After a costly failed merger effort with Spirit, the end of the Northeast Alliance with American, and corporate activist/raider Carl Icahn gaining board seats, JetBlue is starting to cut unprofitable routes in an effort to survive.
Icahn previously raided TWA and forced them out of business, so JetBlue will need to work quickly to avoid being sold off in pieces as TWA was.
JetBlue writes to DansDeals that they are, “constantly evaluating our routes to best serve our customers, return our airline to profitability, and find ways to improve our reliability. As part of that process, we have decided to end some routes, make others seasonal and exit five cities…These decisions are never easy, however, these markets have recently fallen short of our expectations.
These moves will allow us to redeploy our fleet to increase frequencies on well-performing routes from JetBlue’s focus cities while continuing to increase crucial ground time for our aircraft, reducing the chance of delays for our customers. The changes will also help us during a time when aircraft availability is limited – particularly with some of our aircraft grounded due to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine inspections.
Most of our customers impacted by these changes will be able to select alternate flight options themselves on JetBlue.com. Where alternate routes are not available, customers will be provided with a refund.”
- On 6/13, JetBlue will end all service to
- Bogota
- Kansas City
- Lima
- Quito
- It also will officially pull out of Stewart Airport, which it hasn’t served since 2020.
- JetBlue previously announced it would end all service to Baltimore as of 5/1.
- JetBlue will also end service between:
- Aguadilla-Tampa
- Detroit-JFK
- Fort Lauderdale-Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, New Orleans, and Salt Lake City
- Los Angeles-Cancun, Las Vegas, Liberia, Miami, Puerto Vallarta, Reno, San Francisco, and Seattle.
- Orlando-Salt Lake City
JetBlue is not the same airline that it once was. Its operational reliability is the worst in the US, and it has been ranked the worst US airline for overall performance by the Wall Street Journal for 3 years in a row. Its fees were once lower than other airlines, but are now higher than most airlines. It will take a massive effort to turn the airline around.
What do you think of these route cancellations? Will there be more to come? Can JetBlue survive as a standalone carrier?
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35 Comments On "After Failed Merger Effort, JetBlue Slashes Route Network"
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Haven’t flown them in ages, but they were a great airline back in the day. Cool, great vibe, and comfortable seats. Real shame to see them take a turn like this.
A business needs to be profitable in order to be sustainable. So in the long run I think this is good for consumers given the current situation. Scaling back in order to fix and grow again.
JetBlue is also exiting BWI.
Jet blue’s flights are so much better than American’s that it isn’t funny. My closest airport is Hartford, which means I am pretty much limited to JetBlue or AA. American gives you 2 small cookies and you have to have your own device to have any movies, etc. Give me Jetblue any day. JetBlue gives me money if something goes wrong. AA I can’t even reach a person. AA lost my bags and told me they would be delivered no later than 8 pm the next day. I waited at my office, and they didnt come. I got a call at midnight showing it was a personal call from LA. It turned out it was a charter company delivering my luggage! They left it outside so anyone could take it. The next day, the app still showed my luggage was in Texas! This was after I paid for an upgrade to first class where my bags were the very last off the plane and I almost missed my connection!
Why so many cuts from Los Angeles, was it that bad for them from LAX? It’s odd given that they already cut all their routes from Long Beach….
JetBlue will be gone within the next 5 years, followed by Spirit.
@Dan a lot of people use JetBlue for the sole purpose of spending 50K on the JetBlue credit card to get Mosaic status benefits (free same day flight change, extra legroom seats for free, 2 bags free, etc).
What is the next best airline credit card to spend 50K and actually get worthwhile benefits?
Thank you
Hope they burn down and go bankrupt. I hate this airline
Well, they’ve been nasty to Jews for years. That’s for sure
maybe they are just nasty to you Donald
Samuel, have you not read the news on the Jewish websites over the past decade? You’ve got to be kidding!
Unnecessary. Thoughtless. Actually, disgusting.
Did Doug Parker decide which routes to cut out of Fort Lauderdale?
They cut flying to some of the fastest growing metro areas in the country and instead maintaining that route dominance to Albany and Tallahassee.
😀
Flown Jetblue Since 2012. Absolutely awesome airline! From Roc – JFK – LAX, LAX – JFK – ROC, LAS – CHS, Never had an issue. The occasional delay every know and then, but it’s always been great. I cannot agree it has been the worst Airline over the past 3 past years as it’s been great for my family. I ride because the spacious seats, the cool snack back in the day, consistently on time flight and use the trublue points / barclays card. A very sad day (
I don’t fly airlines that don’t allow carry-on’s on their basic fares. If Jet Blue changes their policy, maybe I’ll start flying with them again.
Thanks to the judge who stopped the merger to help all those people who love the $30 AIRFARES. WELL guess what now you have to walk yeah walk……oh and you will pay more for flying………the 4 big airlines control 80% of the market they have approx 5% capacity at low fares, no frills fares. Less competition means higher fares. I’m sure Dan will agree. If we lose Spirit and JetBlue this could have an impact of how much we pay to fly
I have never had a bad experience.
I think they have the best economy snack service and entertainment in the industry. I remember watching the World Cup Finals live on the way from Miami to jFK. Almost the whole plane was watching and went crazy after each goal was scored.
Also cool to hang out at the connected TWA hotel before or after flight.
Interesting that they are cutting numerous routes including LAX-MIA Have flown that route numerous times and the plane was always at capacity. Explain how they lost money ?
It’s easy to fill a plane. Filling it profitably is another story.
Enril thinks theyre positioning for a merger with southwest (see pilot union letter) beside for rationales cited here Jetblue would want to trim overlapping routes to gain regulators approval.
B6 has an airbus fleet with some ebraers.
I still find them one of the best. Lots of snacks, all or majority kosher, very friendly crew, most space which is huge, free WiFi which makes the flights go by faster, and live tv with movies. I don’t understand why it gets a bad rap. I would fly JetBlue over any airline currently
The bad rap is due to their poor operational reliability.
Failed to mention free changes and cancellations if booked with points. JetBlue imo is the best
Uh, no. They’re significantly worse than AA, Alaska, Delta, Southwest, or United in that regard.
I flown them only a few times, but my experience has always been good. More legroom than most, good snacks, no significant delays or luggage problems. I got their credit card for the SUB and have used up almost all the points from that.
Why are there so many comments about how they love JetBlue because the “snacks are awesome”. It’s like saying that Cuba is the best country because their food is amazing (obviously, speaking for non-kosher consumers). If your basis for an airline’s excellence is based on the $0.75 bag of cookies, or the color of the potato chips, then you really aren’t a sophisticated or intelligent traveler.
When there’s not much difference in the big things, people use the little things to make decisions.
I have hundreds of thousands of FFM with them. Any suggestions?
Use them? It’s not like they’re going broke next week.
used them a lot, overall, I was happy with them, although expensive if you have carry on, but had a few ugly experiences in regards to delays, and communications about it. had multiple situations with my most recent one earlier this year, where they kept us for 12 hours in the airport with false lies & expectations of when we’re to depart with $0 refund or accumadation in any way.
At this point I would never fly with them unless I have to.
The two things that I’m sorry regarding JetBlue are:
1. Their pulling out of Stewart (i was hoping that they’d come back and expand there – most convenient Airport for anyone in Rockland and Orange counties NY)
2. The failure of the Northeast Alliance with American – this promised actual real practical benefits.
I benefit from JetBlue since they are the only airline flying direct from JFK to Sacramento.
I flew JetBlue regularly between Lima and FLL from 2014 to 2018 (several times a year). They were inexpensive, reliable, and efficient. Disappointing to see them ending service to South America.