Will new jets prompt JetBlue to go transatlantic?

It may not happen right away, but JetBlue is positioning itself—should it want—to launch nonstop transatlantic service from the U.S. East Coast to Europe.  

The chosen instrument here would be the new Airbus A321, specifically the A321neo LR (new engine option long range). JetBlue has 30 A321s on order and could option 15 of them as NEO LRs.

The stretch-cabin, long-range NEOs could begin to appear in JetBlue livery in 2020. They’ll have really long legs for a narrowbody, with a nonstop range of up to 4,600 miles/7,403km. Consider: it’s 3,455 miles/5,999km from JetBlue’s New York Kennedy hub to London Heathrow.

According to Business Insider, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a telephone call with investors recently, “This enhanced airplane type could very well be a game changer for us and provide us the ability to start JetBlue flights to Europe from…East Coast focus cities should we choose to do so.”

The transatlantic is a notoriously competitive airline arena, that has swallowed whole a slew of low-fare pretenders. What JetBlue would have going for it is a true hub and spoke airport at JFK to ‘feed’ the Euroflights; new fuel-efficient aircraft and Hayes himself.

As British Airways’ former Executive Vice President The Americas, he knows a thing or two about the U.S.-European market, having presided over a period of BA expansion across ‘The Pond.’ 

More immediately, we know what JetBlue will do with the first 15 of those 30 A321s: put them to work on U.S. transcontinental runs. They’re the A321ceo (current engine option) models and they’ll open up lots of opportunities for JetBlue to grow its slice of the U.S. transcon market, where it currently holds a 12 percent share.

The opportunity to grow that share will increasingly flow from the front end of JetBlue’s aircraft, from its ‘Mint’ cabin. Mint comes replete with lie-flat seating, ‘curated’ food and sports specially-trained cabin crew.

By the end of 2017 JetBlue says there should be 31 total Mint-configured Airbuses in its fleet. That means more comfort for more passengers—and extra revenue for JetBlue. Evidence? The airline says revenue per available seat mile (RASM) has grown 20 percent on Mint routes since the up-scale product was launched in 2014. RASM is the way airlines track profit or loss on a given route. 

JetBlue says it plans to announce new Mint routes “at a later date.” Earlier this year it said it will field as many as 70-plus daily Mint flights to 13 destinations along the U.S. East and West Coasts, as well as the Caribbean.