JetBlue Cuts Los Angeles-Fort Lauderdale Routes

DALLAS — JetBlue Airways (B6) has announced plans to cut several routes from several destinations in an internal memo. These reductions follow additional service adjustments that the airline announced in January 2024.

The upcoming service cuts are wide-ranging but will primarily affect B6's operations at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).

Service Reductions

The effective date of the LAX and FLL route cuts has not been announced; however, a complete list of affected routes has been announced. FLL will experience route reductions from Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Nashville (BNA), New Orleans (MSY), and Salt Lake City (SLC).

Los Angeles (LAX) will no longer have service to Cancún (CUN), Las Vegas (LAS), Liberia (LIR) in Costa Rica, Miami (MIA), Puerto Vallarta (PVR), Reno (RNO), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA). Additionally, capacity in Los Angeles will be decreased from 34 flights per day to 24.

Effective June 13, 2024, JetBlue will also cease service to Kansas City (MCI), Missouri; Bogota (BOG), Colombia; Quito (UIO), Ecuador; and Lima (LIM), Peru. B6 stated that these routes were unprofitable, as reported by Skift.

In addition to the LAX and FLL pullback, B6 will eliminate flights from Tampa (TPA) to Aguadilla (BQA), Puerto Rico; Orlando (MCO) to Salt Lake City (SLC); and New York (JFK) to Detroit (DTW).

A Focus on Major Routes, Cities

JetBlue's VP of Network Planning, Dave Jehn, noted that these markets were underperforming. These changes will allow the airline to shift planes to better-performing routes on the East Coast and the Caribbean and appeal to visiting family and friends travelers, which some analysts have said would be a positive step toward profitability.

Jehn also said these changes should help improve its operations, a facet the airline has struggled with in recent years. The New York-based carrier is heavily focused in the northeast US and is prone to air traffic control or weather delays. It has also been affected by the Pratt & Whitney (PW) geared turbofan engine problems that require the grounding and inspection of many Airbus A320s.

These service reductions can be attributed to dismantling the tie-up with Spirit Airlines (NK) and the breakup of the alliance with American Airlines (AA). JetBlue had staked its growth and ability to battle the larger US carriers on the successful outcome of both ventures, but now that both have been blocked, the airline must achieve these goals on its own.

At the JPMorgan Industrials conference in New York on March 12, B6's new CEO, Joanna Geraghty, recently stated that both were "distractions" and that it was time for B6 to return to its bread and butter by growing independently and focusing on improving metrics like operational performance and profit.

We’ve got to fully leverage our unique position in the market, and with three years of distractions associated with the NEA and associated with Spirit, we’ve got a lot of work to do to get JetBlue back to profitability. JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said at the JPMorgan Industrials Conference.