JetBlue is struggling financially. The government shut down their two main plays to grow – partnering with American Airlines, and buying Spirit – though they were overpaying for Spirit and the strategic rationale for the acquisition simply no longer made sense without the Airlines Airlines partnership (which provided an opportunity to grow in New York and Boston, for which they needed planes and pilots).
They have Carl Icahn breathing down their neck. Their new CEO needs a turnaround plan. So far they’re raising fees. They clearly need to cut money-losing flying, but that’s not going to be enough.
- Their West Coast operation performs poorly
- Their transatlantic flying has been weak
- Their brand has eroded, as a result of on-time performance at the bottom of the industry and an erosion of their inflight product over the past 15 years, reducing the differentiation between them and competitors (although still offering a bit more legroom, seat back TVs, and free Wifi).
Aviation watchdog JonNYC says that the network is going to see changes – cuts to unprofitable flying – and we’re days away from a reveal that scales back Los Angeles. He first teased that as the plan last month:
B6: rumor,
"JetBlue will be making a network announcement in the next week or so
It’ll be cuts to the network that they are still flying in anticipation of the spirit merger
But since that’s off the table now they won’t be hanging onto them any longer"— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) February 13, 2024
“Are you hearing about any specific markets or regions for B6? I’m hearing they’re gonna pull back on the west coast. Going from LGB to LAX has been a disaster”
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) February 23, 2024
Now he reports that it is happening:
definitely feels like Jetblue's west coast operations will take a hit when the cuts are announced this week.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) March 18, 2024
It makes sense for JetBlue to fly to Los Angeles from New York, Boston and perhaps Fort Lauderdale. But their LAX operation has been bleeding beyond that. Their other flying includes Los Angeles to:
- Las Vegas
- San Francisco
- Salt Lake City
- Miami
- Orlando
- Reno
- Los Cabos
- Liberia, Costa Rica
- Buffalo
- West Palm Beach
- Nassau
JetBlue needs to build back Boston. They’ve allowed Delta to grow as they focused on New York during the time of their American Airlines partnership. They should clearly re-engage American Airlines on a partnership, pull back from the West Coast, and focus on the Northeast – a return to their roots.
The West Coast has long been a potential market for JetBlue. They bid against Alaska for Virgin America and considered trying to buy Alaska itself. On their own they lack scale, and routes are pretty picked over.
The big question is how much JetBlue will pull down Los Angeles, and whether it’s enough for someone else to get some of their gates at the airport?
I know B6 has tried to buy AS in the past, but B6 is horribly mismanaged. Rather than trying to buy HA, Alaska should wait out the last days of the Biden admin (and Lena Khan) and try to buy JetBlue once after the likely (if the polls mean anything) Trump victory in a few months.
Of course, they’re never going to do that because of:
– The breakup fee from cancelling a potential HA/AS deal
– Their religious-level zeal for only flying Boeing
– Their new best friend, American Airlines
– Potential transpac travel opportunities unlocked with HA’s 787s.
A more likely scenario is as follows:
Alaska becomes something like WestJet, with a competitive business product on transoceanic routes. I would expect that AS would mainly focus on TPAC travel rather than the TATL that WS is doing. Maybe they’ll even join the JV with JL and AA.
What about JetBlue? I doubt they’ll exist in ten years. Rather, I expect AA to try to pick them up during the next Republican administration. Lots of upside for AA.
A left-field opportunity would be a UA acquisition of B6. UA does very well on its international travel, but it’s less useful domestically for many travelers (in part because of its inconvenient hubs on the east coast, IAD and EWR). UA is looking for a way to get out of its 737Max order right now, and has clearly realized it made the wrong fleet decision.r
JetBlue should drop a lot of intra-West Coast routes and instead scale up in Salt Lake City and compete against Delta in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest by going after Minneapolis and Detroit, where Delta dominates. They need to elevate their domestic product by offering a true domestic first on routes without Mint. Go all-in on Florida, Texas and the other Sun Belt destinations, which are booming.
LAX is far too competitive and Jetblue isn’t anywhere near the size they need to be to justify a more strategic presence here (like Delta).
As per DoT filings they planned to grow LAX and fly to Hawaii had the merger occurred, so say bye bye to those plans.
