JetBlue giveth, and JetBlue taketh away.
Weeks after adding new Florida routes to New York City and Guatemala, expanding some winter seasonal service to year-round, partnering with Brightline to let travelers book both a plane and train trip directly on jetblue.com, and landing a Dunkin’-themed airplane in Fort Myers, the company announced on June 21 it is pulling out of Miami International Airport (MIA).
“Travelers booked on canceled flights will have the option to fly via Fort Lauderdale or receive a full refund to their original form of payment,” the airline said.
The airline currently only offers one or two daily flights between Boston and Miami and will halt service starting Sept. 3 due to the route’s low performance.
The New York-based airline has also canceled some underperforming routes, according to a company memo seen by airlinegeeks.com. A route from Buffalo, New York, to West Palm Beach that was scheduled to resume in October has been removed from JetBlue’s schedule, the site said, and a route from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville was canceled in 2024.
The airline cut some flights in Florida last June and canceled a direct flight service from Tallahassee to Fort Lauderdale, weeks after a planned merger with Spirit Airliens fell through.
Why is JetBlue pulling out of Miami?
“We continually evaluate how our network is performing and make changes as needed,” a JetBlue spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY. “To free aircraft for new routes, we’ve recently made the decision to end a small number of unprofitable flights including between Boston and Miami.”
JetBlue expanded at MIA in 2021 during the pandemic and at its height had as many as 14 daily flights. That included up to 4-times-daily flights between Boston to Miami route, part of JetBlue’s partnership with American Airlines, which operates as one of the major carriers out of Miami.
This partnership has since ended.
According to the Miami Herald, JetBlue also flew between Miami and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, and Los Angeles International Airport. However, JetBlue has trimmed its Miami service due to falling demand.
JetBlue has canceled some domestic and international routes around the country and made others seasonal, according to airlinegeeks.com, and closed a station in California. In 2024, a planned merger with Spirit Airlines failed after the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block it.
JetBlue still serves South Florida, though. The airline has a strong presence at Fort Lauderdale International Airport and West Palm Beach, and the new Brightline partnership adds to that.
When is JetBlue pulling out of Miami?
The current routes end Sept. 3, 2025, the airline said.
What are JetBlue’s new Florida routes?
On April 30, the airline started a twice-daily, year-round route between La Guardia Airport in New York City and Tampa and a new daily flight between Fort Lauderdale and Guatemala City.
JetBlue announced in February that the winter seasonal service from Providence, Rhode Island to Tampa and Hartford, Connecticut, to Fort Myers would be expanded to year-round service. The month before, the airline began flying routes between Manchester–Boston Regional Airport to Orlando, Fort Myers, and Fort Lauderdale.
Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: JetBlue to drop ‘unprofitable’ service to this major Florida airport, adds more routes
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
