Narayan AmmachchiU.S. low-cost carrier JetBlue will soon stop flying to Mexico City amid complaints that an alliance between Aeromexico and Delta Airlines is squeezing other players out of the Mexican market.
Jetblue is the third American carrier to exit Mexico City over the past five months, Southwest and Alaska Airlines being the other two, according to travel news website One Mile At A Time.
The American low-cost airliner currently runs flights to Mexico City from the U.S. destinations of Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, New York-JFK and Boston. JetBlue will not fly to Mexico City from the first month of 2020 onwards.
JetBlue has not disclosed the reason behind its decision. But analysts say it is struggling to compete with Aeromexico, which has a joint venture with Delta Airlines. Together, they operate more than 400 flights annually between Mexico and the US.
Some reports say that business travelers, who make up a majority among Americans heading to Mexico City, do not prefer JetBlue because of the absence of business class cabins on its aircraft.
In addition, unlike Aeromexico, JetBlue does not offer Mexican customers with an opportunity to book tickets offline.
But JetBlue will continue its services to other Mexican cities, including the tourist hotspot Cancun.
Some analysts say that JetBlue may use smaller planes on this route in an attempt to lure customers looking for cheaper airfare.
That is sad to hear specially when jet blue had a better service than delta or Aeromexico put together.