JetBlue opens Boston-Atlanta route

 

JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 (c/n 2063) N568JB "Blue Sapphire" arrives at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on March 15, 2017.
(Photo by Michael Carter)

JetBlue Airways launched service between Boston and Atlanta March 30, directly taking on Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on the US east coast pairing.

New York-based JetBlue is offering 5X-daily nonstop service on the route, utilizing Airbus A320 family aircraft. Delta offers 11X-daily nonstop service on the route, with a combination of A320s, A321s, and Boeing 757s and 737-900ERs.

“It’s a new day for Atlanta travelers, who for too long have faced high fares and limited choices,” JetBlue VP-sales and revenue management Dave Clark said. When the new route was first announced by JetBlue in September 2016, EVP-commercial and planning Marty St. George described Boston as having been “underserved by high-fare legacy carriers [for decades].”

A price comparison researched by ATW on a comparative scheduling for the first week in May (i.e., an economy/main cabin Monday 6 a.m. flight from Boston, with an economy/main cabin Friday 7 p.m. return flight from Atlanta) showed JetBlue with a $92 price advantage on a round-trip ticket. When compared with Delta’s basic economy offering, JetBlue still undercut Delta’s price by $12.

Delta’s flights on the Boston-Atlanta route offer four seating/pricing options: basic economy, main cabin, comfort-plus and first class. JetBlue’s flights on the Boston-Atlanta route offer three pricing options: Blue, Blue plus and Blue Flex, which correspond to the number of pieces of checked baggage, and seven rows of “even more” space seats, available for an additional fee. JetBlue is not offering its premium Mint service on the Boston-Atlanta route.

(Mark Nensel - ATWOnline News)