This has been expected for sometime, with an announcement assumed at the airline’s Investor Day, but Live and Let’s Fly reports that JetBlue will be introducing a domestic first cabin.
JetBlue business class on long haul and premium routes is called “Mint” and is excellent for a single aisle product. There’s good food and fantastic wine. However they chose to disable the doors on Airbus A321neo business class suites in order to save money – the FAA lets them fly with one fewer flight attendant when the doors don’t close.
Domestic first class will reportedly be called “Mini Mint” and be introduced in 2026. It’s currently expected that they will use the Collins Aerospace MiQ seat, and while customizations matter I’m generally disappointed in the product. American Airlines uses it as their current standard domestic first class and widebody premium economy seat. Delta and United make use of the seat as well.
MiQ Seat
Configuration is expected to be:
A220 – 143 seats, including 8 Mini Mint (MM) and 135 Core (economy)
A320 – 162 seats, including 12 MM and 150 economy
A321ceo -198 seats, including 12 MM and 186 economy
A321neo 200 seats, including 12 MM and 188 economy
MiQ Seat
JetBlue plans first class seats without reducing the total number of seats on the plan. This means reducing the amount of legroom in standard coach. JetBlue was known for years as offering a more generous product, and that will no longer be the case. They currently offer standard 32 inches of pitch, which Southwest offers on many aicraft too but that is two inches more than United, Delta and American.
We can expect the era of JetBlue’s better coach product to be over, as they shrink coach legroom. They still have TVs like Delta and increasingly like United, and they still have free wifi like Delta. But they will no longer be a standout.
The airline hasn’t had the more premium product to sell on most of its routes, meaning it’s been losing out on higher revenue sales to competitors. They don’t want to reduce seat count, either. And they haven’t been financially rewarded for their coach product which has still been marginally better than that of competitors, though the difference has been eroded substantially over the past decade. It’s unclear how much of JetBlue’s problems stemmed from the cheapening of their product – but managers who financially underperform have a strong incentive not to buck industry trends.
While JetBlue does plan this move into premiu, I’ve been hearing that earlier-discussed lounges in New York and Boston are now off the table.
“they haven’t been financially rewarded for their coach product which has still been marginally better”
Americans vote with their wallets.
Remember AA MRTC – “More room throughout Coach” – went bankrupt
UA economy plus was a success because it was limited to only a few seats
JetBlue would be better having a 3 class plane – business, economy plus and economy
that way they can get some upsell for the second cabin for the “better” product they offer
Said this at Mathews and Bens blog and glad to see that SOMEONE has common sense, but the cut in legroom is disappointing.
If I wanted 30″ I would fly their competitors. I hope this was a leak ala to what happened at AA to prevent the legroom cut.
@ Gary — Sweet. Maybe they can join OW next. Now, hopefully WN wakes up and does the same. There is no reason large carriers shouldn’t have J seats. Ma and Pa Kettle can sit in the back.
If it’s a mini mint, they should have called it a Tic Tac.
Makes ya wonder who in the travel industry is thinking up these hair-brained ideas for travel on planes ? To me, it’s all Stupid ideas thought up by Complete brainless Nitwits
I welcome the additional premium cabin capacity – will force more competition there
Sometimes I am glad that I am 5’6″ tall and of an “appropriate” weight. With the seat sizes and pitch in the back (economy) where I always sit…well, I may not be able quite to “lounge,” but I don’t quite feel to be a “sardine” either. As I said, I am 5’6″ and about 165#, therefore highly pity anyone who is taller/larger (which is almost everyone!). Yup, flying generally “sucks.”
Wow, it is almost as if the airlines have determined that there is more to their customer base than price-only once-per-year leisure travelers and jet-setting road warriors, and that people might be willing to pay more for a better product if clearly differentiated and reasonably priced. Who would have thought such a thing?
JetBlue’s future is membership in OW and eventually, merging with American.
I love the xtra leg room on Jet Blue and at 87 yrs old I need it because of the danger of DVT. But since I probably won’t be flying any more by 2026 it isn’t likely to affect me. I am flying this year and have purchased xtra leg room.
Of course make coach passengers miserable — take a look at the insane prices for First Class. To get a normal seat, a real meal, wine and best of all, arrive a quarter second sooner!
Disappointing re: coach densification, but with the current state of the industry its inevitable.
FWIW, I’m 6’ 3”, and I have no issue with 30”. It’s by no means comfortable, but it’s perfectly tolerable. It also depends on the seat. I found Alaska’s economy seating to be plenty comfortable though they might be 31 or even 32 inches. I’m not sure. As someone who’s grown up traveling in the back seat of my family’s SUV with all our luggage crammed in, THAT’s misery.
The first time I flew Mint, I had just gotten off an Emirates flight (MXP-JFK), and took jetBlue from JFK-SFO. For a US carrier, I was blown away. There had been nothing like this since Stratocruisers and their private apartment/lounge, and dinner service on real China. I was super-excited about the prospect of jetBlue taking over Virgin America…I could fly Mint again.
Yeah, well, that didn’t happen, and it’s not like jetBlue is a major carrier out of the SF Bay Area. Now Mint disappears, legroom shrinks…the end of yet another era.
Jetblue’s cost for “Even More” is too high but I guess they were priming Passengers to see if they would pay!
So sad.
If nothing else, “Mini Mint” has to be the worst marketing sales mark I’ve ever heard. It implies less-than-Mint which yes, I get because it’s domestic and you will get less. But make it its own thing and brand it as such. Is it so hard to think of calling “Blue Heaven”? (You’re welcome jetBlue. My wife and I will take round-trip Mint Studio tix to Europe. Thanks.)
Jason Brandt
Transcon lie flat Mint is not disappearing, in fact they are adding more airframes in that configuration. This new mini Mint is to offer a business class product for the remainder of their fleet.
It makes sense for B6 to offer F, Even More Space (EMS) economy, and main cabin economy. Customers can purchase the product that they want to spend their money on I am guessing most will still book the cheapest cabin and complain about it
Mediocre should NOT be a goal!
Gary – you write, “It’s unclear how much of JetBlue’s problems stemmed from the cheapening of their product – but managers who financially underperform have a strong incentive not to buck industry trends.”
For me, there is another reason. I prefer the JetBlue onboard product, and regularly flew it over every other carrier, until about 18 months ago. It’s the ground experience — chaotic, stress-filled, and run by overwhelmed (and therefore sometimes unkind) personnel — that made me shy away. If management has a fault for not keeping me a loyal true blue member, it’s because they have not treated their gate staff well enough to create a pleasant, even decent, experience.
B6 undoing everything that made them appealing and differentiated them from the pack. They are laying off thousands of employees while wasting huge amounts of money on poor investment strategies. They need to get back to simple and what made JetBlue great in the first place: Quality economy class with IFE, free wifi/snacks, and more generous seats than the legacies while maintaining value. They need to scale back to again focus on domestic routes from the east coast hubs. Their expansion and attempts to “mainline” have miserably failed.