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JetBlue is making a big push in Fort Lauderdale, where it’s hoping to cement its place as the city’s top airline in the wake of Spirit Airlines.
But there are only so many planes to go around.
So, as JetBlue adds a host of new routes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), the carriers is cutting a handful of flights at several other East Coast airports.
Most notably, the airline this week said it would pull out of Machester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) this summer.
Elsewhere, JetBlue is making a handful of “targeted seasonal adjustments” to what it said were underperforming routes — all in an effort to support its growth at FLL.
In most cases, these cutbacks affect Caribbean and Central America destinations JetBlue serves from other East Coast airports.
“While we know it’s disappointing when JetBlue ends service on a route,” the carrier said in a statement, “this decision will allow us to better align flying with customer demand and strengthen our focus city strategy in South Florida.”
JetBlue ends Manchester service
Headlining this week’s network shakeup at JetBlue was the decision to end service from Manchester, which the airport said will be effective July 8.
This move came less than 18 months after JetBlue launched service from MHT, which was at the time a new airport for the carrier.
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As of May, the carrier flew from New Hampshire to Orlando, Fort Myers and FLL.
The airport certainly was unhappy with the news.
In a statement posted to social media, Manchester officials said they was “very disappointed” about JetBlue’s decision to pull out.
“MHT has worked diligently to promote JetBlue service at MHT,” the airport said. “Unfortunately, those efforts were not enough to overcome their ongoing business challenges, which have only been exacerbated by the recent spike in fuel prices.”
MHT is situated some 50 miles outside Boston. The airport continues to offer service on American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Breeze Airways.
JetBlue’s other cutbacks
As noted, MHT isn’t the only place JetBlue is trimming service to make way for its new flights out of Fort Lauderdale.
The carrier’s other network trims will affect nine additional routes, including five from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
Here’s the rundown of routes touched by these cuts:
- Hartford’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) to Tampa International Airport (TPA)
- Newark to Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA0
- Newark to Cancun International Airport (CUN)
- Newark to Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ)
- Newark to Las Americas International Airport (SDQ) in Santo Domingo, D.R.
- Newark to Tampa
- Orlando International Airport (MCO) to San Jose, Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO)
- Orlando to San Juan, P.R.’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU)
- Providence’s TF Green International Airport (PVD) to San Juan (seasonal suspension)
News of those cuts was first reported by our friend and former TPG reporter Zach Griff.
In all of these cases, JetBlue serves these Caribbean and Central America airports from other airports — often several of its busiest East Coast bases.
Doubling down on FLL
This network shakeup comes as the carrier has doubled down on Fort Lauderdale in a big way. JetBlue has been adding flights out of FLL for months, and announced a big expansion from the airport in the immediate aftermath of Spirit ceasing operations on May 2.
Read more: Fort Lauderdale could be next in line for a JetBlue lounge
JetBlue executives have described Fort Lauderdale as the “third tentpole” of the airline’s network, along with longtime anchors at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).
“We continue to see significant opportunity to expand service in Fort Lauderdale, ensuring the continued availability of flight options in a market where customers know and love the JetBlue experience,” the carrier told TPG Tuesday.
What to know
Customers affected by these route cuts will be entitled to a refund or given the chance to select alternative JetBlue flight options where available, the airline said.
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