• 

  JetBlue

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  B6/JBA

  Hub(s):

  Boston Logan International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, New York JFK Airport, Orlando International Airport

  Year Founded:

  2000

  CEO:

  Robin Hayes

  Country:

  United States

JetBlue, the airline working to acquire Spirit, has been forced to pull down 37 routes in its network for continued operational reliability in the network. Considering that JetBlue was not profitable in the second quarter of 2022 and had serious cancellation problems to start off that quarter, the airline clearly has to be more efficient and focus on making its customers happy.

JetBlue Routes Suspended

First, thanks to the Points Guy, a comprehensive list is below of suspended JetBlue routes:

JetBlue’s 2022 history of route pulldowns

JetBlue previously had to reduce its summer 2022 flight schedule by 10%. This was after CEO Robin Hayes admitted to taking Amtrak instead of JetBlue from Boston to New York City. JetBlue had to eliminate a total of 36 routes for the summer also in two batches, the first batch mostly around Fort Lauderdale and Newark. The second batch included flights out of John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and more Newark flights plus a Boston to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti one. The Los Angeles (LAX) to Richmond (RIC) flight was suspended, then turned on, and now is suspended again as per the above table.

The reductions were a result of, according to FlightAware, JetBlue having 33% of its flights canceled and another 35% delayed on Sunday, April 3, 2022. The problems continued when, on Saturday, April 9, JetBlue canceled 18% of its flights (191), and 48% of its flights were delayed. On Sunday, April 10, 13% of flights or 146 were canceled, with 37% or 407 flights delayed.

It’s clear that JetBlue does not want to repeat April 2022 anytime soon. So even as JetBlue is adding a few long-distance flights – JetBlue wants to ensure that flights on the schedule are actually flown.

Spirit flies some of these routes

It’s worth noting that Spirit Airlines – which, again, JetBlue intends to acquire – flies some of these routes as per their route map. This includes the Newark-Atlanta, Newark-Austin, Newark-San Diego, Fort Lauderdale-Chicago, Fort Lauderdale-Portland, and Fort Lauderdale-Seattle.

JetBlue statement

Here’s JetBlue’s statement to The Points Guy on why the route reductions;

This summer has been more resilient because of the capacity pulldowns we put in place and we believe it’s prudent to plan similarly for next year. We’re getting ahead of it now to ease pressure on our Customer Support team and to offer more time for rebooking our customers. These suspensions are primarily in markets and airports that are especially challenging from an operational or ATC perspective.

One can read into this what they may.

Thoughts on the JetBlue route reductions? Let us know in the comments.

Sources: Spirit Route Map, The Points Guy