JetBlue to Cut Oakland Service, Keep San Jose and SF Routes

OAKLAND — As part of schedule changes at the start of its 20th year in business, JetBlue Airways said it would discontinue flights out of Oakland International Airport, but plans to keep routes out of Norman Y. Mineta San Jose and San Francisco international airports.

In a statement Thursday, the airline said it would end service from Oakland to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport and Long Beach Airport on Wednesday, April 29. The airline also plans to trim or cut flights on six short-haul routes to Long Beach, as well as other flights from Orlando and Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

“JetBlue Airways has been an important part of the OAK airport family for 20 years, so clearly today’s news is disappointing,” Port of Oakland Aviation Director Bryant L. Francis said in a statement. “The fact that several of JetBlue’s local team members have been onboard for most of this time speaks volumes to the type of employer it is.”

Francis noted that the airline’s moves to cut its Long Beach routes to Oakland, Sacramento and San Jose “eliminate the majority of its intra-California flying,” but still hoped the Bay Area’s population growth and business prospects and the airport’s convenience and access might lead the airline back.

“While we understand the fluidity of our industry, we remain grateful for the opportunity to have served as the airline’s initial Bay Area base,” Francis said. “Even as other airlines increase their schedules at OAK and add new transcontinental destinations to our route map, we value JetBlue’s contribution to the customer service culture at our airport and look forward to the day they will once again Fly The East Bay Way.”

JetBlue serves 42 million customers a year to nearly 100 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America with an average of more than 1,000 daily flights. A JetBlue spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for information about route conditions leading to today’s announcement.

Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.

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