JetBlue will significantly slow its growth as it tries to return to profitability. As part of that plan the company’s backlog of 44 A321neo planes will not arrive before the end of the decade. The move helps to save billions in capital costs, while also playing into a dramatic shift in the route network and target customer.
Making business out of leisure travel
The carrier spent plenty of time and energy over the years trying to grow its share of business travel. In Boston and New York City the route network evolved to support the multiple daily frequencies of flights typically desired by business travelers flying to other major cities. And while JetBlue it is not walking away from that completely, it will no longer try to structure its network around those customers.
Instead, as President Marty St George explained in the earnings call, “specifically in New York, we’ve shifted capacity out of corporate-focused routes and into leisure and VFR routes.” He followed that up, noting that JetBlue expects corporate customers will continue to fly with the airline. “There’s no walking away from the corporate market. I think the better way to describe it is we’re not really designing the network for corporate like we once did.”
Read more: Winter is coming: JetBlue to shutter seven stations, add Manchester, NH in service shakeup
The moves include closing 15 different stations, including a handful that were seen as critical to the business travel market. At the same time, however, new stations are opening. Islip (ISP) and Manchester (MHT) are two key new airports for the airline, while growth in Providence (PVD) and Hartford (BDL) is significant. Notably, all four of those airports have also seen significant recent growth from Avelo and Breeze, airlines also targeting the leisure market.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
“We’re very excited about where we have moved airplanes to take advantage of opportunities right away, especially with our focus on being the best leisure airline in the East Coast,” St. George explains. “I think we are establishing ourselves even more so as the best leisure choice for our customers. I’m not taking any victory laps right now as far as this network transformation. But I think we’re very, very optimistic about these moves. And yes, we are starting to see benefits.”
Limiting European growth
While the New England growth can be handled with the existing fleet (and ongoing transition from E190s to A220s, which will complete by the end of 2025), Europe will be a less significant part of the company’s plans over the next five years. Without the new A321LR and A321XLR planes the company is capped on expansion potential.
Read more: JetBlue drops suite doors on some Mint flights
Service to Edinburgh and Dublin was already seasonal. For the coming winter JetBlue had already announced plans to suspend its Gatwick services and reduce Paris flights. Those cuts were compounded last week with the seasonal suspension of its Boston-Amsterdam route. CEO Joanna Geraghty explained those moves as “optimizing the transatlantic markets to reflect the seasonality of that geography.”
Geraghty described the transatlantic business as “an important part of the JetBlue network” and says the company is “further learning how to best ensure that those routes are profitable and driving earnings for the business.” At the same time, she spins the significant seasonal reductions as having an impact on growth, “but by no means a retreat.”
Read more: Big Front Seat is dead; long live Go Big!
The carrier still has some options for carrying passengers deeper into Europe, as a codeshare with British Airways was recently approved by the US Department of Transportation.
What’s Minty?
Without the winter services to Europe, JetBlue must find destinations closer to home that can support the company’s Mint premium cabin services. Phoenix and San Juan have been announced so far. New York-LA will also see the A321LRs over the winter on some trips, boosting the premium capacity to 24 seats from 16.
But without a clear premium demand in shorter markets, shifting more of Europe to seasonal puts pressure on the fleet configuration.
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