Good morning, everyone, welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of JetBlue Airways Corporation. It is 9:00 A.M. on Thursday, May 14th, 2026. I am Eileen McCarthy, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of JetBlue. On behalf of our directors, officers, and crew members, I thank you for attending our annual meeting. We are pleased to be hosting a virtual meeting this morning and welcome all of you attending. Now, I would like to welcome the directors of the company who are joining us today. All 13 of our current board members are standing for re-election. I'd also like to thank the members of our leadership team who are participating today and recognize JetBlue crew members attending online as stockholders.
Also in attendance with us today are representatives from Ernst & Young, JetBlue's independent auditors, Dennis Glazer, counsel to our Board of Directors, and Ning Chiu from Davis Polk, JetBlue's external legal counsel. I'd like to remind you that statements made today which are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. They reflect management's current expectations or beliefs. Future results could differ materially from those in this presentation, depending on many risk factors, some beyond our control, including, but not limited to those presented in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q and other public statements made by the company and filings made with the SEC. Other than as required by law, the company disclaims any obligation to revise forward-looking statements made today based on future events or information.
I now call the JetBlue Airways Corporation Annual Meeting of Stockholders to order. We will proceed with the formal business of the meeting as set forth in your Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement. Following the presentation of each of the proposals, there will be an opportunity for discussion of each of those items. All stockholders of record as of March 20, 2026 were able to submit questions prior to the meeting and are able to continue to submit questions at any time during this meeting at virtualshareholdermeeting.com/jblu2026. If you have a question regarding a specific proposal, please submit your question now and select the related proposal as the question topic. These questions will be addressed following the introduction of the applicable proposal. We will answer any other questions that conform to the rules of conduct for the meeting during the Q&A session as time permits.
We have provided stockholders with a notice of Internet availability of our proxy materials, including information on how to access our proxy statement and annual report. Copies of these documents are available to any stockholder. Instructions on how to access the proxy materials electronically or to request a printed copy may be found in the notice. The agenda for today's meeting and the rules of conduct of the meeting are posted on the annual meeting webpage. Let us turn to the official business of the 2026 annual meeting. Our Board of Directors adopted resolutions providing for the virtual meeting to be held at this time and place, directing that notice be given as provided in the bylaws, and fixing March 20, 2026 as the record date for determining which stockholders are entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting.
On or about April 2nd, 2026, JetBlue stockholders as of the record date were sent notice of the annual meeting, seeing the time and location of the meeting with the Internet address to participate virtually and the meeting purpose, along with a proxy statement and the board's recommendations with respect to each proposal to be voted on. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting has been available for inspection for at least the past 10 days at the company's Long Island City Support Center.
Tracy Oats, who has been designated to act as Inspector of Election and has filed with me her oath as Inspector of Election, has advised me that of the 372,018,894 shares of common stock outstanding on the record date and entitled to vote at this meeting, a majority is present in person or by proxy. I am pleased to announce that a quorum for this meeting is present. The virtual meeting, therefore, has been duly called and lawfully convened, a quorum of stockholders is present. A copy of the notice, the proxy statement, and the form of proxies, as well as an affidavit of distribution of Broadridge Financial Solutions, shall be made part of the record of this meeting. There are no stockholder nominations or proposals for business properly filed with me as the corporate secretary.
The polls for voting on all matters before the meeting are hereby opened at this time, 9:05 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, May 14, 2026. Any stockholder of record for this meeting may vote at this time. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the company, I would like to express my appreciation to all stockholders who returned their proxies. You may now vote at any time until the polls are closed. If you have previously provided your proxy card or voted online, your shares will be voted accordingly, and you do not need to do anything further at this time. If you wish to change your vote, you may do so now. Proposal 1 . The first item of business is the election of directors to serve until the 2027 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until such time as their successors are duly elected and qualified.
