JetBlue Shakes Up Network, Cancels Some Routes To London, Paris, Miami

JetBlue Shakes Up Network, Cancels Some Routes To London, Paris, Miami

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JetBlue is currently working on returning to profitability, and part of that strategy involves the airline optimizing its network by cutting unprofitable flying (fair enough, eh?). For example, so far this year, the airline has redeployed about 20% of its flying to focus on profitable markets, with the focus being on East Coast leisure flying.

JetBlue has just internally revealed its latest set of route changes, as reported by @xJonNYC. There are some interesting updates here.

JetBlue changing up Europe flying in summer of 2025

In 2021, we saw JetBlue launch transatlantic flights, though unfortunately this hasn’t turned out to be the gold mine that the airline hoped. We’ve seen the airline massively reduce its transatlantic flying in winter, and now the airline is also planning some changes to its transatlantic network for next summer:

  • In 2025, JetBlue won’t operate its seasonal New York (JFK) to London Gatwick (LGW) flight, instead focusing on London Heathrow (LHR) flights; the airline will continue to fly to Gatwick out of Boston (BOS)
  • In 2025, JetBlue won’t resume its seasonal second daily New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) flight, so that will just be operated once daily out of both New York and Boston (BOS)

JetBlue explains that these routes didn’t meet the carrier’s financial expectations. In the summer of 2024, JetBlue operated 13 daily flights across the Atlantic, and the airline expects that number to remain the same next summer. The company plans to announce new transatlantic routes next week, so we’ll soon find out what they are.

JetBlue is struggling with transatlantic flying

JetBlue cuts Miami, San Jose, Seattle, and more

JetBlue has also made the decision to cut several other routes within the Americas, all due to lack of profitability:

  • JetBlue will exit San Jose, California (SJC), altogether; the airline flies there seasonally from Boston (BOS)
  • JetBlue will discontinue its New York (JFK) to Miami (MIA) route, as it’s just too competitive, and the airline can’t compete with American or Delta, the carrier’s only remaining service to Miami will be from Boston (BOS)
  • JetBlue will discontinue flights from New York (JFK) to Austin (AUS), Houston (IAH), and Milwaukee (MKE)
  • JetBlue will discontinue flights from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Jacksonville (JAX) and from Westchester (HPN) to Charleston (CHS)
  • JetBlue will transition several routes to being winter seasonal, including those from Boston (BOS) to Grenada (GND), Boston (BOS) to Phoenix (PHX), and New York (JFK) to Tulum (TQO)
  • JetBlue will end Mint service to Seattle from both Boston (BOS) and New York (JFK), and those routes will be operated by planes without premium cabins

JetBlue plans to announce new routes in the coming weeks, since obviously canceling the above routes frees up some additional capacity.

JetBlue is cutting Mint service to Seattle

Bottom line

JetBlue is continuing to optimize its network, cutting unprofitable routes, and instead deploying capacity in markets where the airline thinks it can make more money. We’ll see the airline cut some London and Paris flights in the summer of 2025, and JetBlue is also pulling out of the New York to Miami market, as it can’t compete with the legacies.

Obviously JetBlue management has access to the numbers, so there’s a reason these services are being cut.

What do you make of JetBlue’s latest network updates?

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  1. Jerry Diamond

    Another route cut from AUS. If Austin gets many more service cuts, they may as well shut the airport down.

  2. Tom R Guest

    Slightly surprised they ever started Dublin (let alone keeping it) given their code sharing with Aer Lingus and even using the same terminal at BOS & JFK for years (though EI moved recently at JFK) and flight times that almost mirror EI rather than supplement. Meanwhile they aren't pulling down Transatlantic service per se, they're about to launch another route so will just be redeploying the slots for that. My guess would be LIS/MAD or...

    Slightly surprised they ever started Dublin (let alone keeping it) given their code sharing with Aer Lingus and even using the same terminal at BOS & JFK for years (though EI moved recently at JFK) and flight times that almost mirror EI rather than supplement. Meanwhile they aren't pulling down Transatlantic service per se, they're about to launch another route so will just be redeploying the slots for that. My guess would be LIS/MAD or maybe they'll serve MAN instead of LGW given several airlines pulled out of MAN - NYC. Additionally with the P&W engine issue many of the 321neo/LRs are going to be out for maintenance during 2025

  3. Anthony Diamond

    1) Interesting that carriers all seem to have taken away flat beds from JFK to SEA. That’s a long flight, it would make sense for there to be some flat bed capacity.

    2) JetBlue desperately needs lounges at JFK. At Delta’s Terminal 4 at JFK, Delta flyers have access to as many as six lounges depending on their class of service and credit cards (two SkyClubs, a Delta One Lounge, Centirion Lounge, Chase Sapphire...

    1) Interesting that carriers all seem to have taken away flat beds from JFK to SEA. That’s a long flight, it would make sense for there to be some flat bed capacity.

