Launched in 2000 with a first flight between New York and Fort Lauderdale, JetBlue Airways (JBLU) had initially almost been called “Taxi” by founder David Neeleman due to the envisioned business model of shuttling passengers to nearby destinations along the East Coast.
As a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue is based in New York City’s Queens but also has key operational bases in Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico’s San Juan for direct flights between popular destinations rather than the connections model offered by larger mainstream airline.
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Amid weaker travel demand and a string of financial quarters that fell below expectations, the airline has spent much of the last year trying to further optimize routes for peak performance.
Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that the twice-daily flights between Newark and Tampa will be suspended on Dec. 1 and return in April 2026. This is a route that JetBlue has been running continuously since the mid-2000s.
No more Newark flights until 2026, another market cut entirely
Some of the markets that JetBlue exited in the last year include Baltimore, Charlotte, and Bogotá in Colombia. As first reported by aviation website Simple Flying, the airline will also cut all service from Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) and suspend service between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Tampa until April 2026.
This is part of the wider streamlining of the airline’s flights out of Tampa to focus on the ones that bring in the most traffic and subsequently fare money.
Related: JetBlue makes major cuts to keep itself flying
The axing of the flight between Tampa and the airport outside of Providence means that JetBlue will no longer directly serve the state of Rhode Island and has pulled out of an additional market. The route had initially been slated to be upped to daily instead of five times a week for the upcoming summer.
Image source: Getty Images/Shutterstock/TheStreet
Had a Tampa flight booked? Here is how to get that refund
While JetBlue has yet to officially confirm or comment on the flight cuts, anyone who had already booked travel on that route past December should be contacted about an automatic refund.
For those who are not and have booked in a fare class that does not allow one to initiate the refund automatically, the general policy is to submit a claim through the “start a refund” form on the carrier’s website.
“If JetBlue impacted your trip, you may cancel the impacted flight and receive a refund to the original form of payment,” JetBlue states.
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While the website also states that “most often the refund will be given via travel credit,” customers who saw travel disrupted due to the airline cutting their route are entitled to insist that the refund be made to the original form of payment.
A credit card refund takes between seven and 10 days from the time it is initiated. Travelers who want to claim it rather than accepting a travel credit or rebooking on an alternative route are generally advised to not cancel or change the confirmed booking, as doing so could void the ability to claim a refund later.
(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a trip.)
Make a free appointment with TheStreet’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