The nominees are Peter Boneparth, Monte Ford, Joanna Geraghty, Ellen Jewett, Robert Leduc, Jesse Lynn, Sean Menke, Teri McClure, Steven Miller, Nik Mittal, Sarah Robb O'Hagan, Vivek Sharma, and Thomas Winkelmann. No other persons other than those named in the proxy materials and the proxy card have been nominated in accordance with the company's bylaws. We have not received any questions about Proposal 1. The second item of business is the approval on an advisory basis of the compensation of our named executive officers as described in the proxy statement. We have not received any questions about Proposal 2. Proposal 3. The third item of business is the ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. We have not received any questions on Proposal 3. Proposal 4.
The fourth item of business is the approval of an amendment to the JetBlue Airways Corporation 2020 Crewmember Stock Purchase Plan to increase the number of shares of company common stock authorized for issuance by 20 million shares. We have not received any questions on proposal 4. This concludes the introduction and discussion of the proposals for this meeting. The vote is being taken on the foregoing four matters presented at this meeting. If there are any stockholders attending the meeting who have not already submitted a proxy and wish to vote their shares, you may do so now by clicking on the Vote Here button on your screen. The master ballot is being cast by the proxy holders. Ms. Hurley has provided me with the master ballot, which was cast by the proxy holders. Please note this is the last call for votes.
We will pause a few minutes before closing the polls. The polls for voting on the matters presented for a vote at this meeting are hereby closed at this time, 9:08 Eastern Daylight Time, May 14th, 2026. I have received the inspector's preliminary report. The preliminary report is as follows: For proposal 1, each director nominee received the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast. Proposals 2, 3, and 4 each received the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the stock having voting power present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting. Accordingly, each director nominee has been elected and each of proposals 2, 3, and 4 have been approved. Excuse me.
We expect to report our final voting results on each of the four proposals on a current report on Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC. Over to you, Joanna.
Thank you, Eileen. I'm Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's CEO. The inspector's preliminary report is accepted as presented. Ms. McCarthy, please safeguard the ballots, proxies, the inspector's oath, and inspector's report and maintain them among the records of the company. There being no further business, the annual meeting is now adjourned. Thank you to all of our stockholders for joining us today. I'd like to start by thanking our more than 23,000 crew members for their continued dedication. Their focus on delivering safe, reliable service is what drives our progress forward every day. As we discussed during our first quarter earnings call, we are making strong progress on JetForward, our long-term strategic transformation, while actively managing through a more volatile near-term environment. Importantly, we are seeing clear proof points that JetForward is working.
Last year, we delivered approximately $305 million of incremental EBIT from JetForward, and we expect to deliver another $310 million this year. We remain on track to achieve $850 million-$950 million next year. Across our four priority moves, we are strengthening the business and building a more durable path to profitability. With regard to our reliable and caring service priority move, operational performance continues to improve, with Net Promoter Score up 17 points over the last two years and back at the top of the industry, a direct reflection of our focus on reliability and execution. In our network priority move, flying the best East Coast leisure network, we've redeployed over 20% of our prior network. These changes are in their second year of ramp and are performing in line with expectations.
Notably, through all of this change, we've regained our leadership position in Fort Lauderdale, where we've expanded our network of destinations, added frequencies and high demand routes, and doubled potential connection opportunities. While our network focuses on the East Coast, our Blue Sky collaboration with United is continuing to expand the reach and utility of our product. Through our investments in products and perks customers value, we are seeing strong momentum across premium and loyalty. We've enhanced our EvenMore offering, launched a premium co-brand credit card, and opened our first BlueHouse lounge at JFK. Mint also continues to perform exceptionally well. Later this year, we expect to begin introducing domestic first class, one of the most transformational initiatives in JetForward, as well as opening our second BlueHouse in Boston.
