Jetblue sounds more and more like a .....

Full Service Network carrier.

Eschewing its routes even further - JetBlue is continuing its inevitable march away from the LCC model to that of a FNC. Let me count the ways:

Aircraft - Jetblue uses aircraft from not even the same manufacturer, today it flies Embraer E-Series as well as the Airbus A320.

Airports - Jetblue mostly serves mainstream airports of its 54 served online cities very few are considered purely secondary airports (EG Long Beach). It serves most of the top 25 markets in the country with the exception of Dallas and Atlanta.

It participates in the GDS fully

Etc etc

And now add Fully Refundable fares. Here are the rules from the website.

"The fare rules for JetBlue Refundable Fares are as follows:
This is a refundable fare.
Reservations made with this fare may be changed or canceled for a refund up until the time of departure.
After departure, any unused funds will be converted to a JetBlue credit which is valid for future travel for up to one year from date of issuance.
Name changes are permitted.
All fares are subject to change until purchased. "

So Jetblue sounds very "un"LCC like. It joins AirTran and now Southwest in moving further away from the LCC model. Herb is not even off the board and things are not too promising over at Love Field.

Bottom line: JetBlue is NOT a pure LCC any more. While it has returned to profitability for the first time since 2005 it clearly has moved away from its roots. This move is not confined to the USA. In Europe we also see EasyJet behaving the same way.

What's left?

Higher fares and labour unrest.

Lets hope these dont happen any time soon

Cheers

Timothy