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JetBlue to cut (profits) back in Long Beach?
If you haven't taken advantage of JetBlue's cheap flights between San Francisco and Long Beach, you may want to act quickly. The low-cost airline is considering scaling back service through the latter, which is its hub on the west coast. The slow pace of improvements at the airport, which is city-owned, is the driver behind this decision. There's no cause for alarm just yet. JetBlue doesn't have any formal plan to make the move, but it has announced that it is considering reducing or shifting Long Beach flights. Los Angeles International Airport is among the possible winners, as it would pick up some traffic from the changes.
Of course, Long Beach Airport is protecting itself. Spokeswoman Sharon Diggs Jackson said last Thursday that JetBlue hadn't indicated that it was heading for the exits. In fact, she noted that the airline is planning to add another flight in May.
Three million passengers pass through Long Beach Airport every year – and JetBlue has the largest presence there. It's also a profitable spot for the airline.
So, we're clearly looking at a battle over leverage. Only time will tell the victor.
Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines, Airports, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fiona Apr 7th 2009 3:07PM
The LGB airport is about to get it in the shorts. Jetblue does not need to leave LGB to hurt the airport. In fact leaving would open the door for another carrier to backfill the market which Jetblue had stimulated. Instead Jetblue could decrease the available seats by flying the smaller E190 in lieu of the A320. That would keep the slot in LGB but decrease seats available by 33% and raise fares. Also Jetblue could decrease frequency from the current 7 days a week to only 4-5 days a week and still keep the slot. Finally they can decrease the number of destinations and limit the destinations to short haul markets. All this would drasticly decrease the fees (landing fees and passanger service fees) that the the airport (and in turn the city of Long Beach) would recieve. And finally it would hurt businesses in Long Beach because fewer business travelers would want to fly into LGB and do business in Long Beach especially if the number of destinations are decreased.
This is LGB airports and the city of Long Beach fight to lose. Not Jetblue. The ball in in the city councils court. Fights on!