If you Google ‘first airline with doors in business class‘, the search engine’s AI Overview will tell you that it’s Qatar Airways, which unveiled its QSuite in March 2017 and began operating flights with the new suite in June of the same year. Some results will also award this title to Delta Air Lines, which announced its Delta One suites in August 2016, while the seats first took flight in the fall of 2017. However, neither answer is correct, because another airline beat them to the punch all the way back in June 2014.

This was when JetBlue Airways, then a quirky budget airline with all-economy seating and industry-leading legroom, launched its Mint business class cabin. Unexpectedly, this cabin, which debuted on a narrowbody Airbus A321-200, included four seats with sliding doors, which was unprecedented in business class. Each A321-200 came with 16 seats for Mint, meaning that not all seats were equipped with doors, but it was still quite innovative at the time, and as suites have increasingly become common in the segment, the original Mint seats have become somewhat forgotten.

The Basics Of JetBlue Mint In 2014

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When Mint was announced in 2013, JetBlue only flew Airbus A320-200s and Embraer E190s in an all-economy layout, primarily on shorter routes out of the Northeast as well as to the Caribbean. The carrier’s first four A321-200s also came in an all-economy layout, while the fifth one debuted a new business class cabin to rival the premium cabins offered by the US legacy carriers on premium transcontinental routes between New York and Boston to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

There are 16 Mint seats in total on the A321-200, and the seats are based on the familiar Thompson Vantage platform. This is a staggered seat model that alternates between pairs of seats and a solo seat, which was initially used on widebodies before also being adapted for narrowbodies. What makes JetBlue Mint unique, however, is that the four solo seats feature a sliding door, which was the world’s very first business class product to feature a privacy door. To this day, JetBlue Mint is the only application of the original Vantage to include a door.

Unlike the massive doors seen in products like Emirates’ first class or the Singapore Suites at the time, the doors in the JetBlue Mint solo suites were small and low. While subsequent business class suites also feature relatively small doors, most of them are higher than the doors on the JetBlue seats. What’s more, this is only available on four out of the 16 seats, making Delta One and QSuites the first to offer doors on every seat in a business class cabin. Still, these cabins debuted years after JetBlue first introduced the concept to business class.

JetBlue’s Entry Into Premium Markets

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Since its inception, JetBlue can best be described as a hybrid airline, blending elements of a full-service carrier and a low-cost carrier. It has long been beloved for its excellent legroom, seatback entertainment available on all planes, full leather seats, and excellent service. Despite offering competitive fares against the legacy carriers, JetBlue has operated out of major business markets in New York and Boston, while being successful in the process. However, it lacked a premium product.

Premium seats earn significantly more revenue than economy seats, greatly improving operating economics, and premium cabins are also crucial to winning business with corporate travelers as well as with premium leisure travelers. These are the passengers that the carrier was targeting with its transcontinental expansion. JetBlue first introduced Mint on its routes from New York JFK Airport to Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the cabin later being offered on other transcontinental routes and even on the airline’s Caribbean network.

JetBlue, while well-liked, was still the new entry into a market that is otherwise dominated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. Lie-flats are an expectation on premium transcontinental services, but to steal business away from the legacy carriers, it also had to introduce something new and better. While the seat pairs are comparable to the Collins Diamond seats available on the legacy carriers’ transcontinental narrowbodies, the solo seats are undoubtedly more spacious, more private, and more visually impressive.

The Strengths and Weaknesses Of Mint

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JetBlue doesn’t charge extra to select the throne seats with the sliding door, making them, until recently, the best business class seats you could select on a narrowbody transcontinental flight in the US. The technology is still relatively up-to-date, and the carrier offers its complimentary FlyFi on all flights, which is just now becoming more common in the US. In addition, reviewers have noted that the footwell is noticeably bigger than earlier Vantage seats on widebodies, and the seat pairs are still competitive.

What truly sets JetBlue apart, however, is the service. American, Delta, and United are known for providing inconsistent service, but many have found that JetBlue’s cabin crew historically provides among the best service of any US airline. In addition, the catering is high quality with generous portions, while the carrier offers excellent bedding and a well-stocked amenity kit. As such, while the hard product is better in some areas than competitors, it’s the soft product that elevates JetBlue above rivals.

However, there are disadvantages to choosing JetBlue. While the carrier typically offers attractive pricing, it continues to struggle with operational reliability, and its overall network is far smaller than the legacy carriers. Most crucially for Mint, however, JetBlue has long lacked a lounge network, a notable disadvantage against rivals. Sensing that this drawback was losing it customers, the airline opened the BlueHouse at JFK in 2025, available to elite frequent flyers, top credit card holders, and Mint passengers on transatlantic flights.

JetBlue’s Success And Struggles

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It’s been thoroughly reported that JetBlue is struggling financially, with some external analysts even suggesting that JetBlue might be headed towards Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, it is almost a story of two airlines: while JetBlue is losing money overall, the carrier’s premium flights with Mint across the US and the Atlantic have generally been quite successful. It demonstrates one of the carrier’s main weaknesses: it lacks a premium cabin on most of its flights to earn more revenue.

JetBlue’s Mint, while popular, is also a high-end lie-flat seat that is primarily intended for longer, high-yielding flights. It earns substantial revenue, but what JetBlue really needs is a lower-end domestic first class seat to rival those offered by the legacy carriers. The airline is doing just that with its BlueFirst cabin, which will debut later in 2026 and will be rolled out across the entire non-Mint fleet, but it arguably needed to introduce this cabin years ago to boost frequent flyer engagement and increase revenue.

JetBlue ultimately hasn’t been able to command a fare premium for its excellent legroom in economy, and on most of its fleet, the highest product offered is an extra legroom seating option. As such, BlueFirst will be instrumental in helping the carrier return to profitability, and it’s telling that airlines across the US are now introducing their own first class product. Frontier and Allegiant have announced domestic first class seats of their own, while Breeze already offers this cabin. The notable hold-out is Southwest, but it’s expected that it will eventually follow as well.

The New JetBlue Mint Suites

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In 2021, JetBlue unveiled its new Mint Suites on the Airbus A321neo. Unlike the old seats, the new Mint Suites offer sliding doors at every seat because they’re based on the Thompson VantageSOLO, a direct-aisle-access herringbone seat configured two-abreast. While herringbone seats have traditionally been disliked by passengers, the VantageSOLO is dramatically improved from older models in terms of privacy and ergonomics, while it’s more spacious than subsequent seats introduced by carriers like American Airlines.

The A321neos feature 16 Mint Suites, while the carrier’s A321LRs feature 24 Mint Suites, and both include two front-row Mint Studios with extra space and an ottoman. Unlike the solo seats on the A321-200s, the Mint Studios are sold as a premium upgrade, with fees ranging from $199 to $399 one-way, and JetBlue was the first airline in the US to introduce a front-row ‘business class plus’. It also remains the only US carrier to offer this type of product on a narrowbody.

In the meantime, the airline is not planning to replace the Mint product on the A321-200s, which has been around for roughly 12 years. Despite its age, the seats are still well-liked by passengers and more than competitive. While JetBlue now has a newer product on several aircraft, the older Mint seats are still being deployed on several of the carrier’s key routes, and they’re likely to remain available for the next few years at minimum.