Good news for us: JetBlue is hinting more strongly than ever before that it may soon start service to London with an expressed goal to bring down “obscene” premium cabin fares.
obscene | əbˈsēn | offending against moral principles; repugnant.
Are premium cabin fares really “obscene” when it comes to business class travel across the Pond? JetBlue’s CEO says YES.
At the Aviation Festival in London earlier this week, Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes stated:
I looked at some legacy brands and what they were charging a week out for business class between London and New York and it is obscene..eight, nine or ten thousand dollars. And, when we see that, we know that we can do that a lot cheaper….we think it’s a good opportunity, and when the time is right to take advantage, we may very well do that.
A lot of wiggle room in his statement, but JetBlue correctly understands three things. First, it has learned from the trials of Norwegian. Entrenched carriers fearful of competition fought hard to keep Norwegian out of the skies. Hayes told Bloomberg, “I don’t want to tip people off. The competitive response to this is something we have to think about.” He’s wise: I bet JetBlue is already negotiating slot purchases at Stansted or Heathrow or Gatwick. Imagine if JetBlue linked up with Ryanair or EasyJet to offer “connecting service” across Europe?
Second, JetBlue has played a key role in bringing down the price of premium class fares domestically with its competively-priced MINT fares. Third, it can put an even bigger dent on transatlantic fares.
Imagine one-way fares to London on JetBlue in MINT Class starting at $999. That’s Norwegian premium economy pricing for a truly premium, lie-flat product. Sure, taxes including the ridiculous UK APD would mean fares could not be at U.S. transcontinental levels, but one-way pricing for a premium product would be revolutionary.
JetBlue is waiting on the delivery of 85 Airbus SE A321. This order could be converted into A321 aircraft capable of making the transatlantic crossing.
> Read More: JetBlue A321 Mint New York To Los Angeles Review
CONCLUSION
I’m so happy that JetBlue is getting close to commencing transatlantic operation. Based on Haye’s self-proclaimed caution in signaling new routes, I’d expect an announcement sooner and not later.
A final statement from Hayes:
We have 85 neos that we can upgrade to long-range versions. Thus, we certainly have things in place when we are ready to push. We haven’t taken the final decision yet, but I think I’ve outlined the opportunity. I don’t want to tip people off about what we are doing…we expect some reaction. The transatlantic market comes down to three large carriers with huge amounts of power…we have to move intelligently and stealthily to make sure we’re successful.
I can’t wait to fly JetBlue to London. How about you?
Ryanair??? More likely Easyjet which is a decent aurline.
JetBlue has poor IRROPS handling and there is no additional support in place for MINT passengers. There will be higher customer service expectations from transatlantic premium cabin travelers and I hope B6 will implement better service recovery policies and procedures.
Yes, because British Airways is an avatar of higher customer service. Indeed, BA is a brilliant example of taking care of its customers during IRROPS. BA, the gold standard of customer service in the aviation industry.
Certainly good news.
I really wonder what airport they will fly to in London. Probably Heathrow as its the primary London airport, but as mentioned in the article, I guess they could connect with easyJet from Gatwick. When they take delivery of the Airbus A220s in 2020, they technically will be able to fly to London City as it is within its range. If they could fly with low and premium fares from New York to London City, then they could really make a big dent in the New York to London market.
Heathrow is at full capacity so they can’t take any more flights till the new runway is built. This would probably be for Gatwick
Hope they will consider Fort Lauderdale to London service as well.
Bring it on. Frankly I’d seriously consider taking a connection in BOS to fly MINT to London over AA or BA nonstop from DFW (the brutally short eastbound redeye wouldn’t be fun, though). If I had to guess, I’d say they’ll fly to LGW and do something through “Gatwick Connects” to facilitate connections to easyJet.
I’d likely give it a try.
If JetBlue could offer a sub-$2k roundtrip Mint option to London, that would change my loyalty/CC strategy substantially. I’d probably focus less on airline miles and more on cards that earn cash back and/or points that can be redeemed through travel portals at 1.5 cents or more.
There’s only one real gamechanging play here. All Mint config’d CS100/A220-100 to London City.
Given how much gates cost at Heathrow, and the competition there, it’s not just worthwhile. Meanwhile, they can drop pax off in Central London and turn around planes in 45 mins at LCY. Their money would go further buying 6 morning and 2-4 evening LCY slots and helping pay for a gate that could fit a CSeries.
Can LCY handle the new planes? I assume so, but I know the runway is tight (and fun to take off and land on!). Would there be weight and fuel restrictions flying out of LCY with the new planes, like that of BA LCY/JFK?
The A220 is the largest plane certified for LCY. In terms of passenger capacity, the Swiss A220-100 carries 125 passengers. The plane can also make it to New York without a Shannon fuel stop. The LCY to JFK test flight were apparently loaded with a weight equivalent to 40 business class seats, 8 more than the current BA A318 offers on it’s transatlantic runs.
Exciting times for JetBlue, looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
In the US, it’s lobbying hard for Delta, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Air France to be forced to sacrifice slots at London Heathrow in return for allowing their expanded joint venture to be approved. London Gatwick is the second choice but slots are still not easy there.