JetBlue Airways IPOIn April 2000, JetBlue began operations at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. Even after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the company remained profitable and was growing aggressively. To support their growth and offset portfolio losses from their venture capital investors, management was prepared to raise additional capital through a public offering of shares. With representatives of co-lead manager Morgan Stanley and the board of directors of JetBlue he was trying to reach an agreement on the offering price of the new shares. The initial price range was between $22 and $24. Faced with considerable excess demand for the 5.5 million shares expected in the IPO, management had recently unveiled an increase in the offering price range from 25 for $26. The NASDAQ was ready for JBLU (the company's ticker symbol) to begin trading on the stock exchange. JetBlue Airways Former Continental Airlines vice president David Barger had agreed to become JetBlue's new president and CEO. John Owen had left his position as executive vice president and former treasurer of Southwest Airlines to serve as CFO at JetBlue. In 1999, David Neeleman announced the launch of a new airline. He had received strong support for his business plan from the venture capital community. It had quickly raised $130 million in funding from high-profile firms like Weston Presidio Capital, Chase Capital Partners, and George Soros' private financial center... and had not only raised funds under short-term capital requirements, but also maintaining the access to future capital raisings and providing positive returns to crew members and others involved in direct IPO stock purchases. Since maintaining access to capital markets was considered vital to JetBlue's aggressive growth plans, discounting the company's IPO price seemed like a reasonable concession to ensure a successful deal and generate some level of investor interest . In 2002, the U.S. economy had been stalled for nearly two years. The Federal Reserve had attempted to stimulate economic activity by reducing interest yields by 5%, short-term rates were at 2%, and the market risk premium was estimated to be 5%.