It was the first week of April 2002, barely two years since the first freshly-painted JetBlue
plane rolled out at the company’s home base at New York City’s John F. Kennedy (JFK)
Airport. JetBlue’s first years had been good ones. Despite the challenges facing the U.S. airline
industry following the aircraft terrorist attacks of September 2001, the company remained
profitable and was growing aggressively. To support their growth trajectory and offset portfolio
losses by their venture capital investors, management had accelerated the decision to raise
additional capital through a public equity offering. Exhibits 1 through 4 provides selections from
JetBlue’s initial public offering (IPO) prospectus, the name for the document required by the SEC to inform investors about the details of the equity offering.