Silhouette of a passenger in front of the JetBlue Airbus A321neo aircraft spotted on the apron of the tarmac docked at the passenger plane bridge from the terminal of Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport AMS EHAM in the Netherlands.
Nicolaas Economou | Nurfoto | Getty Images
JetBlue Airways told staff on Wednesday that it is cutting more unprofitable flights, redeploying planes equipped with its premium business class and adjusting European service, the airline's latest moves to return to consistent profitability and cut costs.
It will also stop using Mint business class aircraft on flights to Seattle in April.
JetBlue said it will cancel flights from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Jacksonville, Florida; from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Austin, Texas; Houston, Texas; Miami; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and from Westchester, NY and Milwaukee. Service to San Jose, California will also be ended.
JetBlue said ending service between JFK and Miami will leave the airline overcrowded in Miami and that it is working with crew members on options, as it does in other cities it flies to.
“Florida remains a strong region for JetBlue, but after the COVID-19 crisis we have not been profitable in Miami due to the dominance of legacy airlines such as American And Delta there,” Dave Jehn, JetBlue's vice president of network planning and airline partnerships, wrote in a staff note, seen by CNBC.
It will continue to serve Miami from Boston.
JetBlue will announce new European service next week, the memo said. But starting in the 2025 summer season, it will eliminate its second JFK-Paris flight and its summer-only service between New York and London's Gatwick Airport, Jehn said.
The changes were announced after JetBlue said revenue and bookings for November and December came in better than expected, sending its shares up more than 8% on Wednesday. CEO Joanna Geraghty and her team are focusing on cutting costs and eliminating unprofitable routes, such as those on the West Coast, as they grapple with Pratt & Whitney engine stalls and post-pandemic shifts in demand.
JetBlue said customers affected by the changes can select alternate flight options or receive a refund if no other routes are available.
“We recently made a number of network adjustments in select markets that removed a number of underperforming flights from our schedule, allowing us to redeploy resources, including our popular Mint service, to high-demand markets and new opportunities,” JetBlue said in a statement. a statement.