jetBlue Airways keeps long-term cost performance in sight as US pricing trends start to stabilise

After outperforming the industry throughout most of 2015 in its unit revenue performance, jetBlue Airways has posted negative results throughout 2016, driven by a weaker pricing environment in the US market. Unlike other airlines, jetBlue does not provide much forward guidance about unit revenue, and is not venturing to offer a timeframe for a return to positive unit revenue. For 4Q2016 the airline is facing pressure from the timing of the Christmas holiday, and the effects of suspended operations due to hurricane Matthew in Oct-2016.

jetBlue is noticing similar trends to those at other US airlines - generally, close-in bookings and pricing began to improve in 3Q2016. Most US airlines are planning lower year-on-year capacity growth in 2017; these include jetBlue, which expects its supply to drop a couple of points below 2016 levels. jetBlue's 2017 capacity will still run higher than that of some of the larger and more mature US airlines, but the company always stresses that it remains in growth mode, reflected in the introduction of eleven new routes from late 2016 through 1H2016.