As part of its earnings release last week JetBlue announced it was extending the life of a dozen A320 aircraft in its fleet. And N503JB, a/k/a Christine, appears to be among those returning from retirement.
The initial news simply stated “12 aircraft purchased or committed off-lease since the third quarter of 2023.” In an internal memo seen by PaxEx.Aero the company shared that N503JB, JetBlue’s first airplane, nicknamed “Christine” is among those returning to service. It was previously retired from the fleet in August 2023.
Fortunately, when passengers climb on board again they should have a much, much better experience on board. The oldest A320s in the fleet were not included in the company’s interior retrofit program, based on their imminent retirement plans. Now that they’re coming back, however, that will change.
The planes will get a “restyle” as the resume service, with the new 162 seat configuration and updated inflight entertainment system installed, matching the rest of the A320 fleet. This also means the planes will have the recently announced personalization and party mode options from Thales on the IFE kit. Alas, a dozen or so A320s will also fly with the semi-upgraded LiveTV4 kit on board.
The decision to buy out the dozen planes was made in large part due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues on the A321neo fleet. In the memo the company notes, “We are a growth airlines…But with aircraft parked for Pratt inspections we aren’t growing – we’re flying less!”
The dozen A320s won’t fully offset the lost capacity from the Pratt groundings, but it helps.
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