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Move over Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), there's a new airline darling in town, and there seems to be little turbulence in the young company's flight plan. Upstart JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) has taken off with Wall Street's blessing. Taking the Southwest playbook of low-cost regional flights and ripping out the "no-frills" pages, JetBlue offers cozy leather seats and personalized satellite television monitors at every seat. The company reported flat earnings growth on a per-share basis, but there's more to that than meets the eye. Net income surged 36% higher, but so did the shares outstanding after the company's successful initial public offering earlier this year. The $0.33-a-share showing blew past the $0.22 mark analysts expected. Marching into new airports on its own terms, the company saw revenue nearly double for the second quarter. The big boys just can't compete with JetBlue's low fares. They have little choice but to match them, but major carriers like AMR's (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines and UAL's (NYSE: UAL) United have their overhead bins bulked up to capacity, given expensive labor contracts and high maintenance costs on their fleets. Unlike so many other industries, the airline sector is one that's clearly not blessed with the economy of scale. JetBlue went public at $27 a share in April, and the stock has always traded well above that level. While the company is bracing for a difficult third quarter, the stock traded higher today, as investors were impressed with the company's ability to generate wide profit margins in a beleaguered sector. At a time when most carriers are grounded, JetBlue keeps hitting higher and higher ground. It's the ticket to a growth story on a flight you might not want to miss.
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