The west coast will soon see more JetBlue love. The carrier announced significant route and operational changes today, adding Blue cities and frequencies. The moves come on the heels of launching a codeshare with JetSuiteX for some shorter west coast hops, also announced this week.
We continue to focus on leveraging the popularity of our transcon service, which is producing excellent results for our business. As we advance our West Coast strategy, we are bringing more flying options that our customers want and are growing our brand in hot new destinations that are thrilled to have JetBlue as a new option for travel. – Marty St. George, EVP, Commercial and Planning
New Blue Cities
Three new destinations join the route map with today’s announcement. Ontario, California becomes the fourth JetBlue destination in the LA Basin, joining Los Angeles, Long Beach and Burbank. JetBlue last served Ontario a decade ago and now believes the time is right to return service to the airport. Service begins September 5, 2018 and Ontario will be the 73rd nonstop JetBlue destination from JFK. Ontario Airport is growing its commercial service footprint, including service to Taipei launched earlier this year on China Airlines. The airport has not been shy about providing incentives to help grow services; it is unclear if such funds are involved in this announcement.
Ski-time Seasonal Service
Steamboat Springs, Colorado and Bozeman, Montana will both see new seasonal service this winter. The new flights will bring travelers to the slopes beginning in mid-December. For Steamboat JetBlue will offer three gateway airports: Boston, Long Beach and Fort Lauderdale. At Bozeman the service will be from Long Beach. In each case the flights will operate twice weekly.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
These “atypical” routes were rumored last November in an internal company memo. Steamboat and Montana were explicitly called out at that time. These route adds are now confirmed.
Daytime Transcon Flying
Many of JetBlue’s transcon routes are redeye flights. That’s great for aircraft utilization but not so great for travelers who prefer to sleep in beds rather than on planes. Burbank, Salt Lake City and Long Beach will each see an additional transcon frequency added during daytime hours, increasing service and options for passengers. The new Burbank and Salt Lake flights will be to JFK; Long Beach will now have a daylight flight to Boston. JetBlue is also adding a Burbank-Boston flight to the schedule, though as the overnight turn it typically uses when establishing new transcon routes. These routes all join the schedule on September 5, 2018.
Service to Palm Springs is also returning for the winter season, including Mint service during the peak two weeks around Christmas and New Years. The flights will operate late night/redeye beginning on October 10, 2018 and for the bulk of the season. It will shift to daytime flights during the two weeks of Mint service.
JetBlue’s continued commitment to successful Mint premium experience during this important flight period underscores the personalized service and luxury that defines both the airline and the visitor experience in Greater Palm Springs. – Scott White, President & CEO of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau
The daytime transcons join the schedule as Alaska Airlines similarly is growing its offerings connecting the coasts. Alaska is adding daytime flights from San Jose and Seattle to JFK, replacing one service each at LAX and SFO, with flights starting this summer.
Long Beach cuts
With all the schedule shifting happening it is also necessary to point out some cuts coming on the west coast. JetBlue is trimming operations at its Focus City in Long Beach by a third, from 34 daily flights to 23. The move comes following a decision by the city to halt progress on a customs and immigration facility at the airport, something the carrier was pushing strongly for.
JetBlue will revise flight frequencies on the following Long Beach routes starting September 5, 2018:
- Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport (LAS) – Three times daily service.
- Oakland International Airport (OAK) – Twice daily service.
- Portland International Airport (PDX) – Once daily service.
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) – Up to three times daily service.
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) – Twice daily service.
- San José International Airport (SJC) – Twice daily service.
- Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA) – Once daily service.
JetBlue will continue to offer its current frequencies of nonstop service between Long Beach and New York-JFK, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Reno–Tahoe International Airport (RNO) and Sacramento International Airport (SMF).
Previously the company would “squat” on the slots, hoping to keep them for future use. The airport authority is not keen on that behavior, however, and this time around JetBlue expects that the slots will be revoked and redistributed to other carriers seeking to add service at the airport. That process takes some time, with a rolling 90-day utilization cycle in play, but by early 2019 they should be available to other airlines. Expect to see Southwest Airlines interested in growing its recently launched services there. The airport still delivers spectacularly low yields for airlines so it is unclear just how much growth any carrier will be willing to push.
Competition within the west coast is fierce and the combination of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America creates even greater challenges for JetBlue. Picking off seasonal service with limited frequencies is a relatively low risk way to keep the brand visible in the market. It also allows the carrier to focus on routes with higher potential yields than the typical major city pairs. Of course, financial success depends on inducing some additional demand from passengers; that typically comes from lower fares. The intro prices to Steamboat and Bozeman are significantly less than the existing fares, though not necessarily cheap. This could offset the typically weak yields Long Beach is known for, even if just for a couple flights each week.
Similarly, the maturing transcon market creates competitive challenges but also opportunities to outperform. JetBlue banks on its more premium coach product to keep passengers coming back and paying a smidgen more for the service. Adding the daytime transcon flights will open up additional market segments and the complimentary high-speed in-flight wifi service helps travelers to not “waste” a day en route in some cases.
