JetBlue is popular with customers for its free high-speed
WiFi and live television, its Mint business class and its U.S. airline
industry-leading legroom in economy class. But in the key operational measure
of being on time, JetBlue ranked second to last among U.S. carriers in 2017.
What's more, with last-place finisher Virgin America being
subsumed by Alaska Airlines this month, early indications are that JetBlue
could take over its spot at the bottom of the pile.
Last year, New York's hometown airline recorded an on-time
percentage of 71.4%, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
data. That compared with the industry average of 80.2% and with an on-time
percentage of 70% for Virgin America, where operations were going through a
transition following its acquisition in December 2016 by Alaska.
This January, JetBlue's on-time percentage, defined by the
DOT as the portion of flights that arrive within 15 minutes of schedule,
plunged to 65.8%, worst among the 18 airlines that the BTS is now tracking.
Struggles with being on time aren't new for the carrier.
JetBlue's on-time percentage has been lower than the industry average since
2005, and in 2016, the carrier placed 11th out of 12 airlines in BTS reports,
besting only Spirit. Still, 2017's on-time performance of 71.4% was the airline's
lowest since 2007.
JetBlue declined an interview request for this report, but
in a statement, spokesman Morgan Johnston blamed the regional market, asserting
that 70% of the carrier's schedule touches the congested Northeast corridor.
"In New York and Boston, we still hold our own against
competitors," he said. "However, other airlines have major hubs in
less congested markets, and flights from those hubs offset delays or
cancellations they have in [New York], so [air traffic control] initiatives in
the Northeast impact JetBlue more than other airlines."
His statement was similar to public comments the carrier has
made for a while. In terms of the number of arrivals, Boston and New York are
JetBlue's largest focus cities, with each topping its third-most frequented
market, Fort Lauderdale, by at least 60% in January.
Arguing that it would lead to quicker implementation of the
GPS-based NextGen air traffic control system, JetBlue was a strong advocate of
the recently failed effort by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and the trade
organization Airlines for America to transfer control of U.S. air traffic
control from the FAA to a private, nonprofit entity governed by a board of
stakeholders, including airlines.
On earnings calls, CEO Robin Hayes has said that JetBlue put
an on-time performance initiative in place in late 2106, though he has provided
few specifics about what the initiative entails.
In the email, Johnston said that in an effort to ease
controllable delays, the carrier has recently changed boarding procedures and
added additional time for aircraft turnaround on strategic flights, for example
red-eyes, so that the morning schedule can start strong.
Despite the undeniable drag that JetBlue's Northeast
operational base has on on-time performance, data suggests there are other
problems as well. Even within Boston and New York JFK, for example, JetBlue
lags most rivals' on-time performance. Of the nine airlines whose on-time
performance at Boston was tracked by the BTS in 2017, JetBlue fared the worst,
at 72.2%.
At JFK, JetBlue fared the worst of the six airlines tracked
by the BTS. In Fort Lauderdale, JetBlue's largest operational base outside the
Northeast, its on-time percentage of 70% was the worst of the 10 airlines for
which the BTS kept data.
JetBlue's particularly large troubles in January, the last
month for which the BTS had released data as of press time, were caused in part
by broader delays within the national aviation system as well as by inclement
weather, including the early-January blizzard.
But 10.1% of JetBlue's flights in January were delayed due
to its own operational problems, the most of the 18 airlines the BTS tracked
that month and more than double the national average of 4.9%.
Aviation analyst Bob Mann of R.W. Mann and Co. said that for
the foreseeable future, JetBlue and other airlines can expect the problems of
crowded airspace and airport facilities in the Northeast corridor to get
progressively worse.
"The issue," he said, "is what are you going
to do about it?"
Mann said that for a decade, he has unsuccessfully pitched
JetBlue on the air traffic flow management software system called Attila, which
Delta formerly employed to improve operational efficiency at its Atlanta and
Detroit hubs.
Airlines need to help themselves traverse the crowded
Northeast network, he said.
"You can wait forever, or you can manage it yourself,"
Mann said.