A JetBlue Airways plane prepares to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on January 31, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Radle | Getty Images
jet blue airlines The airline told staff on Tuesday it was weeding out a number of routes, the airline’s latest move to cut costs following a failed acquisition. spirit airlines and pratt & whitney Some Airbus planes have been grounded due to engine problems.
The airline will reduce its departures from Los Angeles International Airport from about 34 flights per day to 24, and focus on lucrative transcontinental routes that include Mint business class cabins, according to a memo to staff seen by CNBC. It’s called putting it down. The flight reductions include flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Seattle; Miami; Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada. and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
JetBlue will also eliminate flights to Bogota, Colombia. Quito, Ecuador. Lima, Peru; flights will be launched in June between Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, and Salt Lake City, and between New York and Detroit.
“With reduced aircraft availability and the need to improve financial performance, all routes will remain in the network more than ever before,” Dave Jenn, vice president of network planning and airline partnerships, said in a memo. We need to earn the rights.”
In addition to transcontinental flights, JetBlue said it will focus on “essential” routes along the East Coast and to vacation destinations in the Caribbean.
Chief Executive Joanna Geraghty has been in the job for a month now, with activist investor Carl Icahn last month revealing a nearly 10% stake in the company and winning two seats on the company’s board. As a result, pressure is mounting for airlines to cut costs and return to profitability.
JetBlue had already begun a cost-cutting program before acquiring Mr. Icahn’s stake, announcing in January that it was on track to cut costs by $200 million by the end of the year. The airline cut several other routes earlier this year, CNBC reported.
The changes announced Tuesday will not affect JetBlue’s annual planned capacity, which is expected to decline to low single digits starting in 2023, according to the memo.
JetBlue charts its path as an independent airline after judge blocks acquisition plan spirit airlines In January. JetBlue withdrew completely from that contract earlier this month. Last year, another judge rejected a partnership with the company. american airlines In the Northeast.
