JetBlue's Battle to Remain Dominant in Boston
Skift Take
A few years ago, Delta Air Lines expanded in Seattle and tried to take share from Alaska Airlines. Surprisingly, Alaska has held on to most of its customers. Now, Delta is trying a similar strategy in Boston. JetBlue has a big customer base there. Will JetBlue's loyalists stick around?
As United Airlines and American Airlines retrench into their hubs, Delta Air Lines is trying a different strategy, chasing lucrative travelers in major cities where it has not historically had a major operation.
Starting in 2012, Seattle became Delta's focus, as it sought to grab share from Alaska Airlines. Now, with that effort still going, Delta is expanding in other markets, including Austin, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Boston.
This incursion is potential problem for JetBlue, which invested in Boston when few other carriers wanted to grow there, and has made the airport one of its three most important markets, along with New York and Fort Lauderdale. And while JetBlue executives said Tuesday on their third quarter earnings call that they're still performing fine in Boston, there are some indications business is not as strong as it was.
JetBlue executives said that "growth from a legacy airline" is depressing unit revenues from Boston, especially on leisure-focused routes. In recent months, Delta has announced or added several vacation-friendly routes, such as Las Vegas, Savannah, Georgia, and Aruba, its sixth Caribbean destination. It has also added flights to Jacksonville, Tampa, and Nash
