JetBlue

Could JetBlue become the number one airline at Fort Lauderdale Airport?

JetBlue has expanded aggressively at FLL, especially as Spirit Airlines is looking to downsize.

Photo: JetBlue

Following Spirit Airlines’ second Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