JetBlue Seeks US Approval to Temporarily Halt Flights to 11 Airports

JetBlue Airways Corp. on Wednesday asked the U.S. Transportation Department for emergency approval to temporarily suspend service to 11 U.S. airports, including Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, Sacramento and Albuquerque.

Earlier on Wednesday, JetBlue (JBLU) said it was consolidating flights in five U.S. metropolitan areas and suspending flights at Baltimore, Providence, New York LaGuardia and San Jose airports, citing the massive collapse in travel demand from the coronavirus pandemic.

JetBlue asked approval to halt the flights at the 11 airports from April 15 through June 10. 

Airport passenger numbers have continued to plunge due to the new coronavirus, which has decimated air travel across the globe. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration screened just 97,130 travelers on Tuesday versus over 2 million on the same day a year ago, according to daily data provided on its website.

"We face new challenges every day and can’t hesitate to take the steps necessary to reduce our costs amidst dramatically falling demand so we can emerge from this unprecedented time as a strong company for our customers and crewmembers,” JetBlue head of revenue and planning Scott Laurence said in a statement.

The airline, which is among U.S. carriers seeking government support to pay employees, has already reduced flying across its network by 80% per day in April and is now taking additional steps to streamline its operations.