JetBlue to Cut Several JFK Routes in Profitability Rush

DALLAS — JetBlue (B6) has told its staff that it would axe routes and services in an attempt to increase profitability.

In a memo reviewed by CNBC, the airline said that it would cease flight operations from New York's JFK to Portland, Oregon; San Jose, California; Westchester, New York; and Martha's Vineyard. B6 will also discontinue services from JFK to Ponce, Puerto Rico, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in October.

Selective Flying

JetBlue's vice president of network planning and airline alliances, Dave Jehn, stated that the airline would have to be "highly selective" about where B6's aircraft would fly "to turn a profit, support our overall network strategy, and offer a reliable operation." The memo said that B6 would focus more on its leisure routes, adding services to the Caribbean and Paris, France.

Dave Jehn also mentioned that JetBlue would be ending the so-called BlueCity status, a type of focus city for B6 at Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), but added that there would be a "number of options moving forward" for the airline's staff stationed there.

Jehn said the changes had been planned a month before the US$3.8 billion merger was blocked, for which B6 and Spirit Airlines (NK) jointly filed a notice of appeal today with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Featured image: N3085J JetBlue Airways Airbus A220-300 at BOS. Photo: Marry Basaria/Airways

https://airwaysmag.com/merger-dispute-jetblue-spirit-appeal/