About six months ago, I wrote a post about how I think it makes sense for JetBlue to introduce a first class product on all of its flights, rather than just offering its Mint business class product in select premium markets.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting the airline should introduce an international first class product above business class, but rather I’m referring to a standard domestic first class product, similar to what you’ll find on American, Delta, United, etc.
At the time, I acknowledged it wasn’t realistic in the moment, since JetBlue was in the process of acquiring Spirit, and reducing aircraft seat count even further wouldn’t have gone over well with regulators. However, with JetBlue’s takeover of Spirit having been blocked, I wanted to revisit this topic.
During its earnings call earlier this week, JetBlue management shared a new strategy for returning to profitability. This included “evolving our product offering and network to reflect customer trends, including a focus on premium leisure.”
I sure hope this includes introducing a first class product — if there has ever been a time to make a radical change and embrace a new strategy, this is it. Let’s talk a bit more about that.
In this post:
JetBlue was right not to have first class when it launched
Let me start by acknowledging that when JetBlue launched just over two decades ago, not offering a first class product was absolutely the right choice. At the time:
- US airlines lost money on first class, as they priced it way too high, and it was full of people upgrading; airlines have gotten much better at getting people to shell out for the perks they value
- Ultra low cost carriers didn’t exist, so it’s not like there was constantly downward pressure on JetBlue’s economy fares, so the airline saw value in differentiating itself in economy
- JetBlue was incredibly innovative by only having one class of service, while nowadays that’s common on many airlines
- JetBlue didn’t have its Mint business class on premium transcontinental and transatlantic flights
- US airlines weren’t making as much money on their loyalty programs, and the availability of premium cabins is a big selling point that drives engagement in these programs
But the truth is that the airline business has evolved a lot over the years, and what worked over 20 years ago won’t necessarily work anymore today. I mean, heck, JetBlue founder David Neeleman launched low cost carrier Breeze a couple of years ago, and even has first class-style seats on that. Clearly even his thoughts on this have evolved over time.
Why JetBlue should offer first class fleetwide
Let me share my argument for why JetBlue should introduce a premium cabin product on all routes, beyond the current extra legroom economy seats. Let me also state that I don’t think JetBlue should have flat beds on all routes (like in Mint business class). Rather the airline should keep Mint on premium routes, and then introduce a first class product on domestic routes that’s similar to what you’ll find on other airlines.
JetBlue has done an amazing job differentiating its Mint business class soft product, and the airline should do the same if it introduces first class on more routes (with tasty meals, cocktails, good coffee, etc.). With that out of the way, let me share the main reasons I think first class throughout the fleet makes sense for JetBlue.
JetBlue is in premium markets
I don’t think there’s another airline that has such a high percentage of routes in premium point-to-point markets. I mean, JetBlue has some of its biggest hubs in Boston and New York, and those are markets with a ton of wealth, and where there’s demand for first class.
JetBlue’s lack of first class causes many people to book away from the airline, and instead choose competitors.
JetBlue could introduce first class efficiently
In terms of aircraft footprint, JetBlue is very well positioned to introduce first class. In the long run, the airline will operate Airbus A220 and Airbus A320 family aircraft (the Embraer E190s are being retired):
- The A220 is an aircraft where first class can be introduced very efficiently, as you lose only one seat per row, since economy is in a 2-3 configuration
- On the A320 it’s the same as on most airlines, where you’d have a 2-2 configuration, compared to 3-3 configuration in economy
But the point is that in the long run, roughly half of JetBlue’s fleet without Mint business class will be A220s, and those are the single planes on which you can most efficiently introduce first class. This is why Breeze Airways even has first class style seats on its A220s, even though the airline is a low cost carrier.
There’s another point to be made here — JetBlue currently offers the most legroom of any US airline in coach. I hate to say it, but JetBlue shouldn’t do that. The airline isn’t getting a revenue premium for it, and honestly, no US airline has ever successfully managed to establish a worthwhile revenue premium to do something like that (American had “Moor Room Throughout Coach” back in the day, and dropped that too).
It’s great to offer more legroom as an upsell opportunity, but we’ve seen time and again that JetBlue can’t get away with charging a fare premium despite having more legroom, free Wi-Fi, personal televisions, and more.
