local communities," JetBlue CEO Dave Barger says in a statement. "It is our duty to honor the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms. Our 'Vets in Blue' livery and program is a small symbol of our appreciation and support for our military service members."
The veteran-themed livery is the latest in a series of unique paint jobs to fly for JetBlue. Others include a plane painted in the colors of the New York City Fire Department and a computer-themed "Binary One" aircraft. Another — the "I Love New York" aircraft — sports New York City's iconic heart-themed tourism slogan on its tail. And there are sports-themed JetBlue planes painted in the colors of both the New York Jets and the Boston Red Sox.
As for "Vets in Blue," JetBlue will debut that livery Monday morning on a special charter flight from New York JFK to Washington's Reagan National Airport. The flight will include nearly 120 veterans who were nominated for the trip as part of JetBlue's veteran outreach efforts. JetBlue says it plans to surprise those vets with the special livery, which will mark JetBlue's official public unveiling of the design.
After the flight, the veterans will be honored at a luncheon in National Airport's historic Terminal A before being taken on personalized tours of several of Washington's monuments.
In addition, JetBlue's two pilots and four flight attendants scheduled to operate Monday's flight also will be military veterans.
"We are excited to publicly introduce our 'Vets in Blue' aircraft and pledge our ongoing support for all members of the U.S. military, whether presently serving or veterans of past service," Jeff Martin, first officer for this special charter says in JetBlue's statement. "To christen this newly decorated livery, JetBlue invited military guests spanning from Junior ROTC cadets of Aviation High School to veterans of World War II to be among the first guests on this special aircraft."
Martin works as JetBlue's SVP of operations at JetBlue and is a former U.S. Air Force pilot.
The "Vets in Blue" the aircraft name also is eponymous with JetBlue's 'Vets in Blue" veterans' initiative. JetBlue describes that effort as "a peer mentoring program for newly hired veteran crewmembers" as they "transition from military service into life at JetBlue."