With the summer travel season in full swing and next weekend’s busy July 4 holiday nearing, many airlines are feeling the pinch of softer-than-expected travel demand, as Americans find it increasingly difficult to afford the high cost of vacations made worse by inflation and a recent string of tariffs from the Trump administration.
JetBlue, which has been struggling financially and hasn’t made a profit since 2019, announced Saturday it would halt service out of Miami International Airport (MIA) effective September 3. It currently has one or two flights to Boston each day.
Fast Company has reached out to JetBlue for comment.
A spokesperson for the airline told The Miami Herald the move was “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” and travelers booked on cancelled flights “will have the option to fly via Fort Lauderdale or receive a full refund to their original form of payment.”
The discount carrier recently lost its bid for a $3.8 billion megamerger with Spirit Airlines after a federal judge ruled it would create a monopoly.
Last Monday, JetBlue Airways CEO Joanna Geraghty wrote a memo to employees that said the discount carrier was putting new cost-cutting measures into place to counter decreased travel demand, and the airline was “unlikely” to break even on operating margins this year, as reported by CNBC.
“We’re hopeful demand and bookings will rebound, but even a recovery won’t fully offset the ground we’ve lost this year and our path back to profitability will take longer than we’d hoped,” Geraghty said in the staff memo, viewed by CNBC. “That means we’re still relying on borrowed cash to keep the airline running.”
JetBlue by the numbers
Shares of JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) were trading down over 1% midday on Monday.
JetBlue and other airlines pulled their 2025 financial forecasts, as many companies did in the wake of Trump’s tariffs, due to overall economic uncertainty. For the first quarter of 2025, which ended March 31, JetBlue reported earnings per share (EPS) of -$0.59, beating analyst estimates, which were around -$0.61. Operating revenue was $2.1 billion, down 3.1% year-over-year. JetBlue has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion. The airline’s next reported earnings are scheduled for late July.
