JetBlue, one of the best-known airlines in the USA, has made a significant announcement regarding its operations. The low-cost airline will be abandoning five cities in the country and cutting 20 routes, including some out of Los Angeles, California, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This decision comes as part of the company’s efforts to improve service, following a poor ranking in 2023 for baggage handling, punctuality, tarmac delays, extreme delays, and flight cancellations.
JetBlue’s vice president of network planning and airline partnerships, Dave Jehn, communicated these measures in an internal memo obtained by Business Insider. The airline plans to abandon the five cities starting on June 13, 2024. The cities that will be affected include Bogotá, Colombia; Quito, Ecuador; Lima, Peru; Kansas City, Missouri; and Newburgh, New York.
Among the routes that will be canceled by JetBlue in 2024, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale will be the most affected. In Los Angeles, short routes with destinations like Cancún, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Las Vegas, Miami, Reno, San Francisco, Seattle, and Liberia, Costa Rica, will be cut. In Fort Lauderdale, routes to Bogotá, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecuador; Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, New Orleans, and Salt Lake City will be canceled. Additionally, routes between JFK in New York and Detroit, Orlando and Salt Lake City, and Tampa and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, will also be affected.
These changes mark a significant shift in JetBlue’s operations and could have implications for travelers in the affected cities. Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.