JetBlue is third U.S. airline to reduce capacity to Cuba
JetBlue is trimming capacity to Cuba, becoming the third U.S. airline to do so since regular commercial passenger service to the island nation resumed in August.
JetBlue will not eliminate any of its Cuban destinations nor will it reduce flight schedules. Instead, the carrier will begin downsize to smaller aircraft on several of its existing routes, a move that will pare 300 seats a day from JetBlue’s current Cuba schedules.
“We are continuing to operate our schedule of nearly 50 weekly round trip Cuban flights but have made adjustments to our fleet utilization,” JetBlue spokesman Philip Stewart says in a statement to the Miami Herald. “It’s common practice to adjust schedules and fleet type based on customer preferences, especially on routes that are new to the network.”
JetBlue did not cite demand in tightening its Cuba capacity, but it follows similar moves made by American Airlines and smaller Silver Airways.
American Airlines trims Cuba schedule, cites weak demand
In December, American announced it would drop one of the two daily flights from its schedules between Miami and each of the Cuban cities of Holguin, Santa Clara and Varadero. Those changes went into effect last week.
American suggested as early as October that the Cuba flights were underperforming when officials were queried during a call to discuss the company's third-quarter earnings.
“I think everyone is struggling a little bit in terms of selling in Cuba,” Don Casey, American's senior vice president of revenue management, said during that call. “There a lot of restrictions that are still in place that has made it difficult to sell."
Similarly, Silver Airways also announced a Cuba service reduction in December. It also did not drop any destinations, but the regional carrier did pare back the number of flights on schedules to six of the nice cities it serves in Cuba, according to the Herald.
“But we remain optimistic about the future growth potential in Cuba and believe that our 34-seat aircraft is the right size aircraft for this market,” Silver spokeswoman Misty Pinson said to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “And this will also continue to grow as distribution channels open.”
As for the latest Cuba cuts by JetBlue, the carrier’s 300-seat reduction in Cuba capacity will come from a series of aircraft changes starting May 3.
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The carrier will “downgauge” from 150-seat Airbus A320s to 100-seat Embraer 190s on routes between Fort Lauderdale and Camaguey, Holguin and Santa Clara, according to the Herald. JetBlue also will shift from 200-seat Airbus A321s to the 150-seat A320s on its routes connecting Havana to Fort Lauderdale, New York JFK and Orlando, the Herald reports.
The move by U.S. carriers to reduce Cuba capacity so soon after launching the routes reflects the challenge of starting service to such a new and unknown market.
When Cuba opened up to U.S. airlines last year, nearly all rushed in with requests to add new service to the island -- especially to Havana. Against that enthusiasm, however, some industry executives openly wondered whether demand would live up to the hype.
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Without regular airline service to the island in five decades, there was little data available to carriers in trying to assess potential demand for flights to new destinations. And unlike other foreign markets, Cuba remains a unique and highly regulated place for U.S. airlines to do business.
Despite the trimming of some capacity, U.S. carriers have publicly said they remain committed to the market.
“It’s becoming clear that Cuba is going to be a long-term play, not a source of instant profits for U.S. airlines,” Seth Kaplan, editor of the Airline Weekly trade publication, said to the Sun-Sentinel. “One thing that’s interesting is that even Havana -- the marquee market -- might be weaker than airlines hoped.”
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