    2) JetBlue desperately needs lounges at JFK. At Delta’s Terminal 4 at JFK, Delta flyers have access to as many as six lounges depending on their class of service and credit cards (two SkyClubs, a Delta One Lounge, Centirion Lounge, Chase Sapphire lounge, Virgin Clubhouse). That has to be impacting JetBlue’s competitive positioning there

    2 more replies
  4. snic Diamond

    Not too surprising about SJC. I've booked a flight to SJC several times in my life, and every time, the airline canceled the route before my travel date. Every single time. The closest I've ever come to that airport was driving by it on 101.

  5. Brutus Member

    ‘We saw JetBlue launch transatlantic flights, though unfortunately this hasn’t turned out to be the gold mine that the airline hoped.’

    That made me smile; any airline CEO who believes that North Atlantic routes are a gold mine should have his head examined and start looking somewhere else for underserved, yet profitable niches.

    JFK or BOS to LHR or LGW?
    Oh, that’s shrewd; no one else flies there, or do they?

    B.

  6. LAXLonghorn Guest

    B6 should go the Ryanair way, or similar...Orly instead of CDG, Stansted instead of LHR, Manchester or Birmingham, Belfast, etc etc...

    1 more reply
  7. CXX Guest

    Mint is just such a weird product. Amazing onboard but not even a lounge to use at the ground. In the JFK B6 terminal, you can't even have other options like Amex/Chase.

  8. Paper Boarding Pass Guest

    Maybe B6 needs to knock on Alaska's door while the direction of the wind at the DOJ is changing. Alaska is focused on the west coast, Hawaii is transPacific, and JetBlue takes care of the east coast. They could develop a mid-west footprint as time progresses.
    The window of opportunity is only four years long with no guarantee of a renewal...and could be shorter with an mid-term impeachment!!
    Call it Pan Pacific, or...

    Maybe B6 needs to knock on Alaska's door while the direction of the wind at the DOJ is changing. Alaska is focused on the west coast, Hawaii is transPacific, and JetBlue takes care of the east coast. They could develop a mid-west footprint as time progresses.
    The window of opportunity is only four years long with no guarantee of a renewal...and could be shorter with an mid-term impeachment!!
    Call it Pan Pacific, or TransPacific, North American, or InterContinental, or TransContinental, or Columbia Air, or .......??
    The clock is ticking!!

  9. James S Guest

    When they tightened the pitch in economy and started charging for bags I stopped flying with them. Clearly I wasn't the only one

    1. Mark Guest

      Who did you start flying instead?

  10. KlimaBXsst Guest

    What can one say… B6 NK F9 WN are all doing things to ensure a path to greater profitably and capitalize upon the niche they think they know best. Let’s hope their parachute protected upper management gambles are the right ones for their frontline dependents.

    This ain’t Amtrak chicas!

  11. AAflyer Guest

    I would think B6 if they really wanted to do TATL would be better off going to secondary cities in Europe where they can compete better. Maybe when they get XLRs they can fly deeper into Europe where a better coach product matters more. Marginally better meals and space matters less on short TATL hops.

    How they thought they could compete going to London or Paris, with a sub-par schedule, without good feed in both...

    I would think B6 if they really wanted to do TATL would be better off going to secondary cities in Europe where they can compete better. Maybe when they get XLRs they can fly deeper into Europe where a better coach product matters more. Marginally better meals and space matters less on short TATL hops.

    How they thought they could compete going to London or Paris, with a sub-par schedule, without good feed in both directions when the competition has both (AF+DL or AA+BA or UA's big EWR) is hard to imagine.

    NYC-IAH is a sad example of post-NEA ... it went from 2-3x AA (LGA-IAH) + 1-2 B6 I think (JFK-IAH) and now both are gone. I'm sure UA especially is thrilled with that.

    2 more replies
  12. JB Guest

    It's interesting to me that B6 will stop flying between JFK and MIA. I flew that route with B6 a few times throughout 2022, and the flight was fully booked each time (and sometimes that route was operated by aircraft with Mint, and some lucky passengers would get those seats assigned at the gate if all other seats were taken).

    Cutting Mint from Seattle makes sense, given how that has typically been the cheapest...

    It's interesting to me that B6 will stop flying between JFK and MIA. I flew that route with B6 a few times throughout 2022, and the flight was fully booked each time (and sometimes that route was operated by aircraft with Mint, and some lucky passengers would get those seats assigned at the gate if all other seats were taken).

    Cutting Mint from Seattle makes sense, given how that has typically been the cheapest route to fly JetBlue Mint in terms of the cost vs flying time.

  13. JustinDev Guest

    I did not see how they were going to make transatlantic work. That was doomed to failure. If I were them, I would throw more services at Central/South America and the Caribbean.

    1 more reply
  14. Jetport New Member

    Sounds like they are going to have far too many Mint aircraft with all these cuts, especially in the winter. Will they park some Mint aircraft or refurbish some into normal domestic configuration.

    1. DT Diamond

      I would imagine they will redeploy them on other routes. I think their experiment with ski destinations (BZN, YVR) getting Mint in the winter was a smart move... they should extend that to other underserved ski cities (Jackson Hole, MTJ for Telluride, maybe Spokane or Boise). JFK-based flyers who are spending thousands on a ski vacation will pay extra for Mint.