Good move IMO but they should plug the gap by codesharing with American and Alaska.
jetBlue has certainly Lost their Way in terms of Who they are as an Airline and where they want to fly. Attempted Merger with SPIRIT was foolish from its inception….two vastly different business models that resembled mixing oil and water. The Northeast Alliance with AA seemed like it had potential but then somewhere along the way they mucked it up. jetBlue operating TransAtlantic flights will face serious headwinds because without their ‘inclusion’ into one of the Alliances there is only so much they can do before one, two or all three of the Alliances go nuclear and crush their business plan by deploying bigger aircraft to make JB a non factor. jetBlue has some serious issues as a stand alone carrier and cute inflight snacks and seatback videos will not prove to be what keeps them chugging along. jetBlue’s biggest concern is they are too big to be acquired by one of the Big Three, operationally a misfit with Southwest and Alaska has no interest in them. jetBlue and FRONTIER would be interesting with a Denver operation but would face DOJ objections just like it faced with SPIRIT and would be a lot of work to change in hindsight. Their biggest hurdle is to figure out Who the hell they are as an airline.
Gary..why not just wait for actual news…whatever it is.
Did you get fired from B6? Were you a pilot? FA..management? What is your deal with JetBlue?
@Gary..Perhaps FLL… do you have load factors? Jetblue flies 4X daily… Mint is almost always sold out and load factors seem very high. The word perhaps in front of FLL shows you are a clueless man who finds posts on twitter and re-posts them on this site with whatever trash falls into your brain.
B6’s biggest problem at the moment is that posterior clown Icahn. You’d think he’d have learned his lesson with TWA.
I appreciate hearing the rumour . I live in LA and have a ton of points,
Do you think LAX—JFk will remain?
With all due respect, Mr. Leff, you’ve been the CEO of how many airlines? I bow to your knowledge of credit cards, points, etc. but your qualifications to run an airline don’t seem to be quite as apparent.
Cut LAX to just JFK and BOS (and possibly EWR and FLL). Then try to get a AS/AA like deal with American. The judge seemed to indicate that type of arrangement would pass muster. It’s really their only hope.
Tim Dunn complains about Gary’s coverage of Delta. DesertGhost asks why Gary wants AA to be liquidated. And SMR complains about Gary’s coverage of JetBlue. Seems like Gary is against ALL airlines!
Thanks for the article. I actually liked it, The trolls are out in force.
@Tim he’s the worst reporter on here. Arrogant garbage that doesn’t care about how his speculation posts could affect those (whether it’s news or not) that may be based in the west coast. No one should have to deal with CNN/FOX style garbage on a points and miles site.
Their power play that resulted in them leaving LGB was a monumentally arrogant and stupid decision. They basically had their own hub airport and gave it up because of their hissy fit about an international terminal, and then never ended up expanding anything (let alone international flights) at Ontario like they promised. LAX is a garbage airport and they lost anyone that cared to fly with them because the whole reason of flying out of a place like LGB is the convenience of not going to LAX.
I hate them for their idiocy because all my points are basically worthless since they no longer fly anywhere interesting out of the region and LAX is a dumpster fire that’s not worth using
Jetblue has a daily flight from Los Angeles to Hartford, Connecticut during the summer months. I’m sure those flights are packed to the gills (LOL).
I wish they would reconsider merging with Spirit. We need help
As a former pilot there, it’s obvious the company is in trouble! They are in the red with their debt and needed that merger with Spirit to go through…..which it didn’t. Maybe they will try again when a new administration is in office later this year?
SWA should acquire B6 to diversify its fleet and expand in the northeast and to Europe. Also SWA should adopt assigned seating and polish up
service.
I’ve always wondered why JetBlue didn’t try to build up more in DC. The LCCs seem to find it pretty lucrative out of DCA and BWI, and a lot of people would prefer JetBlue. And IAD has the A/B terminal empty half the day. Not to mention that it would be handy to cultivate the Congress people and bureaucrats. Make them all elites for free like the other airlines do!
It is the beginning of the end of JetBlue. The West Coast operation never really made much sense, specifically the shift from LGB to LAX, where, at LAX, there is so much competition and plenty of overlap with many of B6’s markets there. B6 is an East Coast carrier and brand recognition on the West Coast likely never took off. The TATL network is also said to be performing very poorly. It made money in peak summer but year-round, the planes are too premium heavy and there is so much competition on all the markets B6 flies to. Wouldn’t surprise if they company ends up being broken up, sold off, where its parts are worth more than the whole, particularly given pilot and aircraft shortages. The winners ought to be AA, UA, and possibly WN.