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I’m really surprised that there’s not enough demand for Mint on JFK-BUR.
Daytime transcons works for me. I would love to see more emphasis on IAD/DCA routes.
No slots at DCA (though I wouldn’t be surprised if JetBlue tried to protest the VX/AS slots going to WN) and no draw at IAD. Just not the right market for JetBlue to push heavily at, I don’t think. Unless it completely abandons the west coast and needs somewhere east to base those planes. But three major hubs at BOS/JFK/IAD would be a little crazy.
And I agree that the daytime transcons are very, very nice. Huge for me personally.
My biggest gripe with their DC service is that connections for a lot of routes that they don’t fly but once or twice a day out of the JFK and BOS hubs don’t always work, or sometimes only work in one direction. That makes westbound flying out of DC on B6 often difficult. They’re fine from DCA if headed to BOS or Florida, or the Caribbean, but that’s often it. There are a lot of trips I’d consider booking on them if I could, but the connections just don’t work.
Steven Sullivan Amen! I fly B6 a lot but almost all of it is to JFK or BOS. The connections are crap.
It is useful to remember that, far more than the other US carriers, JetBlue focuses HEAVILY on O/D traffic. They’re somewhere around 80%+ last I checked. They take the connections where they work but it is not something the company focuses on facilitating. There aren’t connection banks at any of the focus cities. Heck, they often manage to screw up fare filings and forget to include valid connection points. It just isn’t part of the core thought process when it comes to network planning.
I get that it sucks for you guys in DC, but that’s mostly on purpose, it seems.
I’m totally aware, Seth. In fact, I’ve noticed the broken connection thing a few times, where the schedule absolutely worked but they wouldn’t sell the ticket because they just didn’t file it.
There are certain things I really like about B6, and others that are very frustrating. It’s great they made a big push into DCA a few years ago, but it really was a move to serve a bunch of places on purely an O/D basis – and most of it primarily leisure markets.
And I remember getting one of those broken fares fixed for you at one point. 🙂
You did!
JetBlue is imo the overwhelmingly superior coach experience for the domestic market, but their loyalty program sucks compared to SWA. I’m glad SWA got the gates 🙂
Assuming the route networks work for you as a customer what about Rapid Rewards beats TrueBlue? Both are revenue-based and slightly variable. TrueBlue has stronger value at the last seat available end compared to buying a BS fare with RR points.
Companion pass is sexy as hell where it works, but that’s a nonstarter for most passengers.
With a list I get exit row 95% of the time. Companion pass is fairly easy to aquire with cc spend. Trueblue just doesn’t seem even remotely as valuable. Am I missing something?
I get EMS window 95% of the time as Mosaic, and that’s WAY easier to earn than A List. And way more comfortable to sit in. Free drinks all flight long, too; no coupons required.
Companion pass is easy if you’re churning cards. It is not easy to renew on regular spend.
The it factor for me is every SWA employee treats me like I fly 100x a year even though flying 35ish segments a year I’m not a valuable customer, especially if you factor the loss from the companion pass in.
JetBlue’s route network from MCO just doesn’t meet my needs, and the companion pass crushes true blue.
JetBlue is still the airline I direct any vacation only flyer to.
Won’t argue the route network at all. Companion v Mosaic is less clear IMO given the spread in qualification requirements.
Seth Miller it’s even less clear because JetBlue snacks > SWA. JetBlue WiFi is free and beats SWA paid option. JetBlue terminals > SWA.
Companion pass > everyone
Mosaic is fairly easy to earn with promos – and sometimes keep, when you don’t requalify and they send you a random email saying, “Hey, even though you didn’t requalify last year, we’re just going to comp you another year.”
I’ve had some great values from True Blue awards, including DCA-SJU r/t in EMS for two people for a total of about 40,000 points. That’s total, not per passenger. Or when I needed to go to Boston fairly last minute for a funeral, the points saved me from an expensive one way ticket out of pocket.
That’s not to say I haven’t earned some value out of Rapid Rewards – I most certainly have. But, it always seems like I can earn B6 points a lot faster and find better value in the redemptions, when my travel plans and their route map/schedule align.
And Companion Pass is an amazing benefit if you can easily earn it. I have a few coworkers that get it purely from work trips, and then fly virtually every domestic personal trip with their spouse using a combination of points and the CP. That’s HUGE, if it fits your travel needs. But, for my household, B6 works better than WN for a mostly domestic backup to DL and UA.
Alex Wilcox (JetSuite CEO) is a founding executive of JetBlue. Additionally, there are other close ties between many JetBlue board members and JetSuite executives. Operationally they can spin it as the only way they can realistically get a presence on the West Coast since LGB doesn’t play nice with airlines
They can try to spin it that way, but it still isn’t a significant presence. And it doesn’t deliver the network connectivity that is typically important.
I see it as a means to help JetSuiteX out with some visibility into GDS platforms for the public/scheduled charter service and not much more. Though I’m willing to bet that others will make it more significant in some areas.
Did JB get rid of their LBG-FLL red eye?!
Pretty sure it moved that service to LAX and dropped the LGB option.