JetBlue Tweaks Its West Coast Route Map as It Focuses on Profit Margins
Skift Take
For a small, all-coach, low-cost startup based in New York, a Long Beach, California, focus city made sense. But times change, and Long Beach hasn't worked out as well as expected. It's no surprise JetBlue is ready to shrink there.
JetBlue Airways is tweaking its West Coast strategy, dropping flights from its long-time focus city in Long Beach, California, while adding coast-to-coast routes as it looks to compete with larger U.S. carriers, including new nemesis Alaska Airlines,
Long Beach, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles International, has been JetBlue's primary West Coast focus since in 2001, with the low-cost carrier at first content to avoid most head-to-head competition with the nation's largest carriers. But that changed in 2008, when JetBlue began transcontinental flights from Los Angeles to New York JFK and Boston, first with all-coach service, and later with its Mint business class. It has expanded in Los Angeles since, with executives saying the routes are among its best performing.
Long Beach will remain open, JetB
