A JetBlue Airways plane prepares to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January 31, 2024.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
JetBlue Airlines told employees Tuesday that it’s eliminating many routes, the carrier’s latest cost-cutting move after a failed takeover attempt Spirit Airlines ia Pratt and Whitney an engine problem that grounded some Airbus planes.
The carrier will reduce the number of exits from Los Angeles International Airport from about 34 to 24 per day, in response to a memo to staff seen by CNBC, specializing in profitable transcontinental routes that feature a Mint business class cabin. The cuts include service from Los Angeles to San Francisco; Seattle; Miami; Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
JetBlue also ends flights to Bogota, Colombia; Quito, Ecuador; Lima, Peru; and Kansas City, Missouri in June, and flights between Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Austin, Atlanta, Nashville and Salt Lake City, and between New York and Detroit.
“With less time available for aircraft and the need to improve our financial performance more than ever, every route must earn the right to remain on the network,” Dave Jehn, vice chairman of network planning and airline partnerships, said in a memo.
In addition to transcontinental flights, JetBlue will concentrate on bread-and-butter routes along the East Coast and routes serving vacation destinations in the Caribbean.
Chief executive Joanna Geraghty has been in her top job for a month and is under increasing pressure to rein in spending and return the airline to profitability after activist investor Carl Icahn last month unveiled a virtually 10% stake in the carrier and won two seats on the board .
JetBlue had already begun a cost-cutting program before Icahn took over, and in January it said it was on the right track to chop $200 million in expenses by the top of the yr. As CNBC reported, the carrier cut several other routes earlier this yr.
The changes announced Tuesday don’t impact JetBlue’s planned capability for this yr, which is predicted to drop to the low single digits from 2023, the memo said.
JetBlue is forging its path as a standalone airline after a judge blocked its purchase plan Spirit Airlines in January. JetBlue completely walked away from that deal earlier this month. Last yr, a separate judge cut ties with the corporate American airlines in the northeast.
