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JetBlue is pulling out of the Miami airport, but will remain at FLL. See details
JetBlue Airways will halt service at Miami International Airport, the airline said on Saturday. The Long Island City-based carrier cited poor financial performance.
JetBlue has a small footprint at MIA, with one or two daily flights between MIA and Boston.
But 'to free aircraft for new routes, we've recently made the decision to end a small number of unprofitable flights including between Boston and Miami,' Derek Dombrowski, director of corporate communications, said in an email statement sent to the Miami Herald.
The changes are effective Sept. 3, he said.
Travelers booked on cancelled flights 'will have the option to fly via Fort Lauderdale or receive a full refund to their original form of payment,' Dombrowski said.
The move was a business decision.
'We continually evaluate how our network is performing and make changes as needed,' Dombrowski said.
JetBlue informed MIA of the changes on Friday, Greg Chin, communications director for Miami-Dade Aviation Department, said in a phone call with the Miami Herald on Saturday. He didn't elaborate on other details.
JetBlue's Fort Lauderdale presence
JetBlue will continue to fly to Boston from nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as well as West Palm Beach, Dombrowski said.
The airline has a strong presence at FLL.
In 2024, JetBlue served about 6.8 million passengers at FLL, down 2.1% from 2023 but still the second largest carrier at that airport, only behind Spirit. It carried 19% of all travelers to and from the Broward County airport.
This year, JetBlue remains FLL's second largest carrier. Through April 30, the airline had 2.2 million passengers, even though that's down 6% from the same period in 2024.
In 2021, to make a larger bet on South Florida as the COVID-19 pandemic was still in full force, JetBlue expanded at MIA, adding as many as 14 daily flights, including as many as four times a day to Boston. The airline also added direct flights between MIA and New York-JFK, Newark, Los Angeles and Hartford.
Since then, JetBlue has scaled back service in Miami due to falling demand. It was also slowed down by the 2024 ruling of a federal judge in Massachusetts that blocked an attempted merger with Broward-based Spirit, citing anti-competitive laws.
On Saturday, JetBlue had a total of two arrivals at MIA, each one from Boston, according to the airport's flight tracker. And it had one departure, also to Boston.