jetBlue adds Flights at LAX takes Flights away from Long Beach

Beginning July 1, JetBlue will offer one less daily flight between both Long Beach and Boston and Long Beach and New York. The carrier will then double its daily service between LAX and New York, from two to four.

The airline said the decision was based on demand for early morning flights, which have increased considerably since JetBlue launched the LAX route last June.

JetBlue will use the open slots at Long Beach to offer daily flights to Portland and Seattle.

"Long Beach still has two daily (flights) to JFK and one daily to Boston and now has this additional third daily service," said Mateo Lleras, JetBlue manager of corporate communications. "We shifted capacity to offer (early morning) flights to the East Coast for our L.A. Basin customers."

Despite the shuffle, the airline will still use all of its available slots in Long Beach.

"Every time slots have opened up at Long Beach we've applied for them and if we could fly any more from Long Beach, we would," Lleras said.

Airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson said the move could result in less passenger traffic because the Seattle and Portland routes typically use smaller jets.

"The transcontinental flights tend to be high-capacity, so we're not sure (of) the overall impact, but it's likely to have some effect if they use the Embraer 190 simply because it holds less passengers than an Airbus," Diggs-Jackson said.
JetBlue uses the Airbus 320, which can seat up to 180 people, for cross-country flights. The Embraer is a smaller jet with a seating capacity of 110 and is often used for shorter flights.

The airport collects $4.50 on each commercial airline passenger who moves through the facility, a fee that generates millions annually for airport maintenance.
In 2009, more than 2.9 million people traveled through the airport.

The move by JetBlue comes nearly a year after CEO Dave Barger said he was considering leaving Long Beach because of a lack of terminal improvements. The airline later backed off when the airport unveiled plans to improve the terminal and build a parking garage, which began in February.

Lleras said Long Beach would remain the low-cost carrier's primary Southland hub, as has been the case since its launch here in 2001.

"(Long Beach) is a very important airport for us and a great airport to fly to and from, among other reasons because it's an easy and efficient way to shorten short-haul flights," Lleras said.

(Kristopher Hanson - Long Beach Press Telegram)