JetBlue to end some routes from Fort Lauderdale after canceled merger with Spirit
JetBlue Airways is eliminating several fights at its Fort Lauderdale airport hub in a move to boost profits and deal with an aircraft shortage.
The changes will affect other key airports, including in Los Angeles, but they will especially hit hard for South Florida travelers heading to South America.
Starting June 13, flights between Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport and Bogota, Quito and Lima will end. Also in June, JetBlue will end flights between FLL and Atlanta, Austin, Kansas City, Nashville, New Orleans and Salt Lake City.
At the same time, JetBlue will increase service between Fort Lauderdale and the Caribbean, including Cancun, Montego Bay and Punta Cana, and parts of the Northeast. The carrier will also add flights in the winter to Albany, Buffalo, Providence and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The changes were detailed in a memo sent Tuesday to JetBlue crew members from Dave Jehn, the airline’s vice president of network planning and airline partnerships.
“We aren’t performing as well in some short-haul routes in the western U.S., Midwest markets, and South American markets,” he wrote in the memo, which was obtained by the Miami Herald. The carrier, he said, will end some routes and move others to more profitable seasonal service.
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR JETBLUE AT FLL?
Despite the cutbacks in Fort Lauderdale, the overall number of departures will stay the same, according to the executive’s memo, meaning new flights will offset eliminated ones.
“This revised schedule is an important step in keeping JetBlue competitive in South Florida,” he said. “We’re very committed to the market and continue to pursue investing in a Tech Ops hangar at FLL,” where aircraft are stored and maintained.
In a statement sent to the Miami Herald, JetBlue said it “is constantly evaluating our routes to best serve our customers, return our airline to profitability, and find ways to improve our reliability” and that these “decisions are never easy.”
JETBLUE’S PRESENCE AT BROWARD AIRPORT
JetBlue is important to the Fort Lauderdale airport, with about 20% passenger market share. The airline also is managing construction of a new $404 million fifth terminal that covers 230,000 square feet and is expected to open in 2026. The carrier’s plans for growth in prior years was a key factor in Broward County, which runs the airport, embarking on the new terminal.
The flight changes come two weeks after JetBlue and Miramar-based Spirit Airways called off a planned $3.8 billion merger. Federal Judge William G. Young, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, blocked the merger in January on anti-competitive grounds.
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice initiated the case as part of its increased focus on anti-trust cases. The carriers initially appealed the January ruling but backed off.
Before that decision, JetBlue had pursued a frequent-flier partnership with American Airlines’ Northeast Alliance, but that was also blocked.
Of the five domestic destinations that JetBlue is stopping FLL service, only Atlanta and Nashville are served by Spirit Airlines.
JetBlue will also reduce daily flights in and out of Los Angeles from 34 to 24. And the airline will eliminate routes between New York’s John F. Kennedy and Detroit and between Orlando and Salt Lake City.
In the memo, Jehn wrote of the need to get the carrier “back to sustained profitability.”
AIRCRAFT ISSUES
Jehn also said it was grappling with a shortage of aircraft availability, especially with some planes grounded due to Pratt & Whitney engine inspections by the Federal Aviation Administration. The airline also is seeking more ground time between flights and more time for technical crews to do overnight work.
“With less aircraft time available and the need to improve our financial performance, more than ever, every route has to earn its right to stay in the network,” he wrote in the memo.
The JetBlue executive noted that some routes are seeing reduced demand after the COVID-19 pandemic, “and in other cases, we were counting on the merger with Spirit and the NEA (Northeast Alliance with American) to help us be relevant and support growth.”