JetBlue Joins United, Delta To Pare Flights To Ease Congestion And Delays - JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU)

JetBlue Airways Corp JBLU is preparing to prune New York flights during the impending summer travel season.
The federal regulators urged carriers to reduce schedules by up to 10% at some of the nation’s busiest airports due to a crisis in air-traffic controllers, Bloomberg reports.
“This summer is going to be really hard again,” Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes said Wednesday at the Economic Club of New York. “We need to reduce flying and make sure we can operate what we’ve got.”
Interestingly, JetBlue has added employees and is “good to go” for the uptick in traffic, Hayes said. He said that congestion would be 45% worse than last summer without cuts across the industry, citing the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Delta Air Lines, Inc DAL and United Airlines Holdings, Inc UAL are also preparing to trim flights this summer to reduce congestion and delays.
Hayes said domestic travel had rebounded quickly from the height of the Covid-19 pandemic but is yet to restore industry capacity fully.
According to the FAA, there are still far fewer than optimal air-traffic controllers at the facility that serves New York’s three major airports.
The shortage in New York has an outsized impact on the overall U.S. aviation system.
On Wednesday, the FAA met with airlines, private-plane operators, and the air-traffic controllers’ union to discuss how to restrict flight congestion.
Carriers have until April 30 to identify what flight slots or times they will temporarily give up at airports in Washington and the New York area.
Price Action: JBLU shares closed higher by 2.60% at $7.10 on Wednesday.

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