JetBlue to reduce Newark, LaGuardia footprint as it forges ahead in Fort Lauderdale

JetBlue Airways told CNBC on Wednesday that it will close its flight attendant base at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and tech operations bases there and at LaGuardia Airport in New York this fall as it seeks to reduce costs and beef up service in Florida, though it noted that no staff will lose their jobs.

It said staff could bid or transfer to other bases.

“JetBlue is making targeted schedule adjustments, ending seasonal service between Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX) and Las Vegas (LAS), to support growth in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,” the airline said in a statement.

It comes as JetBlue earlier Wednesday said it would expand daily, cross-country flights with its lie-flat business class, Mint, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to San Diego on Nov. 19 and will add more Mint-equipped flights this winter to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

JetBlue has spent years trimming unprofitable routes and cutting costs to return to steady profitability.

Its last profitable quarter was two years ago, and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport push is a big part of its strategy, JetBlue President Marty St. George told CNBC earlier this month. The airline is scouting space for a high-end airport lounge there, too, he said.

The airline is already the top carrier at Fort Lauderdale, though it was previously second to Spirit Airlines, the South Florida-based discounter that collapsed on May 2.

JetBlue executives have called out the high costs of operating at airports like LaGuardia.

“We are much, much smaller at LaGuardia than we were four years ago because it’s a $40 [enplanement fee] airport for us. And the fountain is really pretty, but … I think people would rather have low fares than a really nice fountain,” St. George said at a JPMorgan industry conference in March, referring to the 25-foot-tall water feature in the airport’s Terminal B.