By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, along with Puerto Rico Tourism Company Executive Director Carlos Mercado Santiago, Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Manuel Cidre Miranda and JetBlue Chief Operating Officer Warren Christie, announced Wednesday that the airline will establish a crew base at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
The development will have a significant impact on the local economy with the creation of over 400 jobs, the officials said.
“With more than 20 years of presence on the island, JetBlue is an integral part of the successes of our tourism industry and today we announce that it will establish a crew base in San Juan, thus expanding its footprint at our Luis Muñoz Marín Airport,” the governor said in a written statement.
The new crew base, JetBlue’s first outside the continental United States, will be ready by the end of this year and will create more than 400 new jobs, including 80 jobs in front-line positions and technical operations, with 120 pilots and 325 crew members based in San Juan.
“The airline will have a new space at the airport that it will develop in phases,” Pierluisi added. “This expansion will help create over 400 new jobs for the crew base, further diversifying its team and positioning Puerto Rico as a strategic geographical location in support of its operations.”
Mercado Santiago emphasized that the new base of operations is a milestone in the history of local air access and demonstrates the strength of the alliance between Puerto Rico and JetBlue.
“The opening of these facilities provides JetBlue with additional opportunities to expand its domestic and international flight network, while generating quality local jobs and increasing the contribution of the tourism industry to the economic development of Puerto Rico,” he said.
Cidre Miranda added that “Puerto Rico is on its way to becoming the air hub of the Caribbean, as well as the interconnection point between the north and the south.”
“This great step joins the efforts of the DDEC to turn Puerto Rico into a specialized cargo hub,” he said.”
Christie, the JetBlue COO, said the new operations base demonstrates the airline’s long-term commitment to Puerto Rico. “Expanding existing maintenance facilities on the island and establishing a pilot and crew base will increase the resilience of our operations in the region,” he said.
The first phase of the new operations base is expected to open during the final weeks of 2024, with up to 120 pilots and 325 crew members to serve flights that begin and end in San Juan, thus improving the passenger experience, the officials noted.
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