JetBlue is giving up on New York LaGuardia – Boston, ending six-times daily service at the end of April.
JetBlue appears to be ending its Boston (BOS) to New York LaGuardia (LGA) route with flights removed from sale after April 29.
JetBlue planned to operate BOS-LGA 6x daily.
Presumably 3x of these slots will move to Porter for their new LGA flights on May 1. pic.twitter.com/Rz2COXUB3D
— Ishrion Aviation (@IshrionA) February 5, 2025
Three years ago, American Airlines retired their ‘shuttle’ product and dropped out of the New York LaGuardia – Boston market in favor of JetBlue. The American Airlines-JetBlue partnership was dismantled by the Biden administration. JetBlue has since gutted their presence in the third leg of the shuttle, Washington’s National airport and cut back significantly at LaGuardia. It appears they’re leasing out slots for cash instead of flying.
JetBlue said they would stop chasing business travelers and focus on leisure. What was once a business travel ‘shuttle’ route is clearly part of that! However this route specifically ties together JetBlue’s home market (New York) and their other primary base (Boston). And it cedes the important route to Delta, their main rival in both. (American Airlines flies New York LaGuardia – Boston 4 times daily with regional jets, Delta offers 15 peak daily departures.)
The American Airlines Shuttle was the descendent of the Eastern Shuttle, which was sold to Donald Trump in 1989 (“Trump Shuttle”). The product was often known for hourly flights with flexible ticketing policies and open seating – and at one point a guarantee of transportation where Eastern would even bring out a new aircraft to accommodate overflow passengers. The Trump Shuttle failed and banks sold it to US Airways, and it became part of American Airlines when those two carriers merged.
Trips between New York and Boston aren’t what they used to be, and JetBlue isn’t as strong in the corporate market in New York or as strong in D.C. as Delta. It doesn’t surprise me that this is outside of their current strategy, but it’s still a shocking route to lose, though one they probably wouldn’t want to operate with an aircraft larger their Embraer E190s.
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