JetBlue defers E190 phase-out to exploit AA alliance

JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) plans to defer the retirement of its thirty owned E190s to fully exploit new opportunities created by the carrier’s recent Northeast Alliance with American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), Chief Executive Robin Hayes said during a quarterly earnings call.

“We have a plan to delay our retirement schedule for our owned E190s, which offers an efficient way to profitably grow in the Northeast while protecting our balance sheet. We will, of course, remain flexible with our fleet to continue to align with the demand environment,” he said.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the American carrier currently operates sixty ERJ 190-100ARs, which are 12.8 years old on average. The airline owns thirty of its Embraer regional jets and leases the other thirty from GECAS, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module indicates. In 2018, it ordered A220-300s to replace all sixty E190s by 2026. While the E190s in JetBlue’s configuration seat up to 100 passengers, the A220-300s are configured for up to 140 passengers. It currently operates four and has a further 66 on firm order from Airbus.

However, the alliance with American Airlines and the consequent expansion of JetBlue’s network in the north-eastern United States, mainly out of New York La Guardia, has given the airline a reason to extend the E190s’ presence beyond the original schedule.

“We intend to return [the leased aircraft] at the appropriate time, so those aircraft will return between 2023 and 2026. The 30 owned aircraft, as I mentioned, we will determine the optimal time to retire those. However, I want to remind you we’re keeping them in the fleet to capture the Northeast Alliance opportunity that is in front of us,” Acting Chief Financial Officer Ursula Hurley said.

She underlined that JetBlue had not made any decisions concerning the owned aircraft’s phase-out timeline at this point.

According to the ch-aviation capacities module, JetBlue deploys the E190s primarily out of Boston, New York JFK, and Fort Lauderdale Int’l chiefly on regional flights in the Eastern United States and to the Caribbean. In turn, its A220s operate just two routes for the time being, from Boston to Fort Lauderdale and Tampa Int’l.