On securing our financial future, we remain disciplined with a strong track record on cost control and a clear focus on improving the underlying economics of the business. Turning briefly to the near-term environment, fuel has been a meaningful headwind, but demand remains resilient, and we are taking decisive actions across capacity, revenue, and costs to mitigate the impact of this volatile backdrop. Importantly, these are external pressures that do not change the great progress of JetForward. We ended the first quarter with strong liquidity and a robust unencumbered asset base of over $6 billion to provide JetForward the runway to continue to perform. To close, we are encouraged by the resilience of demand and are pleased with the momentum we are seeing across JetForward.
We have the right plan, we are executing against it, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver sustained value to our shareholders over time. Thank you again for your continued support. Now back to Eileen for our question-and-answer period.
Thank you, Joanna. At this time, we are happy to take questions from our stockholders. As indicated previously, if you have logged into the meeting and wish to ask a question, you may do so by typing your question into the box at the bottom of your screen. We have received a question about employment opportunities for our shareholders. Joanna?
Thank you for the question. We are very pleased that there is interest from our shareholders in applying for job opportunities at JetBlue. All of our open positions are posted on careers.jetblue.com.
Thank you, Joanna. We received a question regarding our stock performance. Ursula, I'll turn it over to you.
Thank you, Eileen. We remain focused on executing our JetForward strategy to get us back to sustained profitability, which is the first step in our three financial priorities. This requires improvement to fuel prices and some stability in the macro environment. From there, we expect to generate positive free cash flow supported by less than $1 billion per year in annual CapEx through the end of this decade. With that cash, we can pay down debt and begin to de-lever our balance sheet. Over time, we believe these actions will support long-term shareholder value, including our stock performance.
Thank you, Ursula. We received a question about increasing executive compensation in light of our recent financial performance. Joanna?
Thank you for the question. Total compensation in 2025 actually went down year-over-year for me, our CEO, and several of our named executive officers, reflective of our compensation programs designed to align with performance, which we recognize has been challenged. In addition to the overall reduction, our executive compensation program is designed so that a large portion of the target pay that is published in the proxy is at risk. Meaning in order for our named executive officers to actually receive this pay, they must meet certain financial and operational goals tied to JetBlue's performance and long-term success.
In 2025, 86% of CEO target compensation and 78% of our other named executive officers' target compensation was, quote, "at risk." Finally, since 2020, the current realizable value of the long-term incentive awards has actually declined materially along our stock price, and payouts have been below target for those performance shares. Overall, we believe our compensation program appropriately aligns executive pay with shareholder interests, supports long-term performance, and also helps us retain and motivate experienced leaders to guide the company forward.
Thank you, Joanna. We've received a question about buying Spirit Airlines.
Thank you for the question. Following our earnings announcement and Spirit Airlines' announcement to cease operations, we moved quickly to further strengthen our presence in South Florida. We've announced 11 new destinations from Fort Lauderdale, along with increased frequencies on existing routes beginning as early as July. We are very encouraged by the strong performance we're seeing in Fort Lauderdale, where RASM increased 5%, despite a 23% increase in capacity year-over-year in quarter one, a clear sign of the strength and resilience of demand in the Fort Lauderdale market. We see a significant long-term opportunity to continue building meaningful scale in Fort Lauderdale. As this new service ramps up, we expect to operate nearly 130 departures from the airport, positioning us to achieve upwards of 40% market share in Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale remains a key strategic focus for JetBlue, and we are very excited to continue investing in the market with more destinations, more frequencies, and more value for customers.
Thank you, Joanna. We have a question about whether we're going to be flying to Indianapolis.
Thank you for the question. The good news is, beginning on November second, we will be operating a daily flight between Fort Lauderdale and Indianapolis, so we're very pleased to be able to deliver that for you.
Okay. Thank you.
I will now turn it back to Eileen for closing remarks.
Thank you to all of our stockholders for your questions and engagement. That completes the question-and-answer period. Thank you all for attending the JetBlue 2026 annual meeting and for your continued support. We look forward to hearing from you next year.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.