JetBlue announced on Thursday that they will move service currently operated at Long Beach Airport (LGB) to LAX. Beginning in October, the carrier will also relocate their Long Beach maintenance and crew bases to Los Angeles as well.
Yesterday (July 9, 2020), JetBlue announced that they will consolidate their West Coast operations, including their popular transcontinental service at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Beginning in October the carrier will relocate services currently operated from Long Beach Airport (LGB) along with the Long Beach crew and maintenance bases to LAX. Initially, JetBlue will offer more than 30 daily flights between LAX and 13 destinations, including four Mint routes. Premium Mint service will be available on flights from New York-JFK, Boston, Fort Lauderdale and New York-Newark, which will launch on July 23, 2020. In Thursday’s announcement, JetBlue’s Head of Revenue and Planning, Scott Laurence said,
“LAX is one of JetBlue’s most successful markets and offers the valuable opportunity to grow significantly both domestically and internationally while introducing our low fares on more routes. The transition to LAX, serving as the anchor of our focus city strategy on the West Coast, sets JetBlue up for success in Southern California. We continue to seize on opportunities to emerge from this pandemic a stronger competitive force in the industry.”
In cooperation with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), JetBlue plans to expand their LAX operation to 70 flights per day by 2025 with domestic and international flights. The carrier also plans to open new markets that have never had nonstop service to and from LAX. Los Angeles is the busiest Origin and Destination (O&D) market in the world and its 24/7 operations and customs and immigration facilities will provide JetBlue with increased flexibility when planning future flights.
JetBlue’s final day of operations at Long Beach will be October 6, 2020 and the carrier’s service to Portland International Airport (PDX) will not be transitioning to LAX. The carrier will continue to offer service to Portland from New York-JFK and Boston and will launch service from Fort Lauderdale in October. JetBlue will continue operations out of Hollywood Burbank (BUR) and Ontario International Airport (ONT) as part of their larger Los Angeles market strategy.
Source: JetBlue Airways