In what comes as a shocking move, JetBlue is apparently eliminating flights between New York City’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).
JetBlue currently flies 6x daily flights between New York-LaGuardia and Boston using Embraer E190 aircraft. While the carrier is planning on retiring the E190 fleet soon, that alone wouldn’t warrant dropping the route as its Airbus A220s are plenty capable for this service.
Now, according to IshrionA, the carrier is eliminating the route as of April 29, 2025. It appears that three of the slots being used by JetBlue will shift to Porter when it launches flights to Toronto on May 1, 2025.
Eliminating this route is quite the headscratcher for me. Though the airline has a small presence at LaGuardia Airport, the carrier is headquartered in New York and has a large hub in Boston. The LGA-BOS route is extremely popular with business travelers and Delta operates an hourly shuttle service on the route.
Why is JetBlue Cutting This Route?
JetBlue has been looking to reinvent itself in recent years with a focus on relying less on business travel and more on leisure travel. The airline has also deferred deliveries of aircraft as part of an effort to return to profitability.
As I mentioned above, the route is very popular with business travelers, a group JetBlue is trying to become less reliant on. The airline took over American’s shuttle service as part of the Northeast Alliance which has since been dismantled. American restarted flights on the route afterwards.
While three slots from this cut will go to Porter Airlines, it appears JetBlue will retain the other three slots to launch service to Tampa. JetBlue also has a massive operation at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Leisure travelers are much more likely to make the trek to JFK once or twice a year instead of business travelers that are flying weekly.
It’s certainly been a wild few days for the airline, starting with reports that United was interested in purchasing some of the carriers assets. This was followed by a closer tie up with Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal and now the news that the airline is making a significant route cut. While one route typically isn’t newsworthy, this is the clearest indicator yet of JetBlue’s strategic shift.
Summary
JetBlue is continuing to adjust its strategy and is eliminating its 6x daily service between New York-LaGuardia and Boston as of April 29, 2025. The carrier appears to have sold three slots to Porter and will deploy the other three on a new route to Tampa. This is the latest in many developments from the airline as it aims to return to profitability.
(Images courtesy JetBlue)
