I don’t usually cover individual domestic route changes, but I’d consider this one to be pretty significant and noteworthy, as JetBlue continues its transition to being a leisure focused airline.
In this post:
JetBlue cuts 6x daily BOS to LGA flights
@IshrionA reports how as of April 30, 2025, JetBlue will be discontinuing service on the short 185-mile route between Boston Logan (BOS) and New York LaGuardia (LGA). The airline had planned to operate the route 6x daily using Embraer E190s.
When JetBlue exits this market, Delta will have an even more dominant position. Delta operates the route up to 15x daily, as the airline runs a shuttle service, with hourly flights from 6AM until 8PM. Meanwhile American also operates the route up to 4x daily.
Of course it’s worth mentioning that for those traveling exclusively between Boston and New York, the train is a popular option, with the Acela journey taking around 3.5 hours. While flights are typically blocked at just under 90 minutes, many people still find the train to be more efficient, since you can stay productive the whole time, and are closer to the city centers.
JetBlue will continue to operate between Boston Logan (BOS) and New York Kennedy (JFK), with up to 4x daily flights. Boston Logan, New York LaGuardia, and New York Kennedy, are three of JetBlue’s biggest hubs.
This is a significant but logical route cut
JetBlue is trying to return to profitability, as the airline has been struggling in recent years. The new management team is doing a good job making changes, and is also giving the airline more of a focus. Going back several years, JetBlue didn’t really know what it wanted to be, in terms of its network. Was it going after business travelers or leisure travelers? Was it primarily an East Coast airline, or also trying to grow on the West Coast?
Now the airline is focused on being an East Coast leisure airline, and we’re increasingly seeing a route network that reflects that:
- The Boston to New York LaGuardia route is primarily about point-to-point traffic, and targets business travelers
- While 6x daily flights is significant, it’s hard to compete with Delta’s 15x daily flights, so the airline was at a disadvantage
- JetBlue will continue to fly between Boston and New York Kennedy, offering access to more connections
Competitively, what’s noteworthy here is that pre-pandemic, American also operated an hourly shuttle service in this market, much like Delta. American cut that route in early 2022, and handed the route to JetBlue, as part of the Northeast Alliance that the two airlines briefly had. However, when that alliance ended due to intervention by the Department of Justice, American resumed the route, but with reduced frequencies.
Bottom line
As of April 30, 2025, JetBlue will be discontinuing flights between Boston Logan and New York LaGuardia. The route is currently served up to 6x daily with Embraer E190s. This is a significant but logical route cut, as JetBlue focuses on being a leisure airline.
For those who frequently travel in the market, Delta will have an even more dominant position with its hourly, 15x daily shuttle service. This won’t be great in terms of fares or competition.
What do you make of JetBlue cutting its Boston Logan to New York LaGuardia route?
Do you know that for some time in the early days of jet travel, like up to the 1980s, the Delta Shuttle was a true "shuttle" (which is why it was named that), in that you could walk up 30 minutes prior to departure and buy a ticket at the fixed price. And if the plane was full, they would add another departure to handle any extra passengers. Crazy. Economic reality and the silliness of that was soon fixed.
Delta didn't have anything to do with the shuttles until the demise of Pan Am, and that was in the 1990s, not 1980s.
The 1980s were nowhere near "the early days of jet travel," as short and longhaul jet travel had been a thing for decades already. Hell, the Soviets had already started and ended their passenger supersonic jet operations, before the 1980s even began.
Lastly, shuttle service was not "soon fixed," seeing as Delta's...
Delta didn't have anything to do with the shuttles until the demise of Pan Am, and that was in the 1990s, not 1980s.
The 1980s were nowhere near "the early days of jet travel," as short and longhaul jet travel had been a thing for decades already. Hell, the Soviets had already started and ended their passenger supersonic jet operations, before the 1980s even began.
Lastly, shuttle service was not "soon fixed," seeing as Delta's (and the Trump then USAirways Shuttles), continued for decades afterwards. American hopped in for a bit. Delta added a west coast shuttle operation, with similar structure, from 2013-2018.
JetBlue is also starting a Boston to Islip route, making it much more convenient for Long Island travelers. Makes sense to cut the LGA route instead of having flights out of 3 New York airports
Pretty bad signs for B6 ngl. JetBlue is like 95% point to point traffic and not much on connections.
LGA matters because it's an O&D for BOS travelers, even if B6 has JFK, people going between Boston and NYC want to fly to LGA.