This could all fit into the same project, and would mean the opportunity cost of adding first class would be minimal.
It would feed into JetBlue’s long haul network
JetBlue has started operating transatlantic flights using Airbus A321LRs. While those are primarily targeted at point-to-point passengers, JetBlue would be a much more compelling airline for connecting premium passengers if there were a premium cabin on connections as well.
If someone is looking to fly business class from Tampa to London (as an example), they’d be much more likely to fly with JetBlue if they could fly in a premium cabin on both flights, rather than just one.
First class would greatly enhance JetBlue TrueBlue
Loyalty programs can be huge profit centers for airlines. This is primarily through co-brand credit card agreements. One of the things that makes people interested in accruing rewards with a program or going for status is the lure of traveling in a premium cabin.
By having a premium product throughout its fleet, JetBlue could see a huge increase in members engaged in the TrueBlue loyalty program, and also a lot more spending on co-branded credit cards. That’s not to say the airline should necessarily be giving these seats away, but there would be a huge halo effect here.
JetBlue has hubs in some of the biggest centers of wealth in the United States, and therefore with people who spend a lot on credit cards. The airline is giving up a golden opportunity.
First class would help JetBlue maximize revenue
Airlines maximize revenue on flights in two primary ways — by filling as many seats as possible, and by getting as much revenue as possible from each passenger. Of course airlines would love to have a 100% load factor, but that’s just not realistic.
JetBlue’s average load factor for 2023 was 83%, which is respectable. On most JetBlue flights, you have some number of open seats (prior to standbys, etc.). So instead replacing those with first class (which you can sell at a higher cost) seems like a win-win.
As much as the temptation is to install as many seats as you can, that’s only so valuable if you can’t fill all of the seats.
JetBlue could reduce flight attendant staffing on A320s
Typically the seat count on a particular aircraft isn’t a coincidence. Per the FAA, you need at least one flight attendant for every 50 passengers. Airlines make a lot of decisions based on that. For example, JetBlue’s A321s feature exactly 200 seats, and that’s intentional. Heck, JetBlue’s A320s initially featured exactly 150 seats, and that also wasn’t a coincidence.
Nowadays JetBlue’s A320s feature 162 seats, meaning that you need an extra flight attendant for those last 12 seats. If JetBlue introduced first class and reduced the seat count to 150 (with a similar layout to United’s A320s, with 12 first class seats, 42 extra legroom economy seats, and 96 economy seats), the airline could reduce staffing on these planes to three flight attendants. That would reduce operating costs.
First class would help JetBlue with partnerships
JetBlue has a smattering of random airline partnerships, though they’re all of fairly limited value. Essentially JetBlue provides feed to some long haul airlines, though revenue as part of these agreements is fairly limited. I mean, much of this traffic is connecting to Etihad and Qatar Airways, where passengers are traveling to India on fairly low fares. JetBlue’s per-segment revenue there is pretty low.
By introducing first class, JetBlue would have more revenue potential for these kinds of arrangements, for travelers connecting to first or business class. After all, long haul premium cabin tickets are among the most lucrative for airlines, and JetBlue could at least get a small slice of that.
Bottom line
Sometimes it’s fun to play armchair CEO, and this is one of those situations. In my opinion there’s huge merit to JetBlue evolving and introducing first class. It simply makes more sense given how the carrier’s business model and the competitive landscape has evolved over time.
JetBlue has proven that it can offer a superior business class product on some routes, so there’s no reason a competitive domestic first class product couldn’t be introduced throughout the fleet. I see huge upside to this, especially with the efficiency of installing first class on the A220.
JetBlue’s management is making it clear that the plan is to change the airline to make it more attractive to premium leisure travelers. I sure hope that includes a first class cabin!
What’s your take — do you see merit to JetBlue introducing first class? Do you think it could happen?
Stating that JetBlue started with 150 seats is not accurate. When the airline first launched, the A320 had 162 seats. It went down to 150 for some time and as you stated is now back up to 162.
With the A220 on transcon routes like YVR-JFK and YVR-BOS, it's a real shame they don't offer first class seats for better red eye sleep.
And Jetblue needs to start having airport lounges or a partnership with another airline lounge
No, the will put first class where it makes sense. The concept of legacy airlines having domestic first filled with FREE upgrades is not a good business.
