JetBlue announced today that the carrier is expanding dramatically in New England with new service from Boston (BOS), New York (JFK) and more. The carrier is also adding Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in Manchester, New Hampshire to its route network.
The New York based carrier is already one of the largest airlines in New England with hubs (JetBlue refers to them as Focus Cities) in Boston and New York. From Boston, the airline is the largest mainline carrier (Delta operates a hub in Boston but, unlike JetBlue, utilizes regional jets on some of its flying) and has the most nonstop destinations for any airline out of Boston. The airline even operating EAS flights from Boston to Presque Isle (PQI) beginning on September 5th.
The flights between Boston and Presque Isle, along with an additional route between Providence (PVD) and San Juan (SJU) were previously announced but appear again in this release.
Marty St. George, President of JetBlue, had this to say about the new routes:
“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. Our commitment to Boston and our loyal customers across New England is unwavering as we continue to innovate and enhance our product.”
Marty St George, JetBlue President
Manchester Makes its JetBlue Debut
It’s always exciting when an airline adds a new dot to its route map and Manchester (MHT) is no different. The airport will be the 10th JetBlue destination in New England with service expected to start in January 2025. JetBlue will serve the following destinations from MHT:
- Orlando (MCO) – Daily, year round service.
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – 4x weekly, winter seasonal service.
- Fort Myers (RSW) – 3x weekly, winter seasonal service.
The Manchester service is expected to complement the existing focus city operation in Boston.
Providence and Portland See New Service
In addition to the aforementioned Providence (PVD) – San Juan (SJU) route, the Rhode Island airport will see 1x daily, winter seasonal service to Tampa (TPA) and Fort Myers (RSW). Portland, ME (PWM) is also getting new, 3x weekly winter seasonal service to Orlando (MCO).
New Routes in New York
JetBlue plans to launch nonstop service between Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) on a seasonal basis. The flights will operate in the winter to connect Upstate New Yorker’s with sunny Florida this winter.
The carrier is also adding additional frequencies to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO) from Buffalo and Albany (ALB). Syracuse (SYR) will get an additional daily flight to Orlando.
In October, JetBlue will begin service to Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) with daily service to Orlando. This service will be supplemented with 4x weekly flights to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach (PBI).
Beefing Up Throughout the Northeast
While JetBlue isn’t adding any new routes to its Boston focus city, they are adding more frequencies to a slew of destinations including Aruba, Barbados, Cancún, Grand Cayman, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Liberia, Miami, Montego Bay, Nassau, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Punta Cana, Providenciales, Sarasota, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, and Tampa.
JetBlue will also launch a second daily flight to Phoenix (PHX) featuring the airline’s Mint Business Class. Mint will be offered on both flights between the two cities.
Optimizing Flying to Return to Profitability
Its no secret that JetBlue is trying to return to profitability, it says so right in the press release. The airline notes that it is refocusing its flying to primarily leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) routes where they see strong demand.
The airline is planning to reduce flying on underperforming routes throughout its network and, with all of the additions outlined above, some things had to go. While it wasn’t in the announcement, Seth Miller uncovered the seven destinations that will close as a result of these change
- Burbank, CA (BUR)
- Charlotte, NC (CLT)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP)
- Palm Springs, CA (PSP)
- Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe (PTP)
- San Antonio, TX (SAT)
- Tallahassee, FL (TLH)
JetBlue will add service to MHT this winter, but also exit seven markets.
— Seth Miller (@WandrMe) July 24, 2024
CLT, MSP, SAT, BUR, TLH, PSP, and PTP are all closing for the carrier.#AvGeek
While some of the routes eliminated may come as a surprise, CLT, MSP, and SAT especially. JetBlue had to make aggressive cuts in order to operate the new routes with the aircraft on hand.
Summary
JetBlue has added a ton of new routes in New England, including new service to Manchester, NH which will be the airline’s 10th destination in the region. These routes are intended to maximize profitability for the carrier and come at the expense of seven destinations in the JetBlue network.
(Images courtesy JetBlue)
Wow, so they are going to open up a new station with 1 daily flight year around to MCO? and 1 daily flight in the winter split between FLL/RSW?
No wonder they are losing money. Add a new city when you can add 5 flights a day or more, profitably.
Just bought two tickets yesterday involving CLT on JetBlue for after October… let’s see how they handle, especially given they involve same ticket connection to my favorite airline Cape Air.