JetBlue Airways is working to return to profitability.
The New York-based carrier’s latest move cuts eight high-profile routes amid a network-wide shakeup, as first seen in Cirium plans and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.
The affected methods that will be terminated are:
- Boston-San Jose, California
- Fort Lauderdale-Jacksonville, Florida
- New York-Austin
- New York-Houston
- New York-London
- New York-Miami
- New York-Milwaukee
- Westchester County, New York-Charleston, South Carolina
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In addition to the cuts mentioned above, JetBlue will stop flying several routes during the summer season. These include Boston to Grenada and Phoenix, and New York to Tulum.
In addition, JetBlue will tow its Mint-equipped Airbus A321 on its transit routes from New York and Boston to Seattle. The airline did not include any new routes for its jets with a business-class cabin, so it remains to be seen if JetBlue has other plans for these flights.
Of all the routes, only one represents a permanent exit from the station: San Jose. Without JetBlue service to Boston from San Jose, Silicon Valley travelers will need to make a trip to San Francisco or connect somewhere along the way.
Another notable change is the elimination of flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW). In addition, JetBlue will host one of its daily flights between New York and Paris this summer.
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These routes were introduced as part of JetBlue’s transatlantic expansion, which has been restructured to return them to high-performance routes.
All of these network changes are part of JetBlue’s JetForward initiative, which is being implemented under new leadership from CEO Joanna Geraghty.
Former CEO Robin Hayes was responsible for the aforementioned boom, especially some of the transatlantic boom that is now being phased out.
The JetForward strategy is designed to return the carrier to a profit for the first time since before the pandemic. As part of the program, the airline redistributes approximately 20% of its flights to more profitable pastures. (JetBlue’s strategy is to improve service from the Northeast, where it has long been among the largest carriers.)
The airline shared the following explanation in a statement:
As part of our JetForward strategic plan, JetBlue is focused on building a network that better serves our customers and supports our long-term success. Recently, we’ve made some network changes in some markets, removing bad flights from our system, allowing us to reinvest resources, including our popular Mint service, in high-demand markets and new opportunities. In the coming weeks, we will announce how we will redistribute this capacity, including across our European network, to offer our customers more travel options.
JetBlue has already announced two major network shakeups this year alone, including several outages and a large number of route cuts.
At some point, JetBlue will need to restart its route map with new routes, and the airline confirms that process will begin in the coming weeks.
Earlier this year, JetBlue began flying to Long Island’s MacArthur Airport (ISP) and New Hampshire’s Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) — two new dots on the route map that seem to be doing well.
“I feel good about the things we’ve added. Manchester, Islip, to the new cities, both of which look great. I think it goes back to the core of the strength this brand has in the northeast corner of the US,” said Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, at the Skift Aviation Forum last month.
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