JetBlue acknowledged this week that starting in 2026, they will add domestic style first class 2-2 recliner seats on all planes that don’t have MINT business class.
It’s not all good news though, as they said they will not be reducing the number of seats on their planes. It’s yet another cut for JetBlue economy class, which used to be positioned as more premium than on other carriers.
A220s should see 8 first class seats and A320s and A321s should get 12 first class seats with a 36-37″ seat pitch. Even more space seating legroom should stay the same at around a 35″ pitch, but economy seating will drop from about a 32″ pitch to a 30″ pitch.
AA, Delta, and United typically have a 30-31″ pitch in the back of the plane, so JetBlue won’t be much worse off than them, but it will feel much more crowded than it does today.
Frontier and Spirit have a typically punishing 28″ pitch.
Southwest currently has a 32″-33″ pitch, but will soon be reducing that to 31″ to make room for extra legroom seats, without removing any seats from the plane.
I’ve often said that one reason JetBlue’s Mosaic status isn’t particularly compelling is due to JetBlue’s lack of first class seating on most planes.Ā Expect announcements about Mosaic benefits for JetBlue’s new first class seats closer to when the product is installed. I’d assume it will be able to be booked in advance with MINT upgrade certificates, but will also be eligible for complimentary upgrades close to the date of travel.
This is definitely the right financial move for JetBlue, as more and more passengers are paying for first-class seats, though those are pretty low first-class seat counts. At the same time, it’s sad news for JetBlue fans who enjoy the extra legroom they had in the back of the plane compared to most other carriers.
What do you think of JetBlue’s plans?
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6 Comments On "JetBlue Will Finally Get Domestic First Class, But It Will Come With Even Less Space In The Back Of The Plane"
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This is great. Now when your flight gets cancelled you can have a first class seat that got canceled.
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Hi does this effect the first 5 rows of extra legroom
That will now be behind first class?
Discussed in the post. š
I’m having trouble with the value prop for Jetblue.
They are not going to compete for business travellers because they don’t have a large route network like legacy carriers + southwest, nor enough premium benefits like lounges.
For leisure travellers, they aren’t any better than any other carrier, and give among the worst for basic econ.
That’s bad! I live in NYC and as such, JetBlue was my go to airline for domestic travel for two reasons: their heavy JFK presence, and perhaps more importantly their better than average economy seat pitch- I always fly economy domestically. I wonder if they’ll ultimately lose money on this…most of my friends fly JetBlue over Delta and others because of the seat pitch…
JetBlue used to be such a great airline. They are continuing to go down the tubes as part of their Jet Forward strategy. My 2Ā¢….