@Arthur JetBlue was forced to give up routes when they moved to DCA. I guess it’s all tightly controlled. It was painful for me because LGBIAD was the only direct flight out of SoCal to DC at the time not out of LAX
@Atiya I don’t even think Breeze fills their A220s on that flight
JetBlue should drop California completely. It’s not worth the regulatory headaches. Let JetBlue be the East Coast powerhouse with flights to the Caribbean, Central America, and select cities like Salt Lake and Las Vegas.
Some say airlines never succeed by cutting routes and getting smaller. I disagree because airlines usually don’t succeed no matter what they do. Big Airlines have not been long term profitable business for which shareholders benefit over the long run. There are a few European low cost carriers who do ok, though.
JetBlue should cut 20% of their routes. Then they’ll have extra pilots, flight attendants, ground personnel, and extra planes to deal with their operational issues and they can get rid of some.
B6 has tried to chase a million side hustles besides their core operation, none of the side hustles have worked, and their core operation is in shambles. It doesn’t take a watchdog to figure out that the fluff will get culled.
Joanna came in to clean house and run an airline instead of chasing dreams; she clearly was not allowed to do that under Robin. Icahn’s presence just accelerates what she was going to do.
B6 has no name recognition on the west coast. They tried to acquire Virgin America, not Alaska, and lost to Alaska. Their point to point routes within the west don’t work against much larger competitors.
DL is the largest airline at LAX because AA wholesale walked away from large parts of its intra-west network and entered a codeshare with AS. AA lost many corporate contracts including many of the major Hollywood studio contracts.
It makes no sense for B6 to trade competing against multiple airlines at LAX to competing with one – DL – at SLC given that DL has cleaned B6′ clock in the NE.
the best thing B6 can do is stop flying money-losing flights, use the “spare” aircraft time to build backup capacity into the schedule so they can run their core operation better, and then be able to compete.
They can try to do a non-JV deal w/ AA but cannot swap slots in large measure w/o the DOJ requiring some be divested to other low cost/ULCCs.
B6 hasn’t succeeded at flooding BOS w/ capacity to try to keep DL out; they won’t succeed trying to regain share. They made a strategic mistake in chasing a million dragons.
Their best future is to find airports where there is growth potential which legacy carriers don’t care about and to run their core operation better.
I have flown JetBlue a bit more since they offered status matches to Delta elites, but still use Delta as my primary carrier. A few thoughts
1) JetBlue Mint on longer transcons appear to be successful – someone correct me if I am wrong. Isn’t a lot of their “West Coast” exposure just Mint flights from LAX, SAN, SFO, etc to JFK and BOS? I would also imagine FLL and maybe even MIA would be profitable Mint routes from LAX given the premium travel between the two markets
2) On the other hand, outside of Florida, JetBlue really lacks frequency on a lot of shorter routes. I have found that I am better off with Delta if I need a flight with a specific departure time. Redeploying some of the shorter West Coast hops back to the East, where they can increase frequency, may make sense
@Tim Dunn
AA did not lose Hollywood contracts left and right.
They have longstanding, historically deep ties to the entertainment industry and that cannot be broken.
If you know anyone in the industry, the vast, vast majority of people opt to fly for American Airlines whenever possible. Yes some do opt for JetBlue or Delta (the latter probably due to Atlanta) but that’s rare.
Alaska took over many of the LAX routes AA cut, and no one is losing big corporate contracts by cutting a frequency to Denver.
AA is simply no longer the largest contractor for Hollywood studios anymore.
You want to live in a world which no longer exists.
AA is now chasing small cities with regional jets.
Delta is the largest airline at LAX and carries the most people. Your perception of who flies what doesn’t matter and isn’t supported by data.
JB used to be an excellent east coast airline.
Robin with his Wall Street first approach ruined it possibly beyond repair.
@ Tim Dunn,
“DL is the largest airline at LAX because AA wholesale walked away from large parts of its intra-west network and entered a codeshare with AS. AA lost many corporate contracts including many of the major Hollywood studio contracts.”
Some good points regarding B6 at LAX, but the above is simply incorrect and conveniently forgets the billions DL is sinking into making its LAX operation and customer experience stronger. No doubt DL is investing for the long haul but at what cost?
