JetBlue Seeks Federal OK to Suspend Service at Worcester Regional Airport

April 9, 2020

WORCESTER - Saying the "competitive situation" of the airline industry is worsening by the day during the COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue is asking the government to allow it to suspend service at Worcester Regional Airport.

The Wednesday filing by the airline came on the heels of announcements by the airline that it is suspending service at T.F. Green Airport in Providence and other locations as part of a plan to consolidate service to one or two airports in five major metropolitan areas - Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Boston is listed as the alternative carrier for Providence in the filing. The Providence service suspension is effective April 15.

The filing says JetBlue wants to temporarily suspend service at Worcester Regional Airport and several other airports from April 15 through June 10. Calls to media relations representatives at Massport, which operates Worcester Regional Airport, were not immediately returned Wednesday night. JetBlue started providing service to and from Worcester Regional Airport in 2013. American, Delta, JetBlue and Rectrix are the airport's listed carriers.

"JetBlue, like all other U.S. airlines, is facing a liquidity crisis based on the current, near total lack of demand," the airline said in the filing with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Under the recently passed COVID-19-related CARES Act, there is a certain level of service obligation that airlines must uphold if they take advantage of government programs. JetBlue, which is applying for payroll support through the CARES Act, is asking for an "emergency exemption," which would allow it to load schedule changes and make operational plans as soon as possible.

In the filing, the airline explained that last April, it earned around $22 million each day in revenue. This April, that number is down to $1 million. The airline is also paying out cash refunds of more than $2 million a day along with millions more in travel credits for canceled bookings.

"JetBlue is burning through its pre-crisis strong balance sheet at a rate that is simply not sustainable," the filing stated.

The airline said in the filing that it is well-known that air travel nationwide is down 90%. In some metropolitan areas, including New York, the reduction in travel is closer to 100%, the airline said. Simply put, there are so few customers to justify even the reduced service levels required by the CARES Act, that a rigid interpretation of the service order will only diminish the airline's liquidity, with no benefit to the public, the airline said.

JetBlue said in the filing it fully intends to gradually resume service at each of the airports mentioned in the filings as soon as it is safe to do so and when "even the slightest customer demand re-emerges."

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