Earlier today I wrote about JetBlue challenging United Airlines at Newark with new Mint (business class) service to the West Coast. But that’s not the only JetBlue 2020 expansion news today. Additionally, JetBlue plans to add several more routes across its network as domestic travel heats up for the summer months.
JetBlue 2020 Expansion: Growth Opportunity In Pandemic Era
As other carriers nimbly adjust schedules and gradually resume suspended service, JetBlue is mimicking Southwest in planning a more aggressive upsurge in flights. It hopes to capture a greater market share in the short-term and win loyal customers in the long-term.
Rather than focus on hub-and-spoke routes from its East coast hubs, it is launching more point-to-point routes that focus on leisure travel, particularly in Florida. Business travel remains depressed, but families are re-connecting and many are planning domestic vacations this summer.
JetBlue 2020 Expansion: Full List Of New JetBlue Routes
Here is a full list of the new routes JetBlue announced today:
New JetBlue Flights Effective July 23, 2020
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Los Angeles (LAX) – up to 3x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ San Francisco (SFO) – up to 2x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Charleston (CHS) – up to 1x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Jacksonville (JAX) – up to 1x daily
- New York (JFK) ⇄ Dallas (DFW) – up to 2x daily
- New York (JFK) ⇄ Detroit (DTW) – up to 2x daily
New JetBlue Flights Effective August 6, 2020
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Austin (AUS) – up to 2x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Las Vegas (LAS) – up to 2x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Phoenix (PHX) – up to 2x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ San Diego (SAN) – up to 1x daily
- Newark (EWR) ⇄ Sarasota (SRQ) – up to 1x daily
- New York (LGA) ⇄ Fort Myers (RSW) – up to 1x daily
- New York (LGA ⇄ Tampa (TPA) – up to 2x daily
- New York (JFK) ⇄ Minneapolis (MSP) – up to 2x daily
- Philadelphia (PHL) ⇄ Fort Myers (RSW) – up to 1x daily
- Philadelphia (PHL) ⇄ Orlando (MCO) – up to 2x daily
- Philadelphia (PHL) ⇄ Palm Beach (PBI) – up to 2x daily
- Philadelphia (PHL) ⇄ San Juan (SJU) – up to 1x daily
- Philadelphia (PHL) ⇄ Tampa (TPA) – up to 1x daily
New JetBlue Flights Effective October 1, 2020
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) ⇄ Pittsburgh (PIT) – up to 1x daily
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) ⇄ Portland (PDX) – up to 2x weekly
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) ⇄ Seattle (SEA) – up to 3x weekly
- Fort Myers (RSW) ⇄ Cleveland (CLE) – up to 1x daily
- Fort Myers (RSW) ⇄ Providence (PVD) – up to 1x daily
- New York (JFK) ⇄ St. Thomas (STT) – up to 2x weekly
- Orlando (MCO) ⇄ San Francisco (SFO) – up to 1x daily
- Palm Beach (PBI) ⇄ Chicago (ORD) – up to 1x daily
- Palm Beach (PBI) ⇄ Washington (DCA) – up to 1x daily
- Tampa (TPA) ⇄ Providence (PVD) – up to 1x daily
- Tampa (PVD) ⇄ Washington (DCA) – up to 1x daily
When Will the New JetBlue Flights Become Bookable?
The new flights will be bookable on June 19, 2020.
CONCLUSION
It’s nice to see JetBlue put the pressure on American, Delta, and United with its new service. Time will tell whether these will be short-lived routes to keep airplanes in the sky or a new route structure that strays from its traditional hub model. JetBlue is very pragmatic about todays’ news:
Like the rest of the JetBlue network, these new routes will be regularly evaluated. The airline will remain flexible, allowing market demand to determine how long a particular route continues to operate.
But from my perspective, the routes above make sense and this is a gamble worth taking.
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image: JetBlue
Typo:
“It’s nice to see Delta put the pressure on American, Delta, and United with its new service.”
Fairly certain you mean JetBlue is the one putting the pressure.
Thank you.
only negative move is Jetblue scaled back a lot in Long Beach. no love for west coasters.
Definitely sad for SoCal.
Is the issue in Long Beach that the locals want to close the airport? What a shame, such a rich history. Lets hope BUR continues to operate for your sake Matthew. Love the ease of access. I assume Disney would have enough clout to keep it open.
Shot over the bow for sure. Going right after American in PHL to an extent but really taking it to United in EWR. This should be interesting. They seem to be primarily targeting the two most weakened carriers. Not much of an attack in Delta and WN.
Ahrg, they serve both SEA and FLL with Mint products to other destinations, why not put Mint between them on basically the longest US48 domestic route!? With AS even pulling the ex virgin planes and putting a tired 737 on the route, and AA putting their very nice but still not lie flat LAA A321 on the route to MIA, I think B6 could get a lot of good business offering the only real premium service from SEA to S Fla, which is almost as long as a flight from the NE US to Europe!
JetBlue is basically an airline that superserves the Boston and New York metro areas and which serves South Florida via FLL. Anywhere else, it’s an asterisk. The addition of a ton of flights from EWR merely bolsters that definition However, I did notice that some of the latter new routes (between Florida and northern cities) are exceptions. As a flier based near ORD, I’d love to at least try JetBlue but their route system is so very skewed that it’s not worth bothering. I’m sure that I am far from alone in having that conundrum. Which is why I’d hardly define this as a “shot across the bow” for any of the majors. “More of the same” would be the operative term, IMO – as this is mainly JetBlue bolstering it’s strength in the New York area, though not nearly enough to threaten UA’s dominance at EWR.
Meanwhile, JetBlue is abandoning any meaningful service along the west coast. While they serve a lot of cities in the west, it’s only with routing to Boston, metro NY and (maybe) FLL. Great if you live in Wellesley, Glen Cove or Manhattan but pretty useless if you’re from Pasadena, Torrance or Mountain View.
Yet all JetBlue seems to focus on is EAST-WEST and WEST-EAST flying. With limited or nearly no service up and down the West Coast and weak North and South East Coast flying.
Where’s Midwest flying?
Glad to see at least a SFO-MCO route coming in October.
However, brace JetBlue as Covid-19’s return is just approaching America again but with extreme blanketing as America still fails to address it.