Feds Deny JetBlue's Request to Suspend Air Service in Worcester

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday denied a request by JetBlue Airways Corp. to suspend service to and from Worcester Regional Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DOT denied the airline's request for an exemption under the CARES Act, the massive federal legislation enacted to try to offset the economic damage the virus has wrought.

Since JetBlue has applied for payroll assistance under the act, it was obligated to maintain a certain level of service, and last week sought the exemption to that obligation at the Massport-owned Worcester Regional and several other airports across the country.

The airline, which started flying to and from Worcester in 2013, argued that it needed to consolidate its operations because of near-total lack of demand for air travel, and had already suspended its operations at T.F. Green Airport in Providence.

The DOT only allowed the exemption for two airports in Puerto Rico, but denied the request for several others, including Worcester.

The DOT said in its denial that the portions of the CARES Act that apply to air travel were developed to "appropriately balance the needs of communities to retain at least minimal connections to the national air transportation system during the public health emergency ... and the economic needs of all segments of the industry."

JetBlue, the DOT noted in its decision, has not persuaded the department that "we must strike a different balance."

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