A major U.S. airline is poised to launch a new nonstop route from New York to Tokyo. American Airlines plans to soon fly from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND).
19.01.2024 - 23:23 / thepointsguy.com / Spirit Airlines / John F.Kennedy
JetBlue is cutting several routes – and dropping one city altogether – as it tweaks its route map in an effort to improve profitability.
The airline will end all service to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) on May 1. JetBlue also will cut or suspend several other routes.
The news was first reported by CNBC, citing an internal memo to staff from Dave Jehn, JetBlue's vice president of network planning and airline partnerships.
Other cuts include the end of nonstop service from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Portland in Oregon and San Jose in California as well as the suspension of flights from JFK to Milwaukee and Ponce, Puerto Rico beginning this fall. Also on the chopping block, according to the memo, is JetBlue's nonstop route between Westchester County Airport (HPN) in New York and Martha's Vineyard Airport in Massachusetts. Aside from BWI, the carrier will still serve those cities from its other bases.
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"We can't fly everywhere we'd like, so we need to be highly selective about where we point our aircraft in order to turn a profit, support our overall network strategy, and offer a reliable operation," CNBC quotes Jehn as saying in the memo.
News of the service cuts comes just three days after the Justice Department blocked JetBlue's plan to merge with Spirit Airlines. However, JetBlue says the timing is coincidental.
"The changes we are announcing today have been in the works for nearly a month – long before we got the court's decision on our acquisition of Spirit Airlines," the airline said in a statement to TPG.
JetBlue said the cuts "are a necessary quick step to help return our business to profitability. All the routes included have recently underperformed our expectations and these changes come as post-COVID travel patterns continue to evolve."
Previous cuts: JetBlue cuts 14 routes, drops a city in big network shake-up
Additionally, JetBlue said the cutting of flights was also made "with an eye towards reliability."
"By removing some of our less in-demand flights, we will give our operation more breathing room as we plan for air traffic control challenges in the northeast," the airline said in its statement. "Lengthening turn times and allowing more buffer into the system will help get customers where they need to go, with less chance of delays."
Like all big airlines, JetBlue regularly updates its route map – adding new flights that it thinks will do well and cutting others that haven't lived up to expectations.
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In addition to those regular adjustments, JetBlue's network
A major U.S. airline is poised to launch a new nonstop route from New York to Tokyo. American Airlines plans to soon fly from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND).
Spirit Airlines is expanding its presence in South Carolina, adding flights from Charleston to Boston and New York City this spring.
Editor's note: Japan Airlines provided TPG with a complimentary round-trip ticket between New York and Tokyo so we could be aboard the airline's inaugural A350-1000 flight, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of the author and were not subject to review by the airline or any other external entity.
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