JetBlue Offers Flight Attendants Unpaid Leave, Warns Of Reduced Flying

JetBlue has just revealed that it expects it will need significantly fewer flight attendants for this upcoming winter, as flagged by @xJonNYC. The airline is now offering flight attendants unpaid leave, and is warning that those who stick around may get reduced hours.

JetBlue reducing flying schedule for winter

JetBlue has just had a meeting with TWU Local 579, the union representing roughly 7,000 JetBlue flight attendants. This comes as the airline is finalizing its schedule for the IATA winter season (which goes from late October through late March).

The airline has revealed that it has significantly reduced demand for flight attendants during that period, and expects that the monthly need for flight attendants will be reduced by roughly 39,000 hours systemwide.

The union is warning that this could impact the work-life balance of flight attendants, and also pose challenges. The union states the following:

• Flight attendants are being offered unpaid leave ranging from one to six months; this could kick in as soon as September 2024, and could go as far as February 2025
• The company states that those flight attendants who do stick around may see reduced hours, and since flight attendants are paid hourly, that means their income could be reduced
• There will also be more flight attendants on reserve, which is viewed as undesirable, since you have little control over your schedule and where you fly

We’re seeing this reduced flying for a couple of reasons. For one, the airline plans to trim its schedule, given the general industry overcapacity we’re seeing. Beyond that, JetBlue also plans to reduce staffing on all transatlantic flight, to just four flight attendants.

Historically these flights have had five flight attendants, so expect that this could impact service levels. However, we partly already knew about this change, as JetBlue is locking the doors of Mint business class seats on Airbus A321neos, in order to be able to reduce staffing.

To do some very rough math here on how big these reductions are, JetBlue flight attendants work an average of maybe 80-100 hours per month. So if you reduce flight attendant hours by 39,000 per month, that’s the equivalent of ~390-490 flight attendants, give or take. That’s somewhere in the range of 5-10% of overall flight attendant hours (let me again emphasize that this is very rough math).

These changes are probably necessary

The airline industry over the past couple of years has been absolutely wild:

• After the pandemic, airlines couldn’t hire fast enough to keep up with demand
• While the “big three” US carriers have done reasonably well thanks to strong long haul and premium leisure demand, plus robust loyalty programs, it has been a different story for other airlines, including JetBlue
• After not being able to hire fast enough, airlines are now largely dealing with having too many staff
• Despite many airline executives complaining about not being able to get enough aircraft due to Boeing delivery delays and Airbus Pratt & Whitney engine issues, they’re also now starting to complain about industry overcapacity

These changes from JetBlue are probably wise. For one, many airline executives have signaled plans to cut capacity this winter, in hopes of improving yields. That applies to JetBlue as well.

Furthermore, JetBlue is in major cost cutting mode, as the company’s new management team is trying to turn around the airline, and return to profitability (which is no small task).

In all honesty, I think JetBlue is on the right track. The airline needs to focus on operational reliability, controlling costs, and introducing more premium buy-up options for customers.

JetBlue has historically tried to offer a great passenger experience for everyone, but hasn’t been able to command a revenue premium for that. While it would be nice if that business model worked, it just doesn’t, which is why JetBlue is now making some difficult and necessary changes.

Bottom line

JetBlue has warned of reduced demand for flight attendants this winter, due to a combination of a reduced schedule, plus reduced staffing on transatlantic flights. The airline is now offering up to six months of unpaid leave flight attendants. Those who stick around may find themselves with reduced hours, or on reserve more than they would have otherwise been.

What do you make of JetBlue’s flight attendant staffing situation?