DATA SPOTLIGHT: JetBlue Airways

22 June, 2020

This year The Blue Swan Daily will feature some of the leading airlines, airports and country markets for air travel. Here, using the extensive profile insights available to CAPA - Centre for Aviation members to deliver a data snapshot, we look at JetBlue Airways, which last week announced it is adding 30 new domestic routes.

These will serve customers in markets where leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) travel is showing some signs of strength. With business travel facing a less certain recovery timeline, the new routes offer JetBlue the opportunity to generate revenue, bring aircraft back into service that would otherwise sit idle.

The new flights will be phased in between Jul-2020 and Oct-2020 and will see a growing relevance in JetBlue's focus cities, further building on its strength in Florida with new point-to-point routes and the introduction of its Mint business class concept on flights into Newark with its arrival on routes to and from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The US carrier entered the Covid-19 crisis with the second strongest balance sheet among US airlines and has moved quickly to both protect and strengthen its liquidity position. Since the beginning of Mar-2020, it has made decisive changes to its growth plan to minimise cash burn, including deep capacity cuts to its schedules - it has reduced its CAPEX plan by USD1.3 billion between now and the end of 2022 and cut operating expenses by approximately 50% year-over-year.

It's network changes now repositions it for the recovery. "JetBlue has been a force for good for our industry, and we have been resilient through crises for over 20 years," says its CEO, Robin Hayes. "We believe that, not only will we get through this crisis, but we will ultimately emerge as a stronger JetBlue."

The airline continues with a commitment to seat distancing by blocking middle seats in rows where parties are not traveling together. The policy, part of the airline's multi-layered "Safety from the Ground Up" program, comes as the airline is also rolls out temperature monitoring for its flight and inflight crewmembers and electrostatic aircraft fogging, "a series of protections throughout the entire travel journey, which work together to help keep everyone safe and well," according to the airline's president and chief operating officer, Joanna Geraghty.

ABOUT
Established in Feb-2000, JetBlue is a low-cost/hybrid carrier based at New York JFK International Airport, with secondary hubs at Boston Logan, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Orlando International, Washington Dulles and Long Beach airports. JetBlue has an extensive network that serves destinations in the United States, the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America. JetBlue Airways plans to launch multiple daily services from Boston and New York to London with A321LR aircraft from 2021. Following the completion of its Fly-Fi rollout, JetBlue is the first carrier to offer gate-to-gate WiFi connectivity on all domestic services.

GLOBAL RANKING (as at 22-Jun-2020)

NETWORK MAP (as at 22-Jun-2020)

DESTINATIONS (as at 22-Jun-2020)

ANNUAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC (2011 - 2020YTD)

CAPACITY SNAPSHOT (versus same week last year)

ANNUAL CAPACITY (2012-2020*)(NOTE:The values for this year are at least partly predictive up to 6 months and may be subject to change)

WEEKLY DOMESTIC CAPACITY (2017 - 2020*)(NOTE:The values for this year are at least partly predictive up to 6 months and may be subject to change)

WEEKLY INTERNATIONAL CAPACITY (2017 - 2020*)(NOTE:The values for this year are at least partly predictive up to 6 months and may be subject to change)