JetBlue Dumps Long Beach for Los Angeles, Focusing West Coast Presence

After years of operating from Long Beach International Airport, JetBlue will make the permanent move to Los Angeles. The New York-based carrier will consolidate operations at LAX, as part of a strategic plan to offer 70 flights per day by 2025.

JetBlue will consolidate most of their West Coast operations to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), shutting down their base at Long Beach International Airport (LGB) by October 2020. The airline announced the change as part of a strategic focus on California and the Pacific region.

Expansion Plans Include 70 Flights from LAX Terminal 5

According to the New York-based carrier, the permanent move to LAX is part of a bigger strategy to capture business through “the busiest origin and destination market in the world.” To start, the move will give the airline over 30 daily flights from Los Angeles to 13 destinations. This includes four routes with the premium cabin product, Mint.

Once complete, flyers will be able to travel aboard JetBlue to Austin, Boseman, Mont., Las Vegas, Reno, San Francisco, and Seattle. The ultimate goal for JetBlue is operating 70 flights per day from the massive Southern California airport.

Infographic courtesy: JetBlue

“LAX is one of JetBlue’s most successful markets and offers the valuable opportunity to grow significantly both domestically and internationally while introducing our low fares on more routes,” Scott Laurence, head of revenue and planning for JetBlue, said in the press release. “The transition to LAX, serving as the anchor of our focus city strategy on the West Coast, sets JetBlue up for success in Southern California. We continue to seize on opportunities to emerge from this pandemic a stronger competitive force in the industry.”

While the airline will leave Long Beach effective Oct. 7, 2020, the airline will still operate at two additional Southern California airports. The carrier said they would continue service at Bob Hope Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) and Ontario International Airport (ONT).

Move Comes During Expansive Growth for JetBlue

The airline’s consolidation in Los Angeles comes as the airline announced a major expansion and frequent flyer program change. In June 2020, JetBlue announced they would add Mint premium cabin flights to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) as part of a larger network expansion focused on leisure travel.

Days later, the airline added Cash + Points Rewards for their frequent flyer program, TrueBlue. With the addition, flyers can use a portion or all of their TrueBlue points to reduce the cash price of a flight.