JetBlue is doubling operations in Puerto Rico, cutting service from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), scaling back winter service in Europe, and deploying more jets that are Mint equipment throughout North America.
It’s all part of a major network overhaul announced by the New York-based airline on Wednesday – a shake-up that will also see JetBlue pull out of the high-profile market entirely. in Mexico.
JetBlue’s “significant network enhancements” will see the carrier add six new destinations from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Puerto Rico – including new nonstop flights to the East Coast and other destinations to Mexico, the Caribbean and South America.
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At the same time, the airline is cutting seven routes and eliminating all flights to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) during the winter.
This move comes in the context that JetBlue is making a series of changes to help the airline return to profitability.
New routes from San Juan
As part of the changes announced Wednesday, JetBlue will launch six new routes from San Juan: two to the Northeast, two to the Caribbean, one to Mexico and one to South America.
| Route | Launched | Regularity |
|---|---|---|
| SJU arrives at Rhode Island TF Green International Airport (PVD) in Providence, Rhode Island | October 27 | Daily |
| SJU arrives at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in New York | October 27 | Daily |
| SJU arrives at Cibao International Airport (STI) in Santiago, Dominican Republic | October 28 | Daily |
| SJU arrives at Jose Maria Cordova International Airport (MDE) in Medellin, Colombia | October 29 | Four weekly round trips |
| SJU to Cancun International Airport (CUN) | October 28 | Three weekly round trips |
| SJU arrives at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands | December 12th | Daily |
Among those new routes, JetBlue’s San Juan to St. Croix will give the airline a new destination in the US Virgin Islands.
Once each of these fall routes launch, JetBlue will serve 18 destinations from Puerto Rico, the carrier said Wednesday — including an average of 40 daily departures from San Juan.
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That includes a significant expansion from the island’s largest airport to destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, as shown in red (complementing existing routes in the region in blue) on the map below from aviation analytics company Cirium.
JetBlue President Marty St. “JetBlue has been a proud part of the Puerto Rican community for more than 20 years, and we are excited to deepen our roots with this expansion,” said George. statement news announcement.
Additional direct flights in the Caribbean
In addition to expanding in San Juan, JetBlue also signaled plans to fly to two brand new cities in the Caribbean – both from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
The airline is planning a new direct JFK flight to Argyle International Airport (SVD) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines… and another flight to Flamingo International Airport (BON) in Bonaire, an island east of Curacao. Dates and frequencies on those routes are still pending.
Double your free time
These new Caribbean and Latin America routes come as JetBlue leaders have emphasized leisure travel in recent months, amid efforts to return the airline to profitability.
“We’re definitely known for entertaining, we’re born to entertain, so Let’s continue to double down on our entertainment core and what that brings.” to JetBlue’s First flight to Dublin.
“I think we have a lot of inherent core strengths that we can really look to leverage,” Geraghty added at the time.
Plan to cut routes significantly
It’s not all good news for JetBlue flyers.
As part of Wednesday’s network shake-up, the carrier announced a series of route cuts, service cuts and a complete withdrawal from the market.
Scale back European winter service
Recent years have seen JetBlue rapidly expand its transatlantic presence, with new flights to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin – and another seasonal route to Edinburgh is planned planned for the end of this month.
However, starting October 27, JetBlue will suspend service from Boston and New York to London’s Gatwick for winter. (It’s worth noting that the airline will still serve London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) from both Northeastern cities.)
Also on October 27, JetBlue will reduce its JFK to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) service to just one daily frequency for the winter.
This seasonal cut to JetBlue’s European schedule comes months after Geraghty signaled a brake on JetBlue’s transatlantic plans.
“I think we will have more opportunities in what we are doing,” she said of future growth potential in Europe, speaking at an industry conference in March.
The move appears to go one step further, in fact decrease JetBlue’s Atlantic capacity.
Cutting service from LaGuardia
JetBlue is also trimming its schedule, especially at LaGuardia.
Effective October 27, the airline will cut four routes from New York airport:
- LGA to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
- LGA to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
- LGA to Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) in Nassau, Bahamas
- LGA to Fort Myers Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
And it will reduce frequencies on three additional routes between key cities:
- LGA to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
- LGA to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
- LGA to Orlando International Airport (MCO)
JetBlue largely attributed the route cuts at LaGuardia to the airline’s changing landscape following a federal judge’s ruling last year collapsed its Northeast Alliance with American Airlines, which previously pushed it to increase capacity at LaGuardia.
Even before these cuts, JetBlue’s 2024 seat count from LaGuardia was set to decline about 30% from last year, according to Cirium. That’s after a 178% increase in 2023 LaGuardia seats compared to 2019, before the NEA began.
Additional reduction
JetBlue will also end three additional routes.
The airline will cease all service to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on June 12. And the airline will further scale back operations at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on October 27, ending flights LAX flies nonstop to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Orlando.
Mint re-deploys 6 new routes
There To be good news for travelers who frequently fly JetBlue within the United States and on other short-haul and transcontinental routes.
The airline is bringing its Mint service to several routes, including lie-flat seats in the cabin and impressive dining options this week. landed the airline in second place in JD Power’s 2024 airline service rankings for first and business class passengers.
| New route with Mint | Meeting day | Regularity |
|---|---|---|
| JFK-SJU | July 22 | Daily |
| JFK to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) | July 21 | Daily |
| FLL to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) | October 27 | Twice daily, in winter |
| FLL to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) | October 27 | Daily, winter seasonal |
| BOS-PHX | October 27 | Twice daily, in winter |
| JFK-PHX | October 27 | Twice daily, in winter |
JetBlue can certainly bring Mint to new cities thanks to some domestic capacity cuts and the fact that it won’t be flying its Airbus A321LR jets to Europe as often this winter as planned. previously planned.
What do these changes mean?
These sweeping network changes revealed by JetBlue follow additional changes the airline has made in recent months in hopes of achieving profitability.
Previous changes include another network overhaul announced earlier this year, which included a scale back its services out of LAX.
The airline also increased its checked bag fees not once but twice, more recently introducing flexible pricing for bags that can cost up to $70 in some cases.
“We have taken important steps to rebalance our network,” Geraghty told analysts during the carrier’s earnings call last month.
“And we expect to continue to make additional rounds in the coming weeks and months,” she said, seemingly predicting changes on Wednesday — and perhaps leaving the door open for further tweaks in the future .
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