JetBlue May Trim Flights To Raise Margins After Rough January
Skift Take
JetBlue is a publicly traded corporation, and it has little choice but to reduce capacity when revenues fall because that's what investors expect. But this isn't great for travelers. They would prefer JetBlue discount its fares to to fill seats when demand falls.
JetBlue Airways struggled so much in January with revenues that it may cull some less profitable flying in coming months, airline executives said Thursday.
In doing so, JetBlue is betting on the basic tenet of supply-and-demand: With fewer flights to sell, the airline should earn more money from each route. In time, executives said Thursday, JetBlue calculates this strategy will ensure it can consistently generate margins above the U.S. industry average.
"I think that we are all extremely disappointed in January," JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes told analysts on the carrier's fourth quarter earnings call. "Let's get that out there. Let's get it on the table."
The problem was JetBlue's revenue per available s