JetBlue should go for it and implement domestic first. What do they have to lose?
Real State on the plane.
Agreed. And get lounges and distinguish themselves as a “boutique airline” kind of like Bangkok Airways. Smaller nicer planes, better food , cool lounges, better tech and more leg room in coach for less. We don’t need another low cost carrier and JB has a unique opportunity here. Or at least I think they do ♂️
Absolutely. I just found a great fare on JetBlue for a trip to London in the fall. I was all ready to book it in Mint, but it just didn't make sense to me to fly a connecting flight DEN-JFK-LGW with DEN-JFK in economy when, for about $500 more (each), we could fly DEN-LHR on UA in Polaris. I'd fly to Gatwick to save $1000. I'd fly with a connection to save $1000. I'm not gonna do both, plus sit in coach for four hours, to save that money.
Ben -:I agree 100%. The Premium Leisure market is currently the fastest growing segment in air travel.
JetBlue knows how to do this - and I think many customers don't opt for JetBlue and instead take one of the US3 which is generally a pathetic first class experience.
1 flight attendant would be horrible service in first class. They usually have 2 for a premium product. While 2 are in the back for 100 customers. 1 flight attendant serving drinks and food to an entire first class is not well thought out.
"There’s another point to be made here — JetBlue currently offers the most legroom of any US airline in coach. I hate to say it, but JetBlue shouldn’t do that. The airline isn’t getting a revenue premium for it…"
Please don't make Y worse just to add J. My wife likes the B6 Y experience, it's more comfortable then legacy airline Y. Let B6 compete on product, not join the race to the bottom in Y.
I'll add my voice to the chorus saying that operational reliability is the #1 thing B6 has to fix. If I'm traveling to visit friends or family, I'll fly JetBlue, but if it's a meeting or event I can't miss, I'll fly Delta.
I'd also like to see JetBlue try to leverage their premium markets more, as you said. I live near PBI, which is in a part of the state that is growing...
I'll add my voice to the chorus saying that operational reliability is the #1 thing B6 has to fix. If I'm traveling to visit friends or family, I'll fly JetBlue, but if it's a meeting or event I can't miss, I'll fly Delta.
I'd also like to see JetBlue try to leverage their premium markets more, as you said. I live near PBI, which is in a part of the state that is growing its population, can command a fare premium due to its wealthy catchment area of folks who don't always feel like connecting through Atlanta or Charlotte or driving to FLL/MIA, and which JetBlue can easily service with FLL-based crew. JetBlue has 25% of the traffic at this airport, but other than the seasonal flight to LAX, it basically offers the same flights to the NE that every other airline does. With some kind of premium seats on the new A220s, maybe we can get some more creative routes out of PBI.
Ben has mentioned this before, but JetBlue could also be more creative with its transatlantic flights. EDI is a good example, but it is a bit of a waste of the flexibility of flying A321s to use annoying mega hubs like CDG/LHR/AMS, especially without the connecting traffic in Europe. The XLR is going to open up more opportunities, but hopefully we get some routes to places like LYS and NCE instead of additional CDG frequencies.
B6 doesn't get a revenue premium for the economy product because their operations are not good. If they improve their OTP, they can start charging more for their core product. If you can fly DL and B6 for the same price and schedule most people will choose DL because they'll get you there on time.
The airline that would benefit the most from some type of Business Class would be Southwest:
- much more leg room in first two rows
- block out middle seat like Euro Business Class or Big Seats like NK
- Guaranteed Seat Reservation (and none of this reserved seat BS like the back of the plane)
- 1st & 2nd cocktail rounds for free
- free WIFI per flight leg
Southwest can support this via its high frequency and vast coverage; this would be the next logical step!!
Sounds great, but B6 would need to get its house in order:
- Focus on operations; cancelation after cancelation just alienates the cliental
- Cash flow is soooo important right now; cull the loss leader airports
- Lounges (especially BOS, LAX & NYC) would cater to the Mint crowd with 1st Class at a later date
- Pray NK merger rejected on appeal; $400M is much less expensive than $3.8B
- Pray AA wins NEA appeal; remember, cash flow and airport slots are paramount
JetBlue offering FC fleetwide would most definitely be a recipe for disaster. The costs associated with reconfiguring the cabins and purchasing the necessary tools (dishes/glassware/trays/linens) are staggering. These items do not come cheap. Then you have an extensive Catering Budget and training costs of all employees which is time consumming and disruptive to the operation. First Class domestically in the US Marketplace is generally a Loss Leader......if people are not opening their wallets to PURCHASE...
