JetBlue Adds Lounge Access: How it Compares to Competitors |
JetBlue’s new BlueHouse lounge, now open at JFK airport, is designed as a hyper-local respite for the airline’s most loyal travelers.
BY FAST COMPANY
[Photo: JetBlue]
A new hotspot just opened in New York—and it’s in terminal 5 of John F. Kennedy International Airport. BlueHouse, a 9,000-square-foot space exclusively available to select JetBlue Airways customers, welcomed its first guests at 5 a.m. this morning as the airline’s first foray into the pitched battle for lucrative premium fliers.
Designed by Gensler, BlueHouse is a smorgasbord of New York’s iconic and eclectic design heritage. From the Art Deco elevator indicator to black-and-white deli tile on the floor and the Grand Central Terminal-inspired ceiling mural, the space screams Big Apple while staying true to JetBlue’s quirky and, well, blue heritage.
“It’s unquestionably a hip New York experience,” said Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, on a recent pre-opening tour of BlueHouse. His favorite feature is the 45 pieces of art that fill the space from artists around the city and three of the airline’s “crewmembers,” as it calls its staff, including a bespoke piece from New Yorker illustrator Matt Reuter.
BlueHouse is part of the larger premiumization trend sweeping air travel. Everyone from JetBlue to egalitarian stalwart Southwest Airlines and........