JetBlue Airways (JBLU) has been on a roll over the past few weeks. On July 30, the airline posted a second-quarter profit of $25 million at a time when most airlines are reporting losses.
Already up by more than 25% since the start of 2024, JetBlue stock saw an immediate spike as investors responded positively to the airline's plans to cut costs by prioritizing certain networks and deferring an additional $3 billion in aircraft spending through to 2029.
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The biggest move toward cutting costs is to structure flight schedules in a way that replaces routes that do not bring in much traffic with those that do.
Back in March, JetBlue made serious cuts to its Los Angeles network by axing flights there from San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, Reno, Nev. and Puerto Vallarta. Now, it is also completely exiting markets such as California's Burbank, North Carolina's Charlotte, Florida's Tallahassee, Minnesota's Minneapolis and Pointe-à-Pitre in the French territory of Guadeloupe.
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With the freed up plane capacity, JetBlue is amping up its New England network with a number of flights to sunny destinations. New flights include two daily routes from Providence, R.I. to Fort Myers, Fla. and Tampa launching on Oct. 27 and running throughout the winter sun-seeking season.
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'Incredibly proud of our strong roots in Boston and New England'
A daily year-round route between Providence and San Juan in Puerto Rico and a seasonal route from Maine's Portland to Orlando will start running a day later on Oct. 28 while in January 2024 JetBlue plans to start running new flights to Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers from New Hampshire's Manchester.
"We are incredibly proud of our strong roots in Boston and New England, a place that has always embraced our vision for low fares and superior travel experiences," JetBlue President Marty St. George said in a statement. "Our commitment to Boston and our loyal customers across New England is unwavering as we continue to innovate and enhance our product."
The new schedule also includes one more flight to a non-tropical destination — a daily route from Boston to Maine's Presque Isle Northern Airport (PQI) that is launching on Sept. 5 and will run throughout the year. While not tropical, Presque Isle is a popular tourist destination that many pass through on the way to Canada or as the gateway to several northern beaches and state parks in the area.
When it comes to the axed routes, a JetBlue spokesperson told Travel + Leisure magazine that while "these decisions are never easy; these markets have recently fallen short of our expectations."
Other new routes that JetBlue plans to launch later this year or in early 2025 include a new route to Palm Beach from Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) and upped frequency between upstate New York cities such as Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Orlando.
The general focus is on Northeasterners who want to escape to Florida or another sunny destination for the winter — another new route will go from Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach (saving many an unpleasant drive to JFK or Newark.)
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