The original airline disruptor, JetBlue, started a revolution when it launched its original Mint class service. The company positioned it as a fresh kind of experience for clients who didn’t want to pay the higher prices of competitors’ business-class and first-class seats. “It was a new take on premium travel, offering a luxury experience,” says Mariya Stoyanova, JetBlue’s director of product development. “We didn’t anticipate what type of success it would have. It became an obsession for many people.”
JetBlue is at it again with its reimagined Mint class. “We decided to do a deeper dive this time,” says Stoyanova. “We wanted the flight to be a natural progression of how people live on the ground.”
JetBlue went about the creation of Mint 2.0 differently. The airline built a mockup and invited Mint customers to try it out. “But instead of asking what they wanted and where they wanted it,” says Stoyanova, “we noticed where they were reaching to use items and store their stuff. So we designed everything from scratch, all around our customers’ use patterns.”
The designers turned every seat into a pod-like suite, with a door, reclining bed, smart storage and details like a laptop shelf, a tilting 17-inch screen, wireless charging and residential-like materials on the walls. “It can feel like your office, a dining room when you’re eating, and transitions to a bedroom,” Stoyanova says. “We designed the seat from scratch, using a memory foam mattress material.”
The Mint Studio, complete with lie-flat bed and 17-inch TV screen. JetBlue
The larger Mint studio is even more lavish, with the same reclining seat but with two tray tables, a coat-hanging area, and a “buddy seat” for other Mint customers that reclines to form a large bed. To enhance the experience, JetBlue partnered with specialty providers including Tuft & Needle, Wanderfuel and chef Ryan Hardy’s Delicious Hospitality Group, owner of Charlie Bird and Legacy Record restaurants, for onboard menus, sleeping kits and other amenities. “Delicious Hospitality Group has created a music playlist that goes with the meals,” says Stoyanova. “We’ve worked with them to develop the experience rather than just partnering with a caterers.”
Mint 2.0 is currently available on select flights between JFK and LAX on the airline’s Airbus A321neo, with 16 suites and 2 studios, while the JFK-to-London Heathrow and JFK-to-Gatwick routes on the AirbusA321 LR have 22 suites and two studios. And JetBlue’s latest disruption effort goes beyond the new digs: A roundtrip ticket to London starts at just $1,979
