The City of Tallahassee is pushing to provide air service to South Florida with their GetBlue campaign.
Florida State University has joined in by adding a $1 million pledge based on calculated travel expenses for their staff.
With this pledge from FSU, in the eyes of some supporters, the deal is as good as done. But as of now city officials are hesitant to confirm anything.
FSU President John Thrasher feels that the change is required and would be a great achievement.
"I hope it's a very positive thing. Obviously, we know–all who work and live here–that more air transportation is needed," Thrasher said. "To get (JetBlue) here would be a phenomenal thing. We researched our use of airlines and came up with a number that we think is a very viable number."
South Florida is an area of high interest to locals since 13,000 South Florida residents attend FSU, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College.
Lonnie Johnson, third-year FAMU criminal justice student from Fort Lauderdale, is fond of the idea because it would help him get to visit his family easily.
"I think it's a great idea," Johnson said. "It's challenging living so far from home and having limited abilities to visit my mom … If this was able to happen I could make it home in two hours instead of six to eight."
JetBlue carries more than 32 million passengers a year to 90 cities in the United States, Caribbean and Latin America. There is an average of 875 daily flights, the airline reports. The airline increased its Florida presence by adding more flights from Fort Lauderdale to Albany, New York and Orlando. Daytona Beach was added in the last month.
Tallahassee resident Rodger Smith hopes JetBlue comes to Tallahassee because they offer great service, and it could lead to more flights coming to Tallahassee.
"I recently took a flight using JetBlue out of Orlando to Chicago and it was a great flight. Huge planes, great service and cable television for each seat, I am sold on JetBlue," Smith said. "With Tallahassee becoming an international airport, if this works out other airline carriers might want to come as well."
If you would like to help contribute to this cause visit getBlueTallahassee.com and estimate how much you would spend flying to Fort Lauderdale if JetBlue flew out of Tallahassee.