JetBlue Slashes Washington National Flights By Over 25%

Washington isnt the Northeast, so these cuts are exactly in line with their stated goal of strengthening the northeast.

Yes Florida is strong in winter, but even with reduced flying, that's still a respectable amount of lift from an airline that isnt even second or third fiddle in the DC area.

I'll respectfully contest your point -- Washington is the southern end of the Northeast corridor

I am worried that Jet Blue might die. If JetBlue dies, Joe Biden is at fault. I know Joe is concerned about protecting the consumer but he went overboard and might have killed JetBlue by having an overly aggressive DOJ. The President sets the tone and the DOJ follows even if they don't officially run thing by the Prez.

JetBlue could have been saved by either an American Airlines link or by acquiring Spirit but neither was allowed.

@TheRubioRoom

That sounds right.

first, ben, thank you for covering this story which has far more significance to B6 than any single route does to any other airline including the two DL/UA stories.
I can assure you that this article won't generate the responses or the page clicks.

To the two below, Washington DC is the southern point of the Northeast.

B6 current mgmt is committed to turning the company around and ending the money-losing strategies that its previous mgmt did - which is particularly surprising given that the current CEO has been at B6 for years. She along with others were clearly asked to do things that they knew were not in the best interest of the company.

It is mind-boggling that B6 can't make money even in a slot controlled airport to its 2nd largest hub and to Florida in the winter. but the cuts here and what have also been announced reveal how badly B6 is doing and how many assets they have wasted on money-losing routes.

AA and DL are the clear winners as AA flies every one of those routes and DL flies both north and south from DCA.

B6 is no longer the largest carrier at any of its primary airports = DL is largest at JFK and BOS and NK is at FLL so the chances are very high that B6' problems at DCA are because of how much smaller it is than AA and how bad B6' ability to pull passengers is. Given that AA doesn't have AVOD and amenities that DL has at JFK and BOS, B6 isn't getting anything from its brand that is helping it at DCA.

While it is good to see B6 cut, it should be of great concern how deeply B6 is having to cut; it will be increasingly difficult for them to reduce losses without widespread cuts throughout the company.

And the more B6 cuts, the more other competitors will strengthen their positions which will make it harder for B6 to be relevant where they do fly

It's not really the northeast - it's mid-Atlantic. And the "northeast" as B6 defines it seems to be New York and New England. You can see that in their timetable.

Hey Ben, do you realize that "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN PAC" ads are showing up on your site? The video thing for this article just played a pretty aggressive video with some racist and sexist undertones. I'm sure it's out of your control, but I'm surprised they're letting ads like that come through.

Jetblue's best hope may be self-preservation and let someone else go bankrupt before they do. Then try to take advantage of that opportunity

The ads that individuals see on websites (especially blogging sites) are rarely directly controlled by the website itself. All of us visiting OMAAT see a different mix of ads based on our geography and past viewing habits. You probably visited a site recently that correlates highly with supporters of the MAGA PAC (e.g. did you read an article on FoxNews.com?). Personally, I've never seen a MAGA PAC ad, but I have seen plenty for the theater company in my city.

DC is south of the Mason Dixon line -- it's in the South. Or as JFK so wittily put it, "DC has southern efficiency and northern charm."

I believe the cuts are tied to aircraft availability. At any given time there are 10-18 aircraft grounded because of P&W engines.

Also, he never responds to any ad complaints because it isn’t within his control. It’s all BoardingArea’s fault

Ben seems to be big enough of a presence I really wish he would ditch BoardingArea as a host and get his own page that isn’t under their horrific AD program

If they want to self identify as Northeast that is their business and you need to accept it. Who are you to judge who they are?

these cuts at DCA are far in excess of the percentage of planes in B6' fleet that are out of service.

Systemwide B6 is cutting close to 10% of their network this fall - one of the deepest in the industry.

While the big 3 have talked about overcapacity, it is the low cost carriers that are pulling back while AA and UA esp. that are keeping capacity up

Allowing airlines to lease out slots is absurd. Slots should be use it or lose it and there should be a rental fee paid to the FAA for the slot that is structured in a way to make it uneconomical to put a small plane on a route as a placeholder or fly a plane essentially empty.

Why did JB need those deals to survive? There were years that JB was doing great. They have great assets already so seems like an operational issue.

Also airlines never die. They go bankrupt and either restructure or are acquired.

Voluntarily leaving a portion of your capacity when in a protected market (no additional slots available) in one of the wealthiest metro areas in the country & probably the most recession proof market in the country (DC -Fed Gov is gonna keep spending & traveling) does not make much sense to me.

many of B6' DCA slots were given to them because they were in a disadvantaged position at DCA.

Just as with the fed's requirement for Virgin America to get Dallas Love Field access which backfired, having the feds try to balance out access to airports in the name of helping some carriers at the expense of market forces almost always backfires.

I agree, 305. If I were Ben I'd seriously consider setting myself up in opposition to BA, leveraging my global reputation and what I presume to be healthy finances. Yes, it would take some hustle, but the guy has hustle. He's also in the enviable position of being in his early thirties. I'm not sure what sort of contract his company has with BA, but hey... That's what lawyers are for.

Pratt & Whitney and their rabid mangy dog of a geared turbofan engine have more to answer for that the DoT.

Pure gold!

The Mason Dixon line was more about a demarcation of states that continued the policy of slavery and those that didn't.

As for the Northeast, many don't include Maryland and DC in it ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States). However, what is called the Northeast megalopolis (also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, the Boston–Washington corridor, BosWash, or BosNYWash) does include DC ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_megalopolis).

Maybe, just maybe, despite all of that, it's not as profitable as you obviously think it is. Airlines generally don't leave profitable flying.

The airline that shrinks is the airline that eventually goes out of business.

American Airlines will eventually acquire jetBlue and for a deep discount, and finally fix its problems in NYC and BOS.

the internet version of the only things certain in life are death and taxes is that someone invariably spouts off that B6 will fail and AA will be able to acquire them to fix AA's own strategic mistakes.

First, B6 is very far from liquidation and will hold onto the assets it has to restructure its business even though B6 has failed at carving out the niche necessary to be profitable.

Second, the Northeast Alliance was killed by the DOJ because AA and B6 combined still was larger than any other airline in NYC and the DOJ recognized that size would be uncompetitive given the means by which AA/B6 was doing it.

and third, the whole reason for the NEA was because AA was trying to find a way to use the LGA and JFK slots which it was not using even before covid. AA still has to figure out how to compete in LGA on its own.

and finally, AA is the largest airline in S. Florida. There is no way that B6, which still has a substantial presence in S. Florida is going to be allowed to combine w/ the airline that has a largest presence.

The incessant AA and B6 will combine fails to realize that B6 has lower costs than any of the big 3. Acquiring B6's assets means that AA has to compete at AA's costs, not B6's. AA has proven for 20 years that it can't compete in NYC at legacy carrier costs.

If B6 has to start selling assets, the DOJ will ensure they go to low cost or ultra low cost carriers - which is the only reason that B6 was created in the first place.

Lolololol David, yes they could identify as the pacific northwest and we have to agree

Appreciate you using the real name of the airport