JetBlue has cut scores of routes across the US, including several flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport to other major American cities.
The budget airline is axing flights from JFK to Austin, Houston, Miami and Milwaukee.
It is also cutting routes from Westchester, New York, to Charleston, South Carolina, and between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
JetBlue is closing down all flights from San Jose entirely, it said, and removing flights between JFK and London Gatwick airport.
The airline is also changing several routes – including one between Boston and Phoenix, which will now become a winter seasonal route.
Flights from Seattle will no longer offer JetBlue’s premium ‘Mint’ seats from April, it said.
While it is not known when the flights will stop running, the airline confirmed to DailyMail.com that the changes will not go into effect until well into 2025, and will not impact holiday travel this year.
‘Most of our customers impacted by these changes will be able to select alternate flight options themselves on JetBlue.com. Where alternate routes are not available, customers will be provided with a refund,’ the company said in a statement.
JetBlue has cut scores of routes across the US, including several flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport to other major American cities
JetBlue said it was removing these ‘underperforming’ routes, in its latest move to boost profitability.
It said ending the service between JFK and Miami would mean it was over-staffed in the Florida city, so it is working with crew members on options, such as working in other cities it serves.
‘Florida remains a strong geography for JetBlue, however post-COVID we haven’t been profitable in Miami due to the dominance of legacy carriers like American and Delta there,’ wrote Dave Jehn, JetBlue’s vice president of network planning and airline partnerships, in a staff note seen by CNBC.
The carrier will continue to serve Miami from Boston.
JetBlue will announce some new European services next week, the memo reportedly said.
These latest changes were announced after the airline said its revenue and bookings have come in better than expected for November and December this year – news that sent shares up more than 8 percent on Wednesday.
JetBlue said customers who are affected by the changes can select alternate flight options or receive a refund if other routes are not available
While it is not known when the flights will stop running, the airline confirmed to DailyMail.com that the changes will not go into effect until well into 2025
It comes after a Senate subcommittee report released this month revealed publicly for the first time how much airline staff get paid for cracking down on carry-on bags on budget airlines.
The report did not mention JetBlue, but instead revealed how Frontier and Spirit paid gate agents a huge $26 million in commission between 2022 and 2023 ‘to catch passengers allegedly not following airline bag policies, often forcing those passengers to pay a bag fee or miss their flight.’
Frontier workers can earn as much as $10 for each bag a passenger is forced to check in at the gate, according to the report.
Spirit employees, meanwhile, can earn $5 for charging for an oversize carry-on at the gate.
Carry-on bags are not included in basic fares for Frontier or Spirit, the latter of which filed for bankruptcy protection last month amid a long run of quarterly losses.
Instead, customers can bring a smaller ‘personal item’ on board for free, but are charged on the spot at the gate if this is deemed too large.
Staff could ‘abuse’ the bonus program in order to earn more, the report said, by unfairly categorizing an item as too large in order to collect a fee.
It comes after several social media videos have gone viral, showing furious customers being charged for personal items on Frontier which appear to fit into the bag checker at the gate.
