It is a bad sign for any airline like JetBlue (JBLU) when the government hits you with multi-million dollar fines for chronic lateness. It is another when passengers describe being “kicked to the street like dogs.” But when your planes find human corpses in the wheel well, something is very, seriously, wrong. That is what happened to JetBlue, and investors sold off rapidly, sending shares down over 3% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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A report from USA Today detailed the grisly findings: a JetBlue flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport heading for Fort Lauderdale, Florida arrived at its destination seemingly without incident. But when a standard post-flight maintenance check took place, the report noted, two human bodies were found in the wheel well.
This, interestingly enough, comes just weeks after a similar body was found, on Christmas Eve, in the wheel well of a United Airlines (UAL) flight heading to Hawaii. Stowaways are not inherently new, but the report also noted that it was “…not immediately clear how the two people ended up in the landing gear.”
All This and a Winter Sale
In an odd, and some might say downright macabre, twist, JetBlue just hours ago announced plans via Boston25 for an “eight-day winter sale,” that featured some flights out of Boston for as little as $50. JetBlue calls it the “Big Winter Sale,” and it will run until January 14.
In downright unfortunate language, JetBlue promised the deal would allow customers to “…squeeze in a winter escape for ski season,” or possibly “…kick-start their spring travel plans with friends and family.” Indeed, several inexpensive flights to southern destinations are on hand; JetBlue promises a flight from Boston to Charleston, South Carolina, for just $59, while a flight to Fort Lauderdale is available at the same price.
Is JetBlue a Buy, Sell or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on JBLU stock based on one Buy, seven Holds, and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 29.34% rally in its share price over the past year, the average JBLU price target of $6.51 per share implies 12.26% downside risk.
