Top-notch food, more routes — but no lounges — to define JetBlue’s Mint experience in second decade, airline’s president says

27.06.2024 - 18:27 / thepointsguy.com / Robin Hayes / Joanna Geraghty / Luis Muñoz Marín / Marty St George

When JetBlue debuted its swanky Mint cabin a decade ago, there were plenty of skeptics. Essentially a lie-flat business-class seat, Mint marked a dramatic departure from the egalitarian cabins that had defined the airline since its launch in 2000.

But the cabin has won over passengers since being introduced in June 2014. Today, it's largely known for its high-end accommodations — like its spacious suites and top-notch dining options — all on board a single-aisle aircraft.

Mint has grown in prominence amid a booming demand for premium seats that's coincided with JetBlue launching one transatlantic route after another — and rolling out its newer-generation version of the cabin in the process.

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As JetBlue celebrates Mint's 10th anniversary in the skies, the cabin looms large in the company's hope to return to profitability for the first time since the pandemic began. Among its plans: a shake-up in where some of its Mint-equipped planes will fly.

In May, JetBlue announced plans to scale back some wintertime service to Europe. Starting in October, the carrier will cut all of its winter flying to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and trim its off-peak schedule to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).

That, combined with CEO Joanna Geraghty pledging to be more "opportunistic" with JetBlue's European growth shortly after assuming her post in February, could have left some wondering whether the carrier might be souring on the transatlantic expansion championed by her predecessor, Robin Hayes, who left his post earlier this year.

But this was precisely the type of move airline executives envisioned when they first dreamt up the Mint cabin more than a decade ago, said JetBlue president Marty St. George, speaking to TPG in one of his first interviews since returning to the carrier's leadership team earlier this year.

"This comes back to the original rationale for Mint, and especially expansion into the transatlantic, which is, these planes are fungible," St. George said. "And every airplane we fly has to live by the best and highest use of the airplane."

As part of the airline's upcoming network shake-up, JetBlue will instead send more of its premium-equipped jets to warm-weather destinations, most notably Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Over a six-month period starting this October, JetBlue's total seats to Phoenix will be up 98% versus a year prior, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Its seats to San Juan will spike nearly 29%.

That emphasis, St. George said, is more about the potential JetBlue sees in those cities than