JetBlue will cut its roadmap and park its aircraft to reduce expenses as economic uncertainty hurts its balance sheet.
JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty informed staff in a TPG memo on Tuesday. She outlined many efforts to “retain spending and retain cash.”
“We hope demand and bookings will rebound, but even recovery will not completely offset the ground we lost this year and the road back to profitability will be longer than we hoped,” Geraghty said.
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The memorandum was first reported by CNBC.
Like most American airlines, Jetblue travel demand has slowed, which has been extending since January. Domestic leisure travel is the most intense blow, while advanced and international travel remains stable. Although bookings are somewhat stable in March and April, Geraghty’s memo shows they are not back to the January trajectory.
Timetable and Roadmap Cutting
Geraghty said JetBlue will “reduce underperforming routes and will fly to places with profit potential.”
Since the airline launched its Jetwheel drive program last year, JetBlue has left 15 cities and evacuated more than 50 routes. Some exports include major markets such as Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Bogota, Columbia and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).
What JetBlue will cut next is not clear. Geraghty said further details will be in the “next weeks.”
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She continued: “While it is always a disappointment to end the service, it opens the door for us to find a new flight route.”
JetBlue has added four new destinations this summer: Norfolk International Airport (ORF), Virginia; Ramon Villada Morales International Airport (SAP), near San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Cherry Capital Airport (TVC) in Travers, Michigan; and Wilmington International Airport (ILM), North Carolina.
According to a schedule for aviation analysis company Cirium, it is planned to add Halifax Steinfield International Airport (YHz) in Nova Scotia to the airline’s map, which was ruled in May.
Geraghty said JetBlue will also further reduce the low demand days of the week, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday flights, and reduce the number of flights on multiple flights a day.
The airline plans to have a unified capacity in 2025 (with no timetable growth compared to 2024), but has not reiterated its forecasts yet.
In conjunction with network cuts, JetBlue will park four older Airbus A320s at the end of the summer, which were previously planned for remodeling.
Premium investment continues
JetBlue is clear in one aspect: its investment in premium products has not stopped. According to Geraghty, it still plans to open its first ever airport lounge by the end of this year and open its first domestically-class product for the first time in 2026.
These efforts, as well as JetBlue’s new “Blue Sky” partnership with United Airlines, are part of its Jetforward program. Unveiled in 2024, the program is a series of plans aimed at increasing revenues to correct and generate stable profits on the future balance sheet.
JetBlue has not yet realized the potential financial benefits of the Blue Sky, which was announced only in May. The protocol is unusual because it focuses on loyalty collaboration and skips the typical codesharing protocol in which each airline places its two-letter identifier code on other flights from other operators.
The blue sky has indeed created many benefits for both airlines: United returned to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York as JetBlue, and JetBlue has acquired a JetBlue TrueBlue partner, thus providing loyal members with the opportunity to redeem to global destinations.
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