US carrier JetBlue Airways intends to start operating from Long Island MacArthur airport in October, reinforcing and diversifying its presence in the New York metropolitan area.
JetBlue disclosed on June 11 that it plans to launch its first-ever flights from Long Island to three cities in Florida, with daily service to Orlando and four-times weekly service to Palm Beach starting on 24 October. Four-times weekly flights to Fort Lauderdale will begin the following day.
New York-basedJetBlue’s network is focused heavily in the Northeastern USA, with busy operations out of John F Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty international airports.
”By the end of 2024, JetBlue will serve more than 80 nonstop destinations and offer an average of over 200 departures per day from New York City,” the carrier says.
Dave Jehn, JetBlue’s vice-president of network planning and airline partnerships, calls Long Island an “integral part of the New York metro area”, while local leaders tout the less-trafficked airport as a more convenient alternative to JFK and LaGuardia.
JetBlue is in the process of retooling its network following a pair of court-ordered setbacks – the dissolution of its Northeast Alliance with American Airlines and the withdrawal of its $3.8 billion proposal to acquire Spirit Airlines.
The carrier has de-empahised flights to and from Los Angeles while focusing increasingly on the highly competitive Florida and Caribbean markets. It will launch eight new routes to Caribbean islands in October, including six connecting to its soon-to-be crew base in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
JetBlue has struggled to be profitable in recent months, as it lost $714 million in the first quarter and expects to record a loss for the full year of 2024.