  15. Jim Guest

    What'll happen to the JFK slots - and the DCA slots from an earlier article - that B6 is abandoning? Given how many pixels are usually lit up over DCA slots, you'd think there'd be a bidding war by now...

    7 more replies
  16. ImmortalSynn Guest

    Man, SJC has really taken it on the chin, in the last few years:

    they've lost British Airways, Lufthansa, Air China, Hainan, All Nippon, AeroMexico, Air Canada, and now today JetBlue.

    1. Watson Diamond

      It's really unfortunate. It's a good airport and more people live in San Jose than San Francisco. I was particularly surprised that VN chose to operate out of SFO given that SJC has the third largest community of Vietnamese in the US.

  17. George Guest

    Does Jetblue have any agrement with TAP?
    I can sense Portugal and maybe Spain?

    1 more reply
  18. MP Guest

    I am selfishly (and probably unrealistically) rooting for more PBI flying with the growing population in the area and the fact that B6 current routes out of there (including seasonal LAX) seem to do well. PBI-NAS would be a fun short haul to try for next winter and the Caribbean is a strength for B6. PWM to SE Florida seems like a missing link too (JetBlue, Frontier and Breeze all fly PWM-MCO and Breeze flies...

    I am selfishly (and probably unrealistically) rooting for more PBI flying with the growing population in the area and the fact that B6 current routes out of there (including seasonal LAX) seem to do well. PBI-NAS would be a fun short haul to try for next winter and the Caribbean is a strength for B6. PWM to SE Florida seems like a missing link too (JetBlue, Frontier and Breeze all fly PWM-MCO and Breeze flies PWM-RSW), so maybe PWM-FLL? FLL-AVL might make sense in the summer and allow people to avoid Allegiant. The long-haul situation seems bad and you wonder what they do with the A321LRs if there's not enough demand to Europe. Fly them between FLL and GRU/GIG for New Year's and Carnival?

  19. Tim Dunn Diamond

    in other industry news, McKinney National airport in Texas has approved building a new terminal, which all but guarantees that WN will start service there.

    Restrictions that go all the way back to the Wright Amendment limiting AA and WN's service at DFW and DAL end next year.

    9 more replies
  20. Tim Dunn Diamond

    It is clear that B6 was doing a whole lot that didn't make money. When you get to this point, you have to get serious about cutting what does not work -and that has clearly been alot. They have a slide in their investor presentation today that shows all of the routes that they have cut so far.

    It is beyond ironic that they are having to pull out of markets where AA needed B6...

    It is clear that B6 was doing a whole lot that didn't make money. When you get to this point, you have to get serious about cutting what does not work -and that has clearly been alot. They have a slide in their investor presentation today that shows all of the routes that they have cut so far.

    It is beyond ironic that they are having to pull out of markets where AA needed B6 to add muscle. Given that the DOJ said "no" AA is really competing and B6 cannot.

    Delta is the big winner in all of this. B6 is a weaker, smaller carrier where DL is the largest carrier at JFK and BOS and the largest legacy at FLL.

  21. stogieguy7 Diamond

    There are diminishing returns when it comes to cutting your way to success. Sure, the umprofitable fat needs to go - but once you run out of that you start gutting the muscle too. Not saying JetBlue is at that point, but they're getting there quickly. No more JFK-MIA or JFK-MKE flights? You may argue that they aren;'t competitive, but how competitive are you when you can't offer flights to pretty routine destination in your...

    There are diminishing returns when it comes to cutting your way to success. Sure, the umprofitable fat needs to go - but once you run out of that you start gutting the muscle too. Not saying JetBlue is at that point, but they're getting there quickly. No more JFK-MIA or JFK-MKE flights? You may argue that they aren;'t competitive, but how competitive are you when you can't offer flights to pretty routine destination in your supposed home market? Bad enough that they're behind DL in BOS and basically irrelevant anywhere else in the world. But even JFK isn't looking great.

    These are bad signs, folks. Playing the short term while ignoring the bigger picture.

    1 more reply
  22. yoloswag420 Guest

    Wow crazy they can't make Seattle work, as one of the top domestic O&D markets from NYC and they're even cutting Mint making them basically completely undesirable on this very long transcon market.

    5 more replies
  23. George Romey Guest

    Looks like more and more JetBlue needs to be acquired. Couldn't make MIA work.

  24. Adam Auxier Guest

    If I was JetBlue, i would go all in on Latin/Caribbean flying the AA has a monopoly on many routes and there is too little competition. JetBlue can't compete transatlantically, but they can in Latin America.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Mark Guest

Why do you post “in other industry news” on a completely unrelated story? Serious question, why don’t you start your own blog?

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ImmortalSynn Guest

Man, SJC has really taken it on the chin, in the last few years: they've lost British Airways, Lufthansa, Air China, Hainan, All Nippon, AeroMexico, Air Canada, and now today JetBlue.

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Adam Auxier Guest

If I was JetBlue, i would go all in on Latin/Caribbean flying the AA has a monopoly on many routes and there is too little competition. JetBlue can't compete transatlantically, but they can in Latin America.

3
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