- JetBlue has halted 27 summer routes, per Cirium data and first reported by Simple Flying.
- Most are just being postponed to the fall and are, on average, longer flights.
- Meanwhile, two routes will be dropped indefinitely, including Nashville and Austin to Cancun.
JetBlue has paused or nixed 27 routes for the summer, according to Cirium data. The news was first reported by Simple Flying on Monday.
Temporarily paused routes include city pairs like Fort Lauderdale to Chicago O'Hare and Cleveland, and eight from Newark International Airport in New Jersey, such as Newark to San Diego.
JetBlue confirmed to Insider that some routes have been stopped temporarily. The carrier explained it has had to suspend flights through the summer for a number of reasons, including long-haul routes burning more fuel, high-cost routes that "don't make financial sense," and routes that "present specific operational challenges."
"JetBlue is taking actions to respond to the current fuel environment," a company spokesperson said. "JetBlue has already reduced our April capacity by 4 percentage points and plans to reduce our May capacity by 6-8 percentage points."
The company emphasized that despite the cuts, JetBlue will still operate more flights in 2022 than in 2019.
Only two routes will but cut indefinitely, according to Cirium, including Nashville and Austin to Cancun.
Summer and spring travel has come roaring back, and JetBlue has asked employees not to refuse assignments, CNBC reported Friday. The carrier has also sped up hiring and intends to bring on 700 new pilots and flight attendants to cope with the busy season. At the same time, rising energy prices and labor shortages present challenges for airlines trying to recover from the pandemic.
CNBC's report included quotes from a March 16 memo from Ed Baklor, JetBlue's head of customer care and programs.
"We are still unprofitable after two years and now face rising fuel prices and other inflationary pressures that make it challenging for everyone," he wrote.
Andrea Lusso, JetBlue's vice president of network planning said previously the carrier might drop some routes it added during the pandemic, per Simple Flying.
"We've expanded a lot – and a lot of routes won't stick around," Lussi said. "We'll be going back to our roots and long-term plan again."
Most of the following routes have been paused for the spring and are slated to return in the fall. Here's the full list.
27 routes paused or cut:
- Austin-Cancun; ends April 30
- Boston-Key West; ends May 1, back October 30
- Fort Lauderdale-Cartagena; ends April 30, resumes October 1
- Fort Lauderdale-Chicago O'Hare; ends April 30, back October 1
- Fort Lauderdale-Cleveland; ends May 3; restarts October 1
- Fort Lauderdale-Grand Cayman; ends April 30, resumes October 1
- Fort Lauderdale-Portland (Oregon); ends April 28, back October 31
- Fort Lauderdale-Port of Spain; ends April 30, restarts October 1
- Fort Lauderdale-Providenciales; ends April 30, back October 1
- Fort Lauderdale-Seattle; ends April 29, restarts October 30
- Fort Lauderdale-St Maarten; ends April 30, resumes October 1
- Hartford-Las Vegas; ends April 30, back October 1
- Hartford-San Francisco; ends April 29, restarts October 2
- JFK-Key West; ends May 1, resumes October 30
- Los Angeles-Austin; ends April 30, resumes October 1
- Los Angeles-Raleigh Durham; ends April 29, back October 1
- Los Angeles-San Jose (Costa Rica); ends April 30, restarts November 1
- Los Angeles-West Palm Beach; ends April 29, resumes October 2
- Nashville-Cancun; ends April 30
- Newark-Atlanta; ends April 30, back October 1
- Newark-Austin; ends April 29, restarts October 1
- Newark-Charleston; ends April 30, resumes October 1
- Newark-Jacksonville; ends April 30, back October 2
- Newark-Las Vegas; ends April 30, restarts October 1
- Newark-Phoenix; ends April 29, resumes October 1
- Newark-Raleigh Durham; ends April 29, back October 1
- Newark-San Diego; ends April 30, resumes October 1