You’re not correct in saying AA “walked away” from its intra-West network. It really didn’t have that large of one to begin with and much of what it ceded, was picked up via code share through AS. The entertainment industry remains a huge customer to AA, partly due to First Class on some transcons (though that is going away, we know), but also deep roots and ties. DL has made inroads on the ATL stuff, which makes sense, but you’re making it sound like DL pushed AA off the map in LA, and that’s simply not true. No one really owns LAX. It is a fragmented market, with ebbs and flows, and AA is also upgrading its terminal facility, which has temporarily reduced gate availability. DL is strongest at bringing people to LAX, but not necessarily flying them from LAX in terms of point of sale flows. AA has largely been a combination of the two, with a slight skew toward LAX point of sale.
DL gained the upper hand in the Northeast because it built a larger network than B6, runs it better (B6 is an operational mess) and its FF base and credit card portfolio far outstrips B6.
Good for them
none of what you said, ghost, changes that Delta is the largest airline at LAX, AA walked away from dozens of routes, signed a codeshare agreement with AS which is not a JV – because US carriers cannot have JVs with other domestic airlines, and DL now carries the majority of Hollywood contracts – and LAX-AKL started on DL precisely for that reason – on top of DL’s position in LAX-ATL, a major Hollywood route.
AA has lost billions in corporate revenue across its system. Regardless of whether some accept that has impacted its Hollywood contracts or not, AA is no longer the largest airline for Hollywood studios. Just as is true w/ most corporate contracts, each of the big 3 end up w/ some of the business. DL just happens to now have the most, just as is true nationwide for all corporations.
B6 has never succeeded at gaining the corporate business which the big 3 feed on and doesn’t win on price – so it is stuck in between w/ poor finances
JetBlue flies a seasonal redeye between JFK and PSP (Palm Springs CA). I would love to utilize that for a nice long weekend in NYC. But, I won’t because they use a crappy old aircraft that doesn’t have their Mint service, for a long redeye flight. Ridiculous, especially given that PSP is a resort destination where every airline’s first class always sells out completely weeks before the flight. If I’m going to fly a 5+ hours flight, especially a redeye, it better have a lie-flat seat! Sorry, JetBlue, you shoot yourself in the foot on that one.
Setuo for a merger with Alaska Airlines.
Well damn….We got flights to Vegas later this year…
Tim – why does DAL seem intimidated by JBU?
JetBlue offers lie-flat premium trancon, DAL copies.
JetBlue offers in-seat entertainment on most aircraft, DAL copies.
JetBlue offers free WiFi, DAL copies.
JetBlue announces LGW service, DAL copies.
The imitation that DAL does goes all the way back to Song and it begs to wonder if DAL is really an innovator or an imitator.
No doubt B6 has stumbled, but you can’t say they aren’t innovators considering DAL today is basically JetBlue on steroids … and on time.
Delta was flying transcon lie flats long before JBLU came along…. they used and still use widebodies just as Pan Am did.
Delta flew to Gatwick long before B6 was born.
Like many other companies, Delta doesn’t have to invent every strategy but they perfect them.
DL does well because it does what B6 promises.
I think Buffalo might survive. Its goal is to serve people in WNY and Canada, not the LA passengers. As others mentioned, B6 has better name recognition in the northeast. In the past, BUF-LAX was an opportunity to use an aircraft that would otherwise sit idle in BUF by flying to BUF in the evening and back as a red eye in time for the morning runs to JFK or FL.
Tim, you literally have no evidence for your claims.
Touch some grass and talk to people in the industry. Nearly everyone still flies AA
first,
A220,
read the September quarter earnings call transcript from Delta.
They specifically addressed the strikes which were going on at the time at the automakers and in Hollywood.
DAL execs specifically said that they are the largest carrier for contract revenue for both of those industries.
Yes, I do know what I am talking about.
You live in a world which no longer exists.
You have all over the board today – bragging about all of the places on the internet where I no longer am, telling me I am wrong, and then apologizing because you placed a comment in the wrong place.
Take a break, young man.
AA will be fine. I am going nowhere.
We can pick up tomorrow.
B6 is not merging w/ anyone; they will shrink in order to get their operation back on track. AA will not pick up their share that they give up in LAX because they don’t fly the routes that B6 will abandon.
I did place a comment in the wrong place and confessed to my mistake. I’m not some stubborn that and apologise if you somehow felt offended by a misplaced comment.
