JetBlue to Cut Summer Schedule

JetBlue Airways could cut its summer flight schedule by as much as 10 percent, it told employees, as the airline looks to avoid further problems with delays and cancellations caused by being short-staffed.

“We’ve already reduced May capacity 8-10 percent and you can expect to see a similar size capacity pull for the remainder of the summer,” Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue President and Chief Operating Officer, said in a Saturday email to airline employees that was seen by CNBC. “Despite these (staffing) challenges and, based on your feedback that the schedule is wound too tight, we know the best plan is to reduce capacity now. 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 an airline in flux at the moment. While it looks to be proactive with this move – and avoid a repeat of what happened with many airlines last year who were caught off-guard by being short-staffed – the New York-based carrier has much going on.

Just days ago it offered flight attendants a $1,000 bonus based on perfect attendance between April 8 and May 31 to get through the rest of the spring.

And days before that, JetBlue made a surprising, unsolicited $3.6 billion offer to purchase Spirit Airlines, some $700 million more than Frontier offered in February to merge with Spirit.

In her email, Geraghty disclosed that JetBlue has made 2,500 hires so far this year but acknowledged that it will won’t be enough, prompting her to write to staff: “In the meantime, any and all ideas are welcome.”