JetBlue to increase Orlando routes despite cutting flights in South Florida, airline says
ORLANDO, Fla. - JetBlue Airways is shaking up its routes and service.
The airline announced this week that it would be ending some routes and suspending a number of others from certain airports, a spokesperson confirmed to FOX 35 on Wednesday.
JetBlue has made the decision to exit the following five cities:
- Bogotá, Colombia (BOG)
- Quito, Ecuador (UIO)
- Lima, Peru (LIM)
- Kansas City, MO (MCI)
- Newburgh, NY (SWF) [suspended since 2020]
These routes will be pulled starting June 13, according to The Associated Press.
The airline is also suspending the following routes out of two South Florida airports:
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL): Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, New Orleans, Salt Lake City
- Miami International Airport (MIA): Los Angeles
"To be clear, we will for the most part be redeploying our capacity and aircraft to other more successful routes," the spokesperson said.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 10: A JetBlue jet moves along the runway at Laguardia AIrport on November 10, 2022 in the Queens borough of New York City. The airline industry has rebounded this year and is looking forward to a busy holiday season. (Ph
JetBlue said it's making these changes to "best serve our customers, return our airline to profitability, and find ways to improve our reliability," the spokesperson added. Here's the rest of their statement:
"These decisions are never easy, however, these markets have recently fallen short of our expectations. These moves will allow us to redeploy our fleet to increase frequencies on well-performing routes from JetBlue’s focus cities while continuing to increase crucial ground time for our aircraft, reducing the chance of delays for our customers.
"The changes will also help us during a time when aircraft availability is limited – particularly with some of our aircraft grounded due to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine inspections. Most of our customers impacted by these changes will be able to select alternate flight options themselves on JetBlue.com. Where alternate routes are not available, customers will be provided with a refund."
JetBlue has lost more than $2 billion since its last profitable year, 2019, The Associated Press reports. Recently, the airline's proposed merger with Spirit was quashed in January. Before that, JetBlue and American Airlines were ordered to dissolve a partnership they created in Boston and New York.
JetBlue to boost service out of Orlando
A JetBlue spokesperson told FOX 35 that the airline plans to "bolster" service by "adding more frequencies in routes with strong demand and performance for JetBlue."
The routes in question have not been revealed at this time.
JetBlue says this increase will come in the fall.