JetBlue lost $1.4bn in 2020

JetBlue lost $1.4b in 2020, but is stressing that network and fleet shifts should position it to perform well when the air travel market recovers. Just when that might happen remains an open question, but JetBlue’s executives expect slow improvement in 2021. “We believe our initiatives will allow us to emerge with structurally better margins,” the New York City-based airline’s CE Robin Hayes says Thursday. Those initiatives include a pending partnership with American Airlines, acquisition of new aircraft like Airbus A220s and A321neos, and the expected launch of flights to London. During JetBlue’s 2020 earning, Hayes stressed that JetBlue’s London plan remains on track despite uncertainty about which airport it might serve and how it will acquire needed slots. “We are still on track for a Q3 London launch,” Hayes says, adding that JetBlue has a “path” to begin operations at “more than one” London airport. JetBlue has not yet offered those flights for sale and in a recent filing with US regulators said it was having trouble securing London slots. JetBlue’s $1.4b 2020 loss compares to a $569m profit in 2019. <br/>