JetBlue is realigning its network and ambitions with an eye on returning to profits after losing its bid to grow by acquiring Spirit and to bolster its networks through an alliance with American Airlines.
The airline is moving out of several markets where it hasn’t made money to redirect its resources to more profitable ones, and is cutting service in several others. Kansas City will lose service, as will three cities in Latin America, Bogota, Quito and Lima. It’s also dropping New York Stewart, but hasn’t actually flown from there since the onset of the pandemic.
Other areas will have less service; several short-haul routes from Los Angeles are ending, including flights to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Reno and Seattle.
The airline is JetBlue’s ambitions to become the number four or five U.S. carrier suffered a jolt from those two losses, both suffered in Federal courtrooms, and has struggled to make a profit, even while expanding in a number of directions, including adding European destinations in Dublin and Edinburgh.
Some of its earliest European destinations, London especially, may face some cuts as well. The airline had originally said it was prepared to lose money on trans-Atlantic routes for up to three years as it tried to build the business. It’s getting close to three years on the original routes, some of which could be cut back to seasonal rather than year-round.
