JetBlue to discontinue Austin nonstop to Florida in May

JetBlue Airways will discontinue its nonstop route between Austin and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in May.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — JetBlue Airways will discontinue its nonstop route between Austin and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in May.

An airline statement to KXAN said the flight would end May 1. Nonstop service from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will continue to both New York JFK and Boston.

Fort Lauderdale is also served by Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines.

The route cancellation is part of a wider cut back by the airline, less than a month after it announced it would no longer pursue a merger with low-cost Spirit Airlines after a federal judge blocked the deal.

"JetBlue is constantly evaluating our routes to best serve our customers, return our airline to profitability, and find ways to improve our reliability," an airline spokesperson said. "As part of that process, we have decided to end some routes, make others seasonal and exit five cities."

All service to Kansas City and Newburgh, New York, will be canceled, along with international routes to Bogota, Colombia, Quito, Ecuador, and Lima, Peru.

"These decisions are never easy, however, these markets have recently fallen short of our expectations," the spokesperson said.

The airline said the changes will allow JetBlue to increase frequency on well-performing routes from its focus cities and will help during times when aircraft availability is limited. Some of JetBlue's fleet is currently grounded due to engine inspections.

Passenger traffic for the airline at AUS has been decreasing in recent years. In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue flew almost 600,000 passengers in and out of Austin. That halved to roughly 285,000 passengers last year.

JetBlue previously canceled nonstop routes from Austin to both Newark and Los Angeles in February 2023. Twenty-one other nonstop routes have been canceled from AUS this year, mostly by American Airlines.