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Just in time for summer trips and while other airlines are topping up their Austin flights, one airline is cooling its jets in relation to the Austin market and is canceling several flights to popular US destinations
New York-based JetBlue announced on Monday, June 14th, that it would cut flights across the country, many of which were added during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but have reportedly not turned out to be in-demand flights Company.
JetBlue will cut three non-stop routes in Austin, two of which were started during the pandemic. These include flights from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) to Raleigh-Durham (RDU) and flights from ABIA to San Francisco (SFO). In addition, JetBlue will shorten its Austin to Orlando (MCO) route, which began in May 2008.
The Orlando route will be discontinued this month. It’s unclear when JetBlue will end the other two routes, though the company is pointing to this fall.
JetBlue stated in a press release that the need for cancellations may seem counter-intuitive to recent announcements that its newest partner, American Airlines, is expanding its Austin service and adding 14 new domestic and international routes from ABIA in the coming months.
“While American and JetBlue are now code-sharing in the Northeast, they are not allowed to coordinate schedules in other markets – like the ones that JetBlue just cut in Austin,” says JetBlue. “Despite AA’s renewed focus on Austin, JetBlue does not seem to see the same demand to warrant the continuation of three of its Austin flights.”
JetBlue also plans to cut a variety of routes from Boston (BOS), Los Angeles (LAX), Raleigh-Durham (RDU), Richmond (RIC) and several airports in Pennsylvania and Florida.
“As our customers return to the expected booking patterns, we are looking at how to adjust our schedule and focus on continued growth that drives our network strategy,” says JetBlue. “Starting in autumn this year, we plan to adapt our flying on some of the routes we started during the pandemic so that we can re-use these aircraft in our focus city growth.”
JetBlue notes that the news is not all negative, with around 40 new routes planned over the next few months. And Austin travelers heading to Boston (BOS) will get a comfort upgrade as JetBlue will soon be operating this flight on the airline’s swanky new Airbus A220.
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