JetBlue has 24,667 flights scheduled next month, with its route map encompassing 299 routes and 99 airports. JFK to Los Angeles is its top route by total flights, replacing business-focused Boston-Washington National, which has – fully understandably – fallen out of the top-10. We examine JetBlue’s network and aircraft use in September.
September summary
JetBlue's September flights is 83% of what it had in September 2019, ahead of Delta (80%) and the same or similar to United (83%), American (84%), and Alaska (86%). Only ultra-low-cost carriers have now exceeded pre-COVID levels.
JetBlue has 299 routes next month, up by 16% from 256 in the same month in 2019. If both periods are examined, some 98 additional routes, new and resumed, have been added, offset by 55 cuts. This explains the net increase of 43 routes.
What has been added?
Of course, chief among the route additions is New York JFK to London Heathrow, introduced on August 11th, with Gatwick due to start on September 29th. However, more significant, overall, is the rise of Newark, with 28 routes added versus September 2019 for a total of 39. This has pushed Newark into JetBlue's fourth-largest airport spot.
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Additionally, 18 were added from Los Angeles (partly from the closure of Long Beach), together with beginning service to Miami and good growth from JFK, Hartford, and Raleigh Durham. Despite JetBlue cutting various Raleigh routes in recent months, the carrier's flights there are up by 13% versus 2019.
JetBlue's aircraft use in September
This September, the A320ceo naturally has the lion's share of flights, as shown below. Aside from the A220 and A321LR, both recent additions, only the A321 grew its share in September 2019, especially by 158-seat aircraft equipped with Mint. There are still fewer A321 flights than previously (-9%), but this relatively minimal decline outweighs much bigger cuts elsewhere.
- A320ceo: 43.5% of flights this month
- Embraer 190: 29.1%
- A321ceo/neo: 25.9%
- A220-300: 1.2%
- A321LR: 0.3%
The Embraer 190, whose retirement has been delayed, has seen a one-quarter reduction in movements, with its September network encompassing 108 routes. The short, normally frequency-heavy Boston to Washington National route remains the most-served by the type.
JFK takes the top spot by flights
Some 99 airports are served this September. Unlike in 2019, when Boston was JetBlue's leading airport by movements, JFK is now number-one. This is partly from Boston's much higher use of Embraer 190s, which, in normal times, increases frequencies to appeal more to business-oriented travelers, alongside often being thinner routes. (If seats are looked at, JFK remains first.)
- JFK: 7,980 round-trip flights
- Boston: 5,777
- Fort Lauderdale: 4,024
- Newark: 3,193
- Orlando: 2,516
- Los Angeles: 1,991
- San Juan: 1,813
- San Francisco: 1,038
- Santo Domingo: 956
- Cancun: 842
JFK-Los Angeles has the most flights
The 2,475-mile route from JFK to Los Angeles has the most JetBlue flights next month, with this airport-pair also the world's number-one – at least if measured in available seat miles. It has always been crucial to JetBlue and it has superseded Boston-Washington National, which was previously top.
Indeed, Boston to Washington's downtown airport joins various others – Boston-Philadelphia, Boston-Raleigh, Boston-Newark, Boston-Pittsburgh – which have dropped out of the top-10 list for being more business-focused.
- JFK-Los Angeles: 424 round-trip flights in September
- JFK-Orlando: 340
- JFK-Fort Lauderdale: 339
- JFK-Santo Domingo: 334
- JFK-Santiago (D.R.): 325
- Orlando-San Juan: 292
- Newark-Orlando: 280
- Boston-San Francisco: 272
- JFK-San Juan: 268
- JFK-Miami: 264
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