JetBlue Airways is continuing its strategy of growing service at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), taking advantage of hometown carrier Spirit Airlines’ struggles.
JetBlue's latest move at the south Florida airport includes ramping up service on four routes, including turning limited flights to Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) in north Florida into a daily, year-round service and doubling flights to two major airports.
JetBlue attempted to acquire FLL-based Spirit earlier this decade, but the merger unraveled in 2024 after a federal judge held up the U.S. Justice Department’s rejection of the combination on antitrust grounds. With Spirit now in its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in two years and paring back flights, JetBlue has significantly increased its presence at FLL—where it has its third-largest schedule after New York John F. Kennedy and Boston Logan International airports.
JetBlue has added service to 20 new destinations from FLL over the last year and offered 113 peak-day departures from FLL during the 2025-26 winter season, surpassing Spirit to have the most departures at the airport—although Spirit still offers more departing seats, according to OAG Schedules Analyzer data.
The latest addition of departures includes increased frequencies on four routes starting in June. From June 11, JetBlue will up 4X-weekly flights between FLL and Cartagena, Colombia, to daily service. From June 18, the carrier will begin operating year-round daily service between FLL and JAX. Previously, it had only flown the FLL-JAX route on a limited basis during the U.S. school spring break season.
Also on June 18, JetBlue will boost two FLL routes from 1X-daily to 2X-daily service: Dallas-Fort Worth and Tampa.
"These additions reflect the strength of demand we're seeing in Fort Lauderdale,” said Daniel Shurz, JetBlue’s senior vice president for revenue, network and enterprise planning.
“We’re certainly carrying a lot more customers [to and from FLL] than we expected at higher yields than we expected,” JetBlue President Marty St. George said in January on an earnings call.
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