Your favorite public forum will discuss the future of JetBlue and their relationship with the Long Beach Airport tonight when the monthly Beer & Politics series is held at Gallagher’s on Broadway. Speaking guests will be Councilmembers Gary DeLong (3rd District) and Tonia Reyes Uranga (7th District), along with Airport Director Mario Rodriguez. The event will begin at 7:00pm.
The forum, hosted by the Long Beach Junior Chamber, will focus on recent not-so-subtle insinuations made by JetBlue CEO Dave Barger suggesting that the airline is so fed up with the Long Beach Airport’s facilities and lack of development that he would not rule out discontinuing their relationship. Last week, Barger publicly commented that the airline has met with Long Beach Airport officials and that there are no immediate plans to leave.
The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce urged the community to join a letter-writing campaign to encourage the city of Long Beach to accommodate JetBlue, arguing that the possible loss of business would be drastic. Chamber President Randy Gordon submitted more than 400 letters to the City Council last week. The Press-Telegram‘s Paul Eakins wrote about the campaign here.
If you can’t make it to the event, it can be viewed online at beerandpolitics.org.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor
Disclosure: lbpost.com co-founder Shaun Lumachi is under contract with the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.