JetBlue adds a new Colorado ski town to its map amid flurry of new winter flights
JetBlue Airways is snapping on its ski boots and getting ready to hit the slopes this winter amid a flurry of new air service to the Rocky Mountains.
The New York-based carrier will add Montrose, Colorado (MTJ,) near Telluride to its map starting Dec. 19, JetBlue unveiled on Wednesday. The airline will offer flights to Montrose from Boston (BOS) on Saturdays and Sundays through March 27, 2021, and from its new Los Angeles (LAX) base and New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) on select Saturdays through Feb. 20, 2021. All of the flights will be flown with Airbus A320 jets.
JetBlue joins Southwest Airlines in adding Montrose to its map this winter. Both airlines are adding outdoor-oriented destinations — including ones in the Rocky Mountains as well as desert city Palm Springs — for leisure travelers eager for socially-distanced escapes from their homes.
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"As we take a refreshed approach to evaluating new markets, it's clear to us that travelers are increasingly looking for unique destinations where they can truly escape and enjoy wide open spaces," Andrea Lusso, vice president network planning at JetBlue, said in a statement.
Lusso added that Montrose allows the airline to further "diversify" its map, which has traditionally leaned heavily on Northeast business markets and Florida and Caribbean beaches.
JetBlue is also expanding service to Steamboat Springs, Colorado (HDN) with new nonstop flights to New York.
Related: Airlines are flying some unexpected routes during the pandemic
The addition of Montrose, however, does not make up for what JetBlue has cut. The airline only plans to fly a little over 60% of what it flew a year ago in November, according to Cirium data. December schedules have not been loaded.
In addition, the carrier has suspended flights to a number of major airports, including Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and San Jose, California (SJC), until at least April. Flights to Newburgh/Stewart (SWF) near New York City and Worcester, Massachusetts (ORH) are suspended indefinitely.
In September, JetBlue's senior vice president of airline planning Scott Laurence told TPG that the airline's more than 50 new routes -- most to leisure-oriented destinations -- were "driven out of the fact that we've seen business travel evaporate and is probably not coming back anytime soon."
Related: JetBlue service to Baltimore, some California airports now suspended until April
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