JetBlue has temporarily suspended 27 leisure routes this summer. Two of them, the Austin-Cancun and Nashville-Cancun routes, have been permanently suspended.
According to experts, the rise in costs spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is pushing airlines to scale back on leisure routes launched during the pandemic, making long-haul flights that consume more fuel less profitable for airlines.
According to a statement inked by Jetblue and published in CBS MoneyWatch: “Through the summer, we will temporarily suspend flying on a number of routes to support our fuel initiatives and further improve our operational performance,” the company said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
“Many of these routes were chosen as they fall into one of three categories: long haul routes that burn more fuel; routes that don’t make financial sense at high fuel prices; or routes that present specific operational challenges.”
In fact, 20 (74 percent) of the new routes were added during the pandemic, confirming the prediction of the airline’s CEO last year: “We have expanded a lot – and many routes won’t stick around.”
More than 44 percent of the 27 airport pairs involve Florida, and nearly 37 percent are more than 2,000 miles (3,219km) long.
Los Angeles to San Jose (Costa Rica) is the longest route halted, and it is also JetBlue’s fourth-longest route, behind JFK-Gatwick, JFK-Heathrow and JFK-Guayaquil. The fifth-longest flight, Fort Lauderdale-Seattle, is also postponed.
Here’s the list of routes temporarily halted:
| Origin | Destination | Notes |
| Austin (AUS) | Orlando (MCO) | |
| Austin (AUS) | Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | |
| Austin (AUS) | San Francisco (SFO) | |
| Boston (BOS) | Burbank (BUR) | |
| Boston (BOS) | San Jose (SJC) | Cut from October 2021 through April 2022 |
| Fort Myers (RSW) | Cleveland (CLE) | |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | Seattle (SEA) | Cut from October 2021 through April 2022 |
| Orlando (MCO) | Atlanta (ATL) | |
| Orlando (MCO) | Bogota (BOG) | Will only operate during peak holiday season in December and January |
| Orlando (MCO) | Philadelphia (PHL) | |
| Orlando (MCO) | Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | |
| Orlando (MCO) | San Francisco (SFO) | |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | Fort Myers (RSW) | |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | Tampa (TPA) | |
| Pittsburgh (PIT) | Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | |
| Pittsburgh (PIT) | West Palm Beach (PBI) | |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | Fort Myers (RSW) | |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | Jacksonville (JAX) | |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | Las Vegas (LAS) | |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) | |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | San Francisco (SFO) | |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | Tampa (TPA) | |
| Richmond (RIC) | Las Vegas (LAS) | |
| Richmond (RIC) | Los Angeles (LAX) | Cut from October 2021 through April 2022 |
| Tampa (TPA) | Washington/National (DCA) | |
| West Palm Beach (PBI) | Chicago (ORD) | |
| West Palm Beach (PBI) | Philadelphia (PHL) |