JetBlue is looking beyond Long Beach and Los Angeles, hinting that it will expand services at another Los Angeles-area airport.
Currently, JetBlue offers transcontinental service from Los Angeles to five cities and has a larger network out of Long Beach, serving destinations around the country.
But the relationship with Long Beach Airport has soured. LGB hit JetBlue with $1.2MN in fines in 2017 for breaking the 10pm – 7am curfew. JetBlue is fighting the fine, arguing that it should not be responsible for ATC issues beyond its control.
In an earnings calls yesterday, CEO Robin Hayes hinted that change is coming.
We will play on our strength as the preferred airline for coast-to-coast travel with new transcon flying from the LA Basin to be announced soon.
A reporter asked Hayes whether JetBlue would expand out of LA or start service at another LA airport. Hayes’ response was evasive:
You were listening. Look, I’m not going to say too much now.
Burbank or Orange Country (John Wayne) or Ontario?
I’m just speculating, but I don’t think JetBlue is going to expand out of Long Beach (the airport it is fighting and already has a robust schedule) or Los Angeles (with such fierce competition).
Instead, I believe JetBlue will either bolster service out of Burbank-Hollywood Airport or begin service to Orange County or Ontario. Currently, JetBlue serves New York JFK from Burbank once daily. JetBlue once had three flights per day between New York and Burbank and also served Washington Dulles and Orlando from Burbank. Service was trimmed during the “Great Recession” but the underlying market remains: studio traffic from Burbank and Hollywood make Burbank a compelling choice for new MINT service and a further expansion. BUR is also building a new terminal and is already served by JetSuiteX, JetBlue’s latest partner.
JetBlue does not currently service Orange County (SNA) and the affluent region would be another market JetBlue would likely see success in. Offering non-stop service to JFK and Boston would offer a compelling alternative to United’s service to Newark, which does not offer lie-flat seating in business class. No carrier serves JFK or BOS non-stop. Slot controls and runway length are two big drawbacks, though.
Finally, there is Ontario. Located in LA’s sprawling Inland Empire, it is not the most conveniently-located airport, but has plenty of room for growth. It is also hungry for growth. China Airlines recently started service to ONT from TPE. JetBlue could serve as a viable feeder and already partners with the Taiwan-based airline.
CONCLUSION
Hayes is traveling to the West Coast today with his team. I’m not sure an announcement will occur this week, but stay tuned. I’m (selfishly) hoping for expanded service from Burbank…
image: JetBlue
If JetBlue pulls out of LGB it will go back to being the small provincial airport it was before.
While that would have been true several years ago, Southwest has recently taken up slots there and I bet would take up any newly forfeited ones. It has been busier recently.
Issuing fines for ATC delays is beyond petty, that’s literally asking Jetblue to pull service.
I don’t think this will happen, but a part of me does hope JetBlue will shutter LGB due to the restrictions put in place making the hub unviable (I hear they lose money there). This will certainly teach LGB and its community a lesson when they realize now they have to go to LAX or SNA more often at higher prices.
Don’t forget there is also Ontario which has a ton of capacity – this area got hit hard during the 2008 crisis and is recovering quite well. Won’t be very high yielding but if JetBlue wants to build a strong presence in the LA Basin this is their best bet.
LAX/BUR will continue to cater to high yielding business routes, but both are sorely constrained just like LGB. They won’t be able to get a lot of slots at SNA to launch several routes.
With the new equity stake in JetSuite, I’m guessing Burbank.
That’s a great point.
The runway at SNA is too short for a trans-con on an A321. Only the 757-200, 737-700, and A319 have been able to operate trans-con so there will not be any SNA-JFK service on Jet Blue as they don’t have an airplane that can operate the route. My money would be on Burbank which has a higher yield catchment area, or Ontario which has the volume of people in eastern LA, but lower incomes.
Such a pity because LGB has the space and the runway length. Particularly SNA, but also BUR is like an aircraft carrier deck/runway.
I can tell you first hand that a Mint 321 isn’t going to make JFK from Burbank non stop. JerBlue struggled for years with 320’s having to tech stop when conditions weren’t perfect forcing weight restricted departures. A 321 would be even worse.
That being said the tie up with JetLink certainly points towards Burbank and the airport would be an ideal place to siphon off high yield transcon traffic if they could make it work. Now if they are going to turn a subfleet of 320’s into Mint Birds (which seems highly unlikely given that they just started switching the 320 fleet from 150 to 162 seats which creates complexity of its own) that could be made to work.
Hi 121Pilot,
Delta once flew a 757 from BUR-ATL and United once had a 767 from BUR-ORD. What makes an A321 different? Or were the 757s/67s also weight restricted?
Matthew,
I can’t speak to the 767 having never flown one but the 757 as you probably know is a very good short field aircraft. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it had no problem getting airborne with a full load. I will note that BUR-ORD is a good bit shorter than JFK or BOS and on a percentage basis a 767 on that route is likely to be at a far lower percentage of MGTOW compared to a 320/321
The 320 with a full load from BUR to JFK is very tight and if the winds aren’t just right you end up needing to tech stop primarily as a result of terrain around the airport. The 321 has decent runway performance but it is worse than the 320 and unless I miss my guess would be even more restricted from BUR than the 320. It’s certainly no 757 in that regard,
It’s possible that the NEO with more thrust might’ve better but I’ve not heard reports to that effect either internally or from fellow pilots.
JetBlue actually had service from ONT-JFK back in the day (early 2000s? can’t recall exactly). It was a red-eye eastbound and an evening JFK departure westbound, and was FANTASTIC for those of us who lived in the area and wanted a non-stop transcon service. ONT was deserted that late at night, the fares were excellent, even post-9/11 it was a breeze (at least at ONT; all bets were off at JFK). I did a number of weekends in NYC out Friday night, back Sunday night. Was never sure if there was a viable revenue base, though many people seemed to be connecting out of JFK to other JetBlue destinations so maybe the money was in the folks traveling beyond NYC. Would be interesting if they brought that service back, though I no longer live in the area.
Apparently some announcements have been made. It will be interesting to see the BUR flights fleshed out.
https://www.pe.com/2018/04/25/jetblue-to-return-to-ontario-airport-with-flights-to-new-york/
It’s looking like all this new service will be on 320’s so no Mint service from BUR to JFK.
Indeed. Very disappointing. I’ll have a post on this tomorrow.