JetBlue offering FC fleetwide would most definitely be a recipe for disaster. The costs associated with reconfiguring the cabins and purchasing the necessary tools (dishes/glassware/trays/linens) are staggering. These items do not come cheap. Then you have an extensive Catering Budget and training costs of all employees which is time consumming and disruptive to the operation. First Class domestically in the US Marketplace is generally a Loss Leader......if people are not opening their wallets to PURCHASE the Product (upgrading FFs does not count) Why would anyone even consider doing it? First Class in the US is not FC from years ago and nowadays most customers expect MORE ,yet Pay less and it doesn't work that way. JetBlue going this route would be a recipe for disaster and if anyone thinks the Big Three would let it take place without responding is fooling themselves. JetBlue has hesitated even flying into the middle of the Country out of fear of being chased out of the market. I have over 40 years in the industry and the costs alone are a reason to not even contemplate it.
I like where this is going - A LCC with Business Class seating.
I don't want food on a plane, I don't need lounges at the airport (Except the clean restrooms!). I fly out of PHL and Independence Prime (When the chef is on point) has better food than the AA lounges and Centurion Lounge.
Give me on time operations with a Business Class SEAT and I will pay for that.
So have you checked out Spirit's Big Front Seat? Sounds like exactly what you're looking for (and I don't mean that sarcastically).
The question is from a business sense would first class work on all routes? Does JetBlue want to go the way of the complimentary upgrade to elite levels albeit other than for very high spend flyers (including credit card spend) free upgrades are becoming a thing of the past.
I agree with your comments. It is interesting seeing a reverse trend of LCC/ULCC moving towards more premium type services. Even Frontier is considering a business fare that includes seat selection and carry-on bag.
Outsized premium traffic has indeed been the cash cow for legacy carries this past year. Question is - if it dries up over the next year or two, and it very well may, where does that leave the already struggling JBLU? Having just invested hundreds of millions into seats they cannot fill? I think they'll take a pass on that.
upgrades are still a part of the premium experience that legacy airlines get more revenue for and includes a global loyalty program they control - not the partnerships that AS and B6 have where they are at the whims of their partners - and premium lounges.
Granted, not all legacy airlines offer good value for longhaul travel - or domestic for that matter - but customers sign up because of the scope of those airlines...
upgrades are still a part of the premium experience that legacy airlines get more revenue for and includes a global loyalty program they control - not the partnerships that AS and B6 have where they are at the whims of their partners - and premium lounges.
Granted, not all legacy airlines offer good value for longhaul travel - or domestic for that matter - but customers sign up because of the scope of those airlines and their loyalty programs.
And adding lounges adds yet another level of cost and revenue.
But if B6 is really serious about increasing revenue, they should go all-in on a premium travel experience and an FF program and lounges are much more complex and costly than a lot of low-hanging fruit including chasing market share in leisure markets by adding twice as many flights as their competitors which depresses fares.
plus, this is not the time for B6 to make its product any more costly unless it intends to give up its appeal of the NK merger
+1
Like others, I think JetBlue needs to improve its operational reliability first and foremost. The only times I’ve considered JetBlue when given a choice is when I know I can afford a substantial delay.
Oh yes , sitting in row 3 in the middle seat stinks as bad as row 33;)).
I agree 100%. Issue is JetBlue’s new CEO is a female version of Jeff Smisek.
Other issue is logistics. No way B6 will add kitchens to A320s. Then again I still don’t understand why anyone eats food in domestic first class.
Funny how there are so many armchair CEOs for airlines online.
If it was this easy and this obvious, would JetBlue not have done this already?
It didn't make that much sense pre-COVID. Since the travel recovery (2022-onwards) there's more demand for premium leisure and a move away from LCCs - all are very recent developments. You can't just go swap seats out of A320s and introduce a whole new class of service (in addition to training hundreds of FAs, securing food service, etc.) in a matter of months!
