Dear readers,
I’ve long been vexed by JetBlue, particularly the gap between what management says is the problem — the airline’s size compared to the Big Four — and what many outsiders suspect — that scale is just one of many issues. Those issues, such as JetBlue’s limited relevance in focus cities, its reliability troubles, and its lack of a cohesive product strategy, would not be fully solved by the Northeast Alliance with American or a merger with Spirit.
Now, with the merger likely off and with a CEO change later this month, I wonder if there’s some acceptance coming out of Long Island City, an understanding that JetBlue cannot simply blame outside forces for its woes. JetBlue lost $310 million in 2023 on revenues of $9.6 billion during an otherwise OK year for U.S. carriers (except ULCCs). It’s simply not reasonable to blame that entire underperformance on the airline’s typical bogeymen, like air traffic control or the bigger airlines that shut it out of key airports.
Fortunately, I sensed a shift in tone from incoming CEO Joanna Geraghty, who officially starts on Feb. 12 but led Tuesday’s fourth quarter earnings call. Though short on details, Geraghty suggested JetBlue needs more than just a few tweaks to return to profitability. “Let me be clear,” she said in her scripted remarks. “It is not, however, business as usual.”
I know what you’re thinking. Geraghy has worked at JetBlue for almost 20 years, most recently as president and COO. How can she bring about real change? I don’t know if she can. But you know the saying: in order to solve a problem, you must first admit you have one. And I appreciated her humility, because I have followed so many JetBlue earnings calls during which executives (including Geraghty) essentially said: our plan is working, just give us more time.
If we want something more concrete about what may change in the Geraghty era, we’ll have to wait until JetBlue’s May investor day, but we learned a little on Tuesday. She promised JetBlue will focus on its strengths — especially its focus cities in New York and Boston, as well as its Caribbean franchise — and it’ll also try to improve profitability of its vacations business and add more products that appeal to more travelers. Summing it up, Geraghty said: “We have scale and we have relevance in some really big markets, and we need to focus on doing what we do best in those markets.”
Here’s a look at her plans.
