Report: JetBlue to Cut Routes in Effort to 'Return to Profitability'

JetBlue plans to cut some routes and service as it attempts to return to profitability, CNBC reported on Friday, citing an internal JetBlue memo it reviewed. 

The carrier reportedly plans to focus on leisure routes, with additional service to the Caribbean and Paris, while it will eliminate flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to each Portland, Ore., and San Jose, Calif. It also plans to stop flying from New York’s Westchester County Airport and from Martha’s Vineyard, according to the report. In October, JetBlue also will suspend service from New York to Ponce, Puerto Rico, and to Milwaukee. 

The carrier also is expected to leave Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and instead serve the area from Washington, D.C.

The alleged moves come days after a federal judge blocked JetBlue’s plans to acquire Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion. According to the report, JetBlue in the internal memo said that the changes were not a result of the antitrust trial outcome and had been “in the works for almost a month.”

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.