JetBlue heads for the worst year of flight delays since 2007
JetBlue has little to show for its efforts to improve on-time performance. This year through October, the airline’s on-time arrival rate of 70% trails the industry average of 79%, according to the US DoT. That puts the carrier on track for its worst showing since 2007. Flight delays threaten two of JetBlue’s most important initiatives. Tardiness adds costs, undermining a corporate push to trim $300 million in expenses by 2020. Chronically late flights also weaken the airline’s efforts to woo more of the most-lucrative passengers, including those for its premium Mint offering. “Even the first-class suites arrive late when the airplane is late,” said Bob Mann, president of aviation consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. “I think some high-value customers have figured out that Delta is doing a better job.” Delta is typically near the top of the pack. Delays cost US carriers $62.55 a minute on average in direct operating expenses last year, according to the trade group Airlines for America. Multiplied by JetBlue’s 4.95m minutes of delays for the first 10 months of this year, the latest period for which information is available, that works out to $310m. JetBlue said it’s more vulnerable to delays than its competitors because about 70% of its flights stop at airports in the Northeast, which are especially prone to congestion and bad weather. More than 35% of its flights are at its base, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The carrier cited repair and renovation work that temporarily shut major runways at Kennedy and Boston’s Logan International Airport this year. JetBlue also said that it puts less extra time, or “padding,” in its schedule than rivals do, giving its flights less wiggle room to arrive when promised.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2018-01-01/unaligned/jetblue-heads-for-the-worst-year-of-flight-delays-since-2007
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/logo.png
JetBlue heads for the worst year of flight delays since 2007
JetBlue has little to show for its efforts to improve on-time performance. This year through October, the airline’s on-time arrival rate of 70% trails the industry average of 79%, according to the US DoT. That puts the carrier on track for its worst showing since 2007. Flight delays threaten two of JetBlue’s most important initiatives. Tardiness adds costs, undermining a corporate push to trim $300 million in expenses by 2020. Chronically late flights also weaken the airline’s efforts to woo more of the most-lucrative passengers, including those for its premium Mint offering. “Even the first-class suites arrive late when the airplane is late,” said Bob Mann, president of aviation consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. “I think some high-value customers have figured out that Delta is doing a better job.” Delta is typically near the top of the pack. Delays cost US carriers $62.55 a minute on average in direct operating expenses last year, according to the trade group Airlines for America. Multiplied by JetBlue’s 4.95m minutes of delays for the first 10 months of this year, the latest period for which information is available, that works out to $310m. JetBlue said it’s more vulnerable to delays than its competitors because about 70% of its flights stop at airports in the Northeast, which are especially prone to congestion and bad weather. More than 35% of its flights are at its base, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The carrier cited repair and renovation work that temporarily shut major runways at Kennedy and Boston’s Logan International Airport this year. JetBlue also said that it puts less extra time, or “padding,” in its schedule than rivals do, giving its flights less wiggle room to arrive when promised.<br/>
