JetBlue Airways will end service at several cities and reduce flying out of Los Angeles in a move to retrench and deal with stronger markets after years of losing money.
The changes will even help the airline deal with the grounding of a few of its planes for inspections of their Pratt & Whitney engines, an executive told employees Tuesday.
Starting June 13, JetBlue will pull out of Kansas City, Missouri; Bogota, Colombia; Quito, Ecuador; and Lima, Peru.
“These markets are unprofitable and our aircraft time might be higher utilized elsewhere,” Dave Jehn, the airline’s vice chairman of network planning, said in a memo to employees.
Also in June, the Latest York-based airline will drop several destinations from Los Angeles including Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami. It can end flights between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Nashville; Latest Orleans and Salt Lake City, and repair between Latest York and Detroit.
JetBlue has lost greater than $2 billion since its last profitable 12 months, 2019. The airline tried to grow through a partnership and a merger, however the Biden administration’s Justice Department sued to kill each deals.
Last May, a federal judge ordered JetBlue and American Airlines to dissolve a partnership they created in Boston and Latest York. In January one other judge blocked JetBlue from buying Spirit, saying the proposed $3.8 billion deal violated antitrust law.
The architect of those unsuccessful deals, Robin Hayes, stepped down as CEO in February and was replaced by Joanna Geraghty.
Frustrated by the courtroom defeats, JetBlue under Geraghty is popping toward growing by itself, which is able to take for much longer.
Even before the change in CEOs, investor Carl Icahn began to buy nearly 10% of JetBlue stock, and his side got two seats on the airline board.
The airline has struggled to enhance its operation. JetBlue ranked ninth out of the nation’s 10 largest airlines in each canceled flights and on-time arrivals last 12 months, in keeping with U.S. Transportation Department numbers.