JetBlue Airways has been giving passengers and employees fits this month, with more than 2,000 flight cancellations and 10,000 delays.
The New York-based airline’s fix for the problem, which it blamed on weather and staffing shortages inside and outside the airline: cutting flights ahead of the busy summer travel season so it has more slack in the system when things go awry.
“We are taking swift and significant actions to get the operation back on track in the near term and deliver the JetBlue experience that our customers love and expect,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes told investors and reporters on the airline’s earnings call Tuesday.
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JetBlue, hoping to capitalize on surging travel demand, just a few months ago had big plans for the summer and remainder of 2022, with plans to offer 15% more seats than in 2019. Now, the airline says capacity at the most will be up by just 5% over 2019, and could be flat. Summer flight cuts are the steepest so far.
In early March, JetBlue had 33,000 flights scheduled for June. By late April, the total was down to 27,000, an 18% decline, according to data from airline analytics company Cirium.
The upshot for travelers who booked trips already: those dreaded emails about flight changes. Not to mention long waits to reach someone at JetBlue for those unhappy with their new…
