JetBlue Results Underwhelm, Executives Push Loyalty Program and Premium Offerings

Skift Take

JetBlue’s third-quarter took a hit from Hurricane Milton and executives say they expect more weakness due to the 2024 presidential election.

Meghna Maharishi

JetBlue reported an underwhelming third quarter though executives remained confident that the carrier’s new strategy would soon restore its profitability. 

The airline had a net loss of $60 million for the third quarter. JetBlue also reduced capacity by 3.6%, as part of a wider industry trend where carriers have been aiming to cut seats from an oversaturated domestic market. 

JetBlue’s strategy, called “JetForward,” has involved the carrier cutting capacity in unprofitable areas, deferring aircraft deliveries, and focusing more on leisure routes out of New York and Boston. It is also making a play for premium travelers as it looks to launch its own airport lounges.  

While the carrier benefitted from the CrowdStrike outage because it saw an uptick in bookings as competitors faced mass disruptions, executives said its revenue took a hit due to Hurricane Milton. The hurricane largely affected the Tampa area, where JetBlue has a major presence. 

Marty St. George, JetBlue’s president, said he expected revenue per available seat mile, a key metric in measuring an airline’s profitability, in the fourth quarter to be flat with the third quarter due to a slowdown around the 2024 election. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said they also expect to see a slowdown in travel around Election Day. 

“At the same time, there were also people who just weren’t booking because they were focused on dealing with a hurricane, and I think during the election, it’s sort of the same thing,” St. George said on a call with analysts on Tuesday. “Some bookings just sort of melt away because people are focused on other things. But again, this is nothing different than what we’ve seen historically.” 

JetBlue Makes Premium Push

As JetBlue looks to open airport lounges and enhance its premium offerings, executives said they also see opportunity in JetBlue’s loyalty program. 

“There’s this vast, vast amount of people who fly a good amount every year, who are lost by some of the bigger programs,” CEO Joanna Geraghty said on the call. “And we see a real opportunity, opportunity with them.”

At the Skift Global Forum in September, Geraghty said JetBlue hoped to capture that premium segment with airport lounges in New York and Boston. She said the carrier hopes to offer a “bespoke” experience with the lounges. 

“It’s going to be somewhat limited in who can access it,” Geraghty said in September. “But at the end of the day, you know, our loyalty program will be broadly accessible for a pretty vast segment of folks who travel to JetBlue pretty frequently, at a level that’s much lower than some of the legacy carriers.”