I don't see a new focus city coming anytime soon, anywhere. MDW will never happen because JetBlue has no desire to even try competing with Southwest or deal with those weather delays in the winter. I could imagine STL or MKE, or even AUS, as being better contenders. That said, JetBlue doesn't have the staffing or equipment necessary to open up a new focus city without drastic cuts to existing service.

AUS already has flights to all five mainland focus cities. Add DCA, PBI, SJU, BDL, and maybe SFO or SLC into the mix, and you have yourself a connecting point.

-J.

I would be more than ok with any of these but agree that AUS makes the most sense. They need to connect from ORD though. My main point is that they need better connectivity from ORD to the West Coast, not the airline needs to set up a new focus city.

I couldn't agree more. Didn't they used to fly ORD-LGB back in the day? I know ATL and IAD had flights from Long Beach. Although AA, UA, AS, and NK all fly ORD-LAX, no airline serves the Chicagoland area nonstop from Long Beach (or Burbank or Ontario). I wouldn't be surprised if this hole was filled when the A220s hit the line.

-J.

The only city in the west I could see them add for RSW is LAX. There is just not enough demand anywhere in the west for direct service. They do seat to do really well on the NorthEast to RSW service, so I think you will continue to see more of that. Maybe there will be some service to the Caribbean also.


As for where they can go in midwest, it's really hard to see any good options. They have too little gate/counter space at ORD to do anything. I suggested CLE or PIT because there is space and they are relatively underserved. Hard to think of where else would be good in the middle of the country. There are not too many cities out there that have demand and not a large WN/legacy presence.

Yes, if they considering FLL-SEA or SJC. I think they have wait for A321neo to come online. They can fly nonstop flight FLL-SEA by operated A321neo.

I imagine they would want to put Mint on FLL-SEA, but I don't know where the planes would come from. They just announced BOS-SFO would be expanded. So far none of the NEOs have Mint.

-J.

No, they don't have Mint on the entire A321neo. They still have Mint on some A321ceo aircraft.

They are adding one additional mint flight on JFK-SAN and BOS-LAX next summer. Hard to see them doing that without additional mint deliveries.

My client base keeps evolving such that the JetBlue network is becoming more and more of a challenge for me as I start to combine business trips. In addition to the lack of Midwest connectivity, all the time changes/cuts at LGB are hurting me as well. I'd imagine they've already lost business from LGB based business travelers. I do want to fly JetBlue across the pond but 2020 may be the last year I earn loyalty here. It's just not worth these constant circular conversations that seem to go nowhere with the airline.

You're forgetting about a little carrier called Southwest

WN flies MDW-BUR (1-2x daily) and MDW-ONT (looks like 1x daily), in addition to their 6-7x MDW-LAX. (They're also in line to pick up some of B6's former slots at LGB, though who knows what they'll use them for.)

UA and AA both fly ORD-SNA as well.

Based on rumor mills and a particular twitter post by Civil Aviation Director of Guatemala, it looks like the next destination to be announced by JetBlue could be GUA, most likely JFK-GUA. Although FLL-GUA is possible. This is another in the long list of VFR routes that JetBlue should do well on. Currently, the only competition is UA out of EWR for 2x weekly in off season and then daily in summer month. This should be a route they can do with A320 if there isn't enough A321NEO around. Not really surprised here, since I got the sense they wanted to complete their collection of JFK VFR routes before European flights start. After GUA, SAL is probably the most obvious VFR destination that is reachable by A321NEO and not currently served by JetBlue.

I'm watching for these to be announced next year to South America.
JFK/FLL-GUA
JFK-UIO
JFK/FLL-SAL

They have been looking at GUA and SAL for a while. I think they will do very well, even on the A320. JetBlue already has heavy maintenance done in SAL.

Can they go UIO-JFK without a tech stop somewhere? I don't know if this would be possible. Maybe the NEO can do it.

-J.

The neo can definitely do it since it currently operates JFK-GYE which is further south than UIO

I meant performance-wise... the field elevation at UIO is nearly 8,000 feet. It takes a lot more runway than your typical near-sea level takeoff.

Looks like AC Rouge flies UIO-YYZ nonstop on the B763, and there's a couple of European nonstops. So I suppose it is doable, especially for a higher-performance aircraft like the neo.

-J.

whether or not JFK-UIO can work on a A321NEO is a good question here. It is about 100 miles longer than BOS-SFO, which mint can do with no problem (even accounting for transcon westbound hit which is less of an issue for north and south). Not sure how much extra range A321NEO has over mint configured A321CEO since the latter seats 40 fewer passengers and have one more ACT, maybe just 100 nm? Given the large Ecuadorian community in NYC, I definitely think they can do service to both GYE/UIO. Maybe they'd have to block a few seats for it to happen. Not sure if that's still worth it.