JetBlue soars most since 2020 on new CEO’s turnaround plan

JetBlue Airways Corp.’s shares jumped the most in nearly four years as its new chief executive officer detailed plans to revamp the carrier’s operations and boost profits. 

The airline plans to pull out of more cities and push out roughly $3 billion worth of new aircraft purchases until 2030 and beyond, JetBlue said Tuesday as it reported a surprise second-quarter profit. 

JetBlue is pivoting to focus more on leisure customers in New York, New England, Florida and Puerto Rico, areas where it historically has had strong operations. That change, along with improvements in on-time performance and other areas such as enhanced loyalty perks, should produce between $800 million and $900 million in additional in pretax profit from 2025 through 2027, the carrier said in a statement.

JetBlue shares rose as much as 23% as of 12:02 p.m. in New York, the biggest intraday gain since November 2020. The stock had risen more than 6% this year through Monday’s close.

The moves are the latest in CEO Joanna Geraghty’s push to revive the carrier’s fortunes in the face of persistently high costs and diminished growth prospects following the breakup of multiple partnerships.

To cut costs, JetBlue will defer $3 billion in spending on new aircraft through 2029. The renegotiated delivery schedule with Airbus SE now calls for 44 A321neo aircraft to arrive in 2030 or later, expanding an earlier plan to push out spending on new planes. 

The airline will also exit 15 cities as it refocuses its network, from which it has now cut more than 50 routes to trim unprofitable flying, the company said. 

“As difficult as it is for us to make decisions for closing markets and closing routes, at the core our goal is to move to profitability as quickly as we can,” JetBlue President Marty St. George said during the company’s earnings call.

Geraghty took over for Robin Hayes early this year has said her top priority is returning the carrier to consistent profits, which it hasn’t seen since 2019. She’s also facing pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, who in February revealed a roughly 10% stake and began pushing to boost shareholder value. The company has since given his investment firm two board seats.

Second-quarter earnings were 8 cents a share, topping Wall Street expectations for a loss. At the same time, JetBlue forecast lower revenue and higher non-fuel unit costs than analysts were expecting this quarter and for the full year.

The company also said flying capacity should remain at 2024 levels through next year as more of its jets are parked to undergo lengthy engine repairs.

Aircraft in JetBlue’s fleet parked due to defects in geared turbofan jet engines made by RTX Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney unit should rise to the mid- to high-teens next year from roughly 11 today, Geraghty said, calling the situation “incredibly frustrating.” 

JetBlue is facing the added challenge of growing without the benefit of acquisitions. Federal courts earlier struck down a regional alliance with American Airlines Group Inc. and blocked JetBlue’s planned $3.8 billion takeover of Spirit Airlines Inc.