They can’t even have working Mint seats now, how will they be able to maintain mint on more flights. I was denied boarding due to malfunctioning seat. And the mint seat I was moved to the next flight was inoperable as well. ♂️
That - and no lounges and awful food results in a hard pass from me.
Great post. I agree, the time is now. B6 wasted so much time chasing acquisitions (first Virgin America and then Spirit) that they’ve let their core tenets languish. Operational reliability, route expansion, etc. They need to shake things up or they will continue their slide into irrelevance. They need to focus on improving the airline organically from within.
I’ve been flying them since the beginning, and they were a fantastic airline, and still shine...
Great post. I agree, the time is now. B6 wasted so much time chasing acquisitions (first Virgin America and then Spirit) that they’ve let their core tenets languish. Operational reliability, route expansion, etc. They need to shake things up or they will continue their slide into irrelevance. They need to focus on improving the airline organically from within.
I’ve been flying them since the beginning, and they were a fantastic airline, and still shine in some regards (in-flight service, Mint). They could become great again.
One issue is that I’m assuming none of their Core configured aircraft have ovens? So a F meal service would have to be cold items only unless they put the money into reconfiguring all their galleys.
That’s not a big deal. If they’re reconfiguring the cabin with new seats, a tweak of the galley is easy.
The passengers that fly premium cabins want to get there reliably first and foremost - and JBLU does not deliver that at all.
It makes no sense to change JBLU's cabins until they fix their operational reliability and do it on a sustained basis.
And other carriers have more than 150 seats on A320s that have first class.
10 seats of incremental revenue, well revenue managed, justifies an additional flight attendant
I don't like that idea, they'll start diluting their transcon routes with subpar domestic F.
That's what all the big 3 do, East to West Coast are up to 6 hours, it's gonna be a no from me.
All their transcons have Mint class. Why would this change anything?
They do now, but once they start adding "First Class" onto their other planes, they'll think they can get away with offering it on transcons.
They already do operate A320s on medium haul routes w/o Mint today.
as a 360/CK payor, having to be on DL/AA planes with riff raff is already bad enough. I could not handle being on a plane with anyone who flies JetBlue, even if I could be in a first class cabin or some sort. the terminal, gate, boarding, lounge, bathroom, etc. would all be in-tolerarable.
I've taken exactly 1 flight on JetBlue and that got delayed by an hour to wait for deadheading crew so they could have crew at another base. Now I am flying JetBlue in March (and I paid slightly more for it than other airlines) because I value the free wifi/extra legroom and don't mind a delay but the biggest issue now is whenever I think about booking B6 I have to ask myself whether a...
I've taken exactly 1 flight on JetBlue and that got delayed by an hour to wait for deadheading crew so they could have crew at another base. Now I am flying JetBlue in March (and I paid slightly more for it than other airlines) because I value the free wifi/extra legroom and don't mind a delay but the biggest issue now is whenever I think about booking B6 I have to ask myself whether a delay is ok or if I need to try my best to not get delayed (i.e. book Delta and not B6)
A lot of the operational reliability really hasn’t been their fault. For me this year I think they are 90%+ on time and only delay was weather related.
First thing JetBlue needs to do is fix their operational reliability. I paid $20 more for economy on Delta from LAX-BOS (same timings) because I saw the JetBlue flight got delayed more. I almost booked JetBlue due to the free wifi (which Delta does not offer on LAX-BOS surprisingly).
When i told most people about how good JetBlue is (Mint or Core), people often asked: isn't B6 a budget airline? I think they started out on the wrong foot with mismatch between branding/marketing and actual product that they offer. It's sad how poor they perform operationally versus the nice inflight product that they have. I think first they need to decide on a direction and make cohesive messaging, than offering a new product.
This airline lives in its own little universe, just like the residents of its two main focus cities. I see no reason to give them advice, encouragement, or assistance. The sooner B6 goes bankrupt, the better.
AA isn't gonna suck your dick for this post
This is a very logical post. The jetBlue brand also still has an upscale brand image to most casual travelers. They are stating to become more of a LLC brand with each year as they change to a more fee based model. Having MINT already established they could quickly scale the brand with introduction of more MINT and MINT-Lite routes.
JetBlue should have a hub in LAS or anywhere in the West, we desperately need JetBlue to beat Delta.