DAL did not say they were the largest carrier by revenue in the entertainment industry, they just said they were “very big.” Another Tim Dunn lie.
I never said B6 will merge with anyone nor should they, but sure strawman all you want atl100million.
They did say they are the largest carrier in that industry.
the AA fankids said for years that AA had first class because the entertainment industry demanded it but AA is getting rid of the A321Ts and FC on the 777Ws, AA has lost corporate share all over the US and DL is still the largest airline at LAX – but you can’t admit that DL has indeed taken over from AA in yet another hub.
You do realize that AA had more slots at JFK and was the largest carrier in NYC as late as 2004?
Same for BOS.
But the point is still the same. You live in a world which no longer exists whether it includes your perception of market size and carrier rank or who plays where on the internet.
I’m sorry to break the news to you but AA is chasing small markets with RJs now. Being a major competitor for corporate contracts in large markets is not what it succeeds at and it isn’t chasing that market.
None of which changes that B6 will pull back at LAX; presumably AA will have room to expand?
I really think Tim Dunn is a chat bot used by the boarding area to get more comments so the boarding area can charge more for ad space based on the amount of clicks and comments
Quick 20-year history of airline mergers:
’05: USAIR & America West: Approved.
’08: Frontier & Republic: Approved.
’08: Southwest & ATA: Approved.
’10: United & Continental: Approved.
’10: Delta & Northwest: Approved.
’11: Southwest & Airtran: Approved.
’13: American & USAIR: Approved
’18: Alaska & VA: Approved
’24: JetBlue & Spirit: DENIED
Wait, what?!?! At this point — just NOW, after the last 8 massive mergers – the government wants to put the brakes on & stop airline mergers? What – because B6 will be too big, and the flying public won’t have access to cheap tickets anymore?
There are no cheap tickets on any of these airlines either:
AA: 952 aircraft fleet
DAL: 947 aircraft
UAL: 924 aircraft
SWA: 814 aircraft (ok, some cheap tix on SWA)
No cheap tickets on Delta, American, and none on United either…. because this same government allowed all the above mega-size mergers to happen. Facts. Just facts.
B6: 286 aircraft. Small carrier. (Spirit has 201 aircraft, just fyi).
Tickets sold in on B6 in three distinct ‘fare families’ — cheapest one being Blue Basic, just like Spirit. Cheap tickets on sale at JetBlue. Been doin’ it. Still doin’ it. Thanks for nothing u.s. govt. Hit those brakes
jetBlue
Always trying to be different.
What a joke!
I hope that the JetBlue flight between LAX and BUF survives even if the price goes up. I will be disappointed and physically hurting if I have to go back to flying on the agony of United and Delta.
Gary–your headline is a little misleading in that ir implies that Jet Blue might pull out of the West entirely. However, it’s really about intra-west flying, mostly from LAX. Flying within the West appears to be very competitive. OTOH, transcon flight farea have not been particularly competitive lately,, at least not nonstop from the Northwest. I would hope that Jet Blue can remain in the fray between SEA and BOS and JFK–we really need the competition.
JB is almost an unknown to the common traveller in California and almost useless to them as well given how hard it is to connect to places they might want to go. Makes sense to pull out and regroup forces in places they can actually make some money
First Tim Dunn accuses me of being a United shill, than an AA fAAnboy. Of course he never accused me of being a Delta fan despite that being the airline I said the most positive things about.
Tim Dunn lied. The entertainment industry is huge, requires a lot of travel and is the backbone of the LA economy. Of course even a fraction of that traffic is big.
Not a AA defender but it is odd to criticise AA for removing Flagship First when Delta doesn’t even offer a true First Class product.
@Chicago Chris, I hope you are right but if JetBlue does a major cutback to the west coast it would be uneconomical to continue flying a single flight or even a handful of flights. The LAX-BUF flight is usually pretty full and so is the the return. The airplane also usually goes from BUF to FLL. Since LAX to BUF is nonstop, there is not an airport in between to have weather, cancellations, timed out crew and other challenges.
Time to replace Tim Dunn with an AI.
@jns
When Parker et al took over US Airways, they shrunk the network to PHX/CLT/DCA/PHL, axing most P2P routes from other former hubs even if they were profitable.
Sometimes it’s not worth the time and effort when you can focus on the core operation.