JetBlue appears to be pulling out of my home airport, as flagged by @IshrionA and @xJonNYC, and I can’t say I’m terribly surprised.
In this post:
JetBlue pulls last remaining Miami route
JetBlue has a hub in Fort Lauderdale (FLL), though in 2021, the airline decided to also expand to Miami (MIA). This obviously reflected how consumer demand evolved after the pandemic, and the big focus on leisure sun routes, particularly to Florida.
At the time, the airline launched flights to Miami from Boston (BOS), Hartford (BDL), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), and Newark (EWR). One-by-one, the airline has cut these routes in the past couple of years. For example, in June 2024, the airline ended its Los Angeles to Miami route, which was the only Miami service to feature the carrier’s Mint business class.
Now as of September 2, 2025, JetBlue will be cutting its final route to Miami, which is out of Boston. The airline only flies the route once or twice daily, so it’s hardly a huge service cut.
JetBlue has been struggling with profitability in recent years, and the airline recently revealed internally that it would cut even more unprofitable routes. Clearly this Miami service cut is the latest example of that.
JetBlue’s lack of success in Miami isn’t surprising
I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this service cut. To start, people have different takes on flying into Fort Lauderdale vs. Miami, and to what extent the airports are substitutes rather than complements.
Following the pandemic, when demand for South Florida was huge, we saw several airlines that previously only served Fort Lauderdale also add flights to Miami, viewing the service as complementary. That includes Southwest and Spirit.
JetBlue’s expansion to Miami was interesting, since the airline has a strong presence in the Northeast, and of course people from that region like flying to South Florida. Furthermore, while this wasn’t the focus of the collaboration at the time, keep in mind that initially American and JetBlue had a partnership, which was ultimately struck down by a judge, for being anti-competitive.
But in its current state, it’s not surprising that JetBlue has really struggled in Miami, and that this service no longer makes sense:
- American has a major hub in Miami, and has a lot more frequencies
- Delta also has a hub in Boston, and has the products that consumers are looking for (first class, lounges, etc.)
- With JetBlue’s lack of lounges and lack of first class, the airline can only really compete on price for economy passengers, and that’s not a great market position to have, since it’s not like these flights typically have high revenue fares
JetBlue introducing domestic first class can’t come soon enough. I just can’t believe how long the process is taking, as I really think this will be a game changer for the airline.
Bottom line
As of September 2025, JetBlue will be discontinuing Miami flights. The airline only started flying to Miami in 2021, diversifying its South Florida presence a bit. JetBlue has been axing its Miami routes one-by-one, and the Boston to Miami service is the last to survive, and that’s ending soon as well. Once JetBlue has domestic first class, I can see this kind of service being more competitive, but in the meantime…
What do you make of JetBlue pulling out of Miami?
B6 introduced MIA to try to have a quid pro quo with AA as part of the NEA.
AA never had intention of allowing B6 to succeed on the MIA end and DL put B6 in a box in NYC and BOS.
B6 is a failed strategic project from which DL will gain the biggest benefit.
Much respect Ben, but...
B6 had so few flights that AA and DL have no need for an exaggerated celebration. It just highlights it was a poor commercial decision, even if the NEA was approved.
I find the talk out their introduction of F pretty silly. Will it be a good thing? Yes. But it's 8-12 seats of an aircraft that seats 160-180 passengers, depending on variant. On the competitive East Coast the yield improvement...
Much respect Ben, but...
B6 had so few flights that AA and DL have no need for an exaggerated celebration. It just highlights it was a poor commercial decision, even if the NEA was approved.
I find the talk out their introduction of F pretty silly. Will it be a good thing? Yes. But it's 8-12 seats of an aircraft that seats 160-180 passengers, depending on variant. On the competitive East Coast the yield improvement is marginal, especially as they have to price vs the AA/DL/UA networks. They also don'r have the corporate contracts, so they have to price for leisure paxs (though could get SME). Also, it costs money to reconfigure the seats...and cash flow at this point is critical to manage.
@LAXLonghorn - While I understand your point, those points overlook some factors. For one, many corporate travelers flying on their companies dime (and likely paying a lot more than regular leisure passengers) like to fly on airlines that offer a domestic First Class product, and many of them avoid airlines that don't have that in order to have a chance at free upgrades with their status. I know this personally because I have been in...
@LAXLonghorn - While I understand your point, those points overlook some factors. For one, many corporate travelers flying on their companies dime (and likely paying a lot more than regular leisure passengers) like to fly on airlines that offer a domestic First Class product, and many of them avoid airlines that don't have that in order to have a chance at free upgrades with their status. I know this personally because I have been in that boat, along with a number of family and friends. I would often book away from Southwest for my typical work routes in favor of American because of this. As a result, I would also choose AA for my leisure travel most of the time because of my status benefits (including free upgrades). Additionally, with a First Class cabin, jetblue may be able to get more corporate contracts, especially with their newer transatlantic routes, allowing corporate travelers a premium cabin all the way for those not originating in NYC or BOS. Many corporations have requirements for airlines to have a premium cabin for some of their employees. And the companies with this requirement also pay more for premium seats than leisure travelers.
As a result, Jetblue introducing a domestic First Class product would open up a lot more opportunities for the airline, and make it more attractive for certain groups of people (who spend more on tickets) to book with the airline, both in First Class and in Economy. This is the same reason Frontier has rapidly introduced a premium cabin on it's aircraft. However, since Jetblue is most dominant in NYC and BOS, these opportunities are even more important for the airline.
The only reason JetBlue served Miami was due to the long gone NEA. The corridor between MIA and JFK, LGA, and BOS is crowded, competitive, and is owned by AA and DL. There's no room for B6.
It's tough for airlines, which have huge fixed costs and need to find routes that people will pay a premium for to cover the costs. Everyone loves Miami, but American seems to fly there 30 times a day from the Northeast. Leisure demand is spread out across the world, and Miami finance/tech/crypto demand isn't high enough to sustain a bunch of airlines.
We are seeing some of the same issues in hotel demand -...
It's tough for airlines, which have huge fixed costs and need to find routes that people will pay a premium for to cover the costs. Everyone loves Miami, but American seems to fly there 30 times a day from the Northeast. Leisure demand is spread out across the world, and Miami finance/tech/crypto demand isn't high enough to sustain a bunch of airlines.
We are seeing some of the same issues in hotel demand - with so much travel really being elective, I wonder if some of these air and hotel markets aren't just overbuilt?
You totally forgot to call out that B6 originally had the Northeast Alliance with AA to support the flights there, and now they don't.
Is there a comparison of the amount of space that a Mint seat takes versus a Mini Mint seat? I'd love if JetBlue just rolled out Mint everywhere (for consistency), but I assume it's just not nearly as efficient.
United and JetBlue have the same regrets. United for leaving JFK. JetBlue maybe for leaving MIA. JetBlue passengers in Miami can fly United.
not to JFK or BOS, they can't fly UA
Tough to compete in another airline's hub. Southwest learned that at EWR too.
American and Delta will be celebrating.