They tried LGB and flopped. Moved to LAX and it hasn’t done much there.
I would seriously consider moving my domestic and transatlantic business to them if this happened. Alliance membership would be the obvious next step after that, but I'd shift even without that. In general JB is just so much better than the competition.
Completely agree. FWIW it's the only credible option for transcon, particularly SFO/LAX - BOS. Mint is much better than anything else on offer - or at least more consistent. EMS over C+ anytime. They already charge more for Mint and it's worth it.
I agree and I think JetBlue can be innovative with a distinguishing model from the legacies that enables them to price lower and offer a good product, such as
* Small first class cabins to ensure paid loads. Elites get something like a plus point system for upgrades, not unlimited upgrades (I guess this is not really innovative but going back to the sticker-era, but stickers can be based on likelihood to displace a...
I agree and I think JetBlue can be innovative with a distinguishing model from the legacies that enables them to price lower and offer a good product, such as
* Small first class cabins to ensure paid loads. Elites get something like a plus point system for upgrades, not unlimited upgrades (I guess this is not really innovative but going back to the sticker-era, but stickers can be based on likelihood to displace a paid fare instead of distance.)
* Add a few more rows of Even More Space (with slightly greater pitch) to the front, sell business class with a blocked middle seat and a nice meal. Similar to Europe, although you’d still very good legroom, and the cabin size can be flexed. With JetBlue running lots of leisure routes they may need the flex to make this work competitively. I know people don’t like the blocked middle model but if pitch is similar i think it’s just as comfortable except on red eyes
I am an NYC area Delta customer that JetBlue tried to lure away, so a few comments here
1) I think the first thing JetBlue should do is make sue it has good lounge experiences at its main airport terminals - they can do this faster than refitting their entire fleet. JFK Terminal 5 needs one. At LGA, maybe they can somehow get whatever space is left for their own lounge. I'm not sure what...
I am an NYC area Delta customer that JetBlue tried to lure away, so a few comments here
1) I think the first thing JetBlue should do is make sue it has good lounge experiences at its main airport terminals - they can do this faster than refitting their entire fleet. JFK Terminal 5 needs one. At LGA, maybe they can somehow get whatever space is left for their own lounge. I'm not sure what lounge options are available at FLL/BOS. But this is something that can quickly be done.
2) I do think First Class can help. But they should also emphasize how economy can also be better than the legacies, and market that. I don't know if enough people know that.
3) They should do more to make elites strive for higher status. For example, all Mosaics board at the same time, rather than top tier Mosaics first. They will have to retain their front line staff in terms of recognizing and servicing higher elite status tiers
News about this and closing product gaps are rumored to be announced on Investor Day in May.
Agreed with the substance of your argument but disagree that B6 was “incredibly innovative” for not having first class when Southwest had been kicking around for decades
If they’re were to add first class to, among other things, allow for a complete premium experience as in your Tampa to London hypothetical, then they absolutely need a lounge as well. At a bare minimum they should have one each in JFK and BOS where their transatlantic flights depart from. Doesn’t need to follow the legacy membership model of the big 3, just Mint and top tier frequent fliers and CC holders.
Great point. Agreed that B6 should offer first class in more markets. Question is, if they offered first class on the A320, would they reduce the seat count in coach ? Or reduce legroom to compensate ?
@ Jason -- In my opinion JetBlue should take a page out of Delta's playbook and have really tight but nice cabins. People aren't willing to consistently pay extra for the extra 1-2" of legroom Delta offers. So I think the first class cabin could come from a combination of the two -- reducing seat pitch, and maybe slightly reducing seat count.
Now, the A320 is a tricky plane, since there could be an incentive...
@ Jason -- In my opinion JetBlue should take a page out of Delta's playbook and have really tight but nice cabins. People aren't willing to consistently pay extra for the extra 1-2" of legroom Delta offers. So I think the first class cabin could come from a combination of the two -- reducing seat pitch, and maybe slightly reducing seat count.
Now, the A320 is a tricky plane, since there could be an incentive to get the seat count to 150 seats, in order to eliminate a flight attendant. Whether that makes sense or not depends on the layout JetBlue considers.
Reducing the cabin crew count to three on an A320 is simply ignorant. It’s called safety.