JetBlue Could Cut Its Summer Flight Schedule By 10%, Here’s Why

JetBlue Airways is slashing its summer schedule by as much as 10 percent, blaming the cuts on anticipated staffing shortages.

The airline has a difficult weekend with more than 300 flights canceled due to weather and staffing issues. With the heavy travel season fast approaching, the airline is attempting to avoid similar scenarios by cutting some future flights now.

“We’ve already reduced May capacity 8-10% and you can expect to see a similar size capacity pull for the remainder of the summer,” Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s COO and president, wrote in an email to staff over the weekend and obtained by CNBC.

“Despite these challenges and, based on your feedback that the schedule is wound too tight, we know the best plan is to reduce capacity now,” Geraghty wrote. “I think everyone recognizes that the industry still remains very much in recovery mode, so we believe this proactive step is the right decision.”

JetBlue is not alone in the approach. Alaska Airlines last week announced a 2 percent reduction in flights through the end of June as it deals with a shortage of pilots.

The airline industry went through a massive loss of jobs at the early stages of the pandemic when travel came to a standstill. As conditions have improved, pent-up demand for travel has led to complications, flight cancellations, and other issues as the industry attempts to ramp back up.

JetBlue officials said they have hired more than 2,500 new employees this year already, but it’s still not enough. It continues to look for other solutions besides flight cancellations.

“Any and all ideas are welcome,” Geraghty wrote.

Over the weekend, JetBlue canceled 18 percent of its flights on Saturday and 13 percent on Sunday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Industry experts said more of the same could be expected from airlines in the coming months.

“The operations staffing will be on a razor’s edge,” said Tim Donohue, co-founder of Aerology, a company that predicts flight disruptions. “The razor’s edge barely works when things go as scheduled.”

While not as drastic as JetBlue’s cuts, Alaska is experiencing similar issues.

“We’ve recently let down some of our valued guests by canceling an unusual number of flights,” Alaska told CNBC. “The primary cause of cancellations is the shortage of pilots available to fly versus what was planned when we built our April schedule in January.”

JetBlue is attempting to lure its current staff into helping with its issues with a bonus pool that offers flight attendants a $1,000 bonus if they don’t call in sick through the end of May, and a $100 bonus in addition to pay or overtime for picking up flights on their days off.

“The spring rewards program comes at a time where every flight makes a difference as hours are tight and staffing levels are not where they need to be,” Ed Baklor, head of customer care and programs, said in a memo, according to Simple Flying.

Other airlines have raised wages in an attempt to ramp up staffing, but even that has had drawbacks.

Southwest Airlines raised starting wages to at least $17 an hour, but up to 20 percent of new hires don’t show up for work on their first day, Greg Muccio, senior director of talent acquisition, told The Wall Street Journal.

“We were sort of shocked by it,” Muccio said. “We’ve just had to adjust.”