JetBlue is reducing service at Washington’s National airport this winter. That’s one of only three airports in the country where the number of flights are limited by law, making it easier than in most places to make money.
Aviation watchdog JonNYC reports that 27% of JetBlue’s total flying, or 7 out of 27 flights, will be suspended October 27, 2024 through March 29, 2025. They are dropping Fort Myers service permanently, and also eliminating the currently suspended Washington National to New York JFK.
Here’s a some (more coming): pic.twitter.com/SkwmpKneKu
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) August 29, 2024
The number of Boston flights is reduced by 3. The number of Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando flights each get reduced by one.
Their new plan involves shrinking unprofitable flying – gutting Los Angeles and making cuts to transatlantic flying, as well as eliminating routes and cities. They have already announced they’re pulling out of 15 cities entirely. They’ve also deferred delivery of 44 Airbus planes.
JetBlue is aggressively offering status to competitor frequent flyers, and their pilots are worried about wages.
The airline’s new focus is leisure and visiting friends and relatives traffic, plus cross country flying from their strongest cities of New York JFK and Boston as well as Florida. They will continue their Puerto Rico and Caribbean flying. But they are no longer chasing corporate travel. In this context, reducing winter flying between Florida and the Northeast is actually surprising.
It’s not clear what will happen to the slots during the winter period. Presumably, since the airline has minimum use obligations to meet for its slots, they’ll lease some of them out (and where others go unleased, they might vary flight times to meet each slot’s 80% requirement).
pretty well assures they won’t get the 2nd DCA-SJU flight they were asking for which, IIRC, makes it likely that all of the DCA exemption slots will be used for west coast flying other than AA to SAT.
Cutting your way to profitability is almost never a good strategy. Seems like they’re in a downward spiral. Shame.
When it comes to stellar on time performance, the NE is a challenging region to operate. Especially when attempting to peel away corporate accounts and the business traveler from the established legacies. Too many oars in the fire? Focus on leisure routes over business routes? Focus on business routes over leisure routes. Focus on profit of both. In short, JetBlue is becoming a hot mess quickly. Quirky live TV is nice for some for the mindlessness entertainment it provides crowds, but is it really necessary for the business traveler?
With Southwest going to assigned seating maybe it’s time for JetBlue to re-examine the idea of AV Live TV and Internet for the entire cabin. Removing 60% of the screens should create some savings if repurposed to newer arrival aircraft maybe. Perhaps its butts in seats time for B6. I won’t even mention the dilemma B6 is potentially facing out west.
I suspect that the cuts are due to being unprofitable on those routes during the off season.
I hope JetBlue will lease their unused slot pairs to AA.
One of the toughest airports to get slots, and B6 is retreating!! Not sure if they are over reacting.
DCA is your means of influence with the DOT & Congress.
If the GOP gets into the White House, B6 will be approached by AA with mandatory objections from DL & UA. Should the Dems get back in office, here comes Chapter 11.
All this would have been far different is they had picked up VX years ago.
You snooze, you lose!!
They would babysit slots, would they? It’s time for the FAA to assign Flt IDs to slots!!! UAL operated 100 fewer ops at EWR and meeting the 80% usage rqmts. Now that the FAA is in control of the slot prgm, time to take control. Enough gaming this system.