JetBlue bucks pandemic with new flights from NYC, Newark

JetBlue Airways will add 30 new domestic routes, restart some suspended flights and extend its premium Mint service to Newark, New Jersey, in a bet on recovery after a collapse in travel demand. The new routes, which are concentrated in the New York area but also include Florida and Philadelphia, are geared toward “small signs” of a rebound in leisure travel, JetBlue said in a statement Thursday. The additions and the restoration of suspended routes in July and August mean the airline will operate more than half its typical summer capacity. JetBlue’s decision to open new routes goes further than the capacity increases at other US carriers, which are using a modest rebound in travel to restore flights they suspended earlier this year as the Covid-19 pandemic all but erased demand. JetBlue is also expanding Mint service to Newark, the premium offering’s 16th city, even though business demand remains hindered by corporate travel restrictions. “As we’ve seen demand come back, the speed with which it returned surprised us, particularly in leisure markets and particularly in the last three to three and a half weeks,” said Scott Laurence, JetBlue’s head of revenue and planning. JetBlue is watching demand carefully since it’s been so volatile -- and as virus hospitalizations rise in some areas.<br/>