JetBlue to continue reducing operations at New York for Fort Lauderdale

Low-cost airline JetBlue has made some operational adjustments. Following their executives’ warnings of bankruptcy, they are reducing costs and focusing on the market share they can win in the short term. This is done by shifting from high-cost airports such as New York and Boston to lower-cost airports such as Fort Lauderdale. Following Spirits' bankruptcy, there is a lot of claimable market share in South Florida.  Spirit dominated at Fort Lauderdale; therefore, there are more customers to gain, which leads to more credit card revenue. Additionally, they are closing their Tech Op bases at Newark and LaGuardia, as well as their Newark flight attendant base. This is also strategic because they have slots to sell at LaGuardia without losing government subsidies for the year. Fort Lauderdale for JetBlue has much more short-term opportunity, given the strong potential demand from Spirit’s departure and the lack of competitors with a base there. Expect a departure from JFK next because they have 360 slots to sell that American, Delta, and United would likely buy. America competitively needs JFK and should be focusing on scaling there, and United’s CEO, Scott Kirby, has talked about wanting to expand their presence; these slots are very likely on the table. JetBlue needs to just stay in business; furthermore,  they just want to reduce their debt and stay in business.