JetBlue hasn’t been profitable for a full year since 2019. They have a turnaround plan that involves pivoting away from business travelers, downsizing the airline, and cutting costs. They’ve dropped numerous routes and entire cities from their route map. But it – and expected upside from their planned United partnership – isn’t enough.
CEO Joanna Geraghty sent a memo to employees this week laying out plans for further cuts.
- Reduced flying during low demand periods, like on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and flying fewer flights in some markets.
- Dropping unprofitable routs.
- Parking 4 Airbus A320s in the desert.
- Laying off some of the airline’s leadership.
- Across the board budget cuts.
- Ironically for an airline, reducing business travel.
Here’s a copy of the memo from aviation watchdog JonNYC.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) June 17, 2025
We’re already seeing movement on the airline’s plan to cut more flying. They’re eliminating service to Miami and will only fly seasonally out of Seattle.
JetBlue appears to be suspending all Seattle (SEA) flights from end of October to end of April.
SEA-JFK was already suspended during this time but SEA-BOS has also been removed from sale.
— Ishrion Aviation (@IshrionA) June 20, 2025
JetBlue’s South Florida strength is in Fort Lauderdale. Miami is a very high cost airport, tough to generate a profit without high fares; doubly so with a leisure travel focus. American historically benefited from high costs because it kept low cost carriers away. Some have tried, but likely not profitably.
Meanwhle, Alaska and Delta will certainly be happy to see a competitor dropping off the Seattle – New York route. I wonder if this is what the Department of Justice had in mind when opposing JetBlue’s partnership with American and acquisition of Spirit? We’re getting less competition in the marketplace, even before JetBlue ties up with United and further concentrates New York.
Ha Ha Ha!
Time for jetBlue to shut down in an orderly manner, liquidate the assets and pay off the shareholders while there’s still some value left.
@ Gary — Soon UA will be first in line to buy JBLU on the cheap, while poor Timmy drowns in his tears.
Maybe David Neeleman would buy it back.
There was lots of arrogance from the pilots there in there early years. Stories of trash talking from them while the majors cut contracts, furloughed, and reduced service. Well I have to say to those JBLU people. How big a slice of humble pie can I get ya?
Time for United to purchase the new B6 A321LRs and A220s at the asset auction. What a shame…
JetBlue Airways, dba American Airlines. It’s coming. The B6/UA thing just isn’t going to happen. UA will walk away.
what a once wonderful airline like virgin America
If only they ran a good FF program but they didn’t
I really liked Mint too but the program and options sucked 🙁
Also no lounges.Who can they really appeal to?And now more than ever limited markets
Sad
Is this really a ‘jetBlue problem’ or more a ‘macroeconomic’ indicator? I’d say the latter. While I’m not pleased for the crews and workers that will inevitably be affected, I’m glad some in management may actually ‘take responsibility’ (some executives being ‘let go’), but still, again, first point, I don’t even think it’s really their fault. I like jetBlue, even in Economy, but especially in Mint. I hope they can weather this storm, because it’s nice to have them around. Like, please, let Southwest fail, keep B6.
@Creditian — David Neeleman? jetBlue founded and well-known Mormon? (It’s a niche callback to an earlier post of Gary’s where he oddly emphasized Neeleman’s Mornonism, and some here got needlessly offended, so I mocked them, because religion is a human construct, and people should lighten up.) Something, something… Xenu! Tom Cruise!
Hopefully, UAL can absorb JBLU and salvage whatever value is left of the remaining assets – primarily aircraft and Idlewild (aka JFK) slots.
How long ago were the pilots wearing their “Ready to strike” and “Pilots aren’t free” (even though they’re already handsomely paid) lanyards? The flight attendants pull the same drum-banging bs about “bringing the company to it’s knees”. Good. Let the cards fall and layoffs happen.
@CHRIS — Nah, just fire much of the overpaid, lazy management, and pay those pilots and crew more.
Gene and others continue to have wet dreams that United’s strategic failures will be saved by JBLU’s strategic failures – but only because Gene and others can’t accept that UA is still neck in neck w/ DL for the top 2 positions in NYC which does include all 3 NYC airports. Based on the latest data, DL IS the largest airline in NYC – and THAT is why Gene and others are in such a state of panic.
It isn’t the DOJ’s problem to fix UA’s stupidity in leaving NYC.
If AA couldn’t do a deal w/ B6, UA certainly can’t.
The reality is that DL will continue to grow stronger using the assets DL ALREADY has from NYC and BOS.
Even in UA decided tomorrow that it would pursue an acquisition of B6, DL would have taken advantage of every opportunity to extend its leadership in the NYC market.