Jet Blue Exploring Other LA Options...LGB Noise Ordinance is $$$

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Will JetBlue Airways focus on a different market in Southern California? CEO Robin Hayes said Tuesday he would reveal the answer “very, very, very, very soon.”
The point-to-point airline now serves Los Angeles International Airport with transcontinental flights from its hubs at New York's John F. Kennedy airport, Boston, Fort Lauderdale with its premium Mint service. The airline also flies to LAX from Buffalo and Orlando.
JetBlue also serves Long Beach Airport with a variety of West Coast options such as Seattle, Portland and Northern California, along with Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, New York and Boston.
But the airline has run into turbulence with the Long Beach City Council over noise from flights arriving or departing outside a curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
JetBlue is fighting fines of $1.2 million from the curfew violations in 2017, which was double the amount from 2016 and triple the amount from 2015, according to the Press-Telegram newspaper in Long Beach. The airline contends it shouldn’t be penalized for air-traffic control problems beyond its control.
During a conference call Tuesday with stock analysts, Hayes said the airline will play to its strengths in its New York, Boston and Fort Lauderdale markets, and add transcontinental service from the Los Angeles region. But he didn’t specify where.
“We will play on our strength as the preferred airline for coast-to-coast travel with new transcon flying from the LA Basin to be announced soon,” Hayes said.
Hayes was asked later whether he was hinting at more routes from existing airports or serving a new location, perhaps John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
“You were listening,” Hayes said. “Look, I’m not going to say too much now.”
But Hayes said he was traveling to the West Coast Wednesday with a network team.
“It’s important that we focus on our strengths, and adjust things that aren’t working,” Hayes said. “You’ll be hearing more on that very, very, very, very soon.”

Update...JetBlue is returning to ONT starting Sept. 5, a decade after the airline pulled out. Although JetBlue is cutting back its services at Long Beach Airport at the same time, the move to Ontario expands JetBlue's service to a faster-growing market in the region. The New York-based carrier is returning partly in response to the increasing popularity of the airport that draws travelers from Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. At Ontario, JetBlue is adding a daily nonstop flight to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport.



Passenger volume at ONT has grown 10% in the first three months of the year to 1.14 million travelers, compared with the same period in 2016. The amount of cargo flown out of the airport has also surged by 16% in the same period, up to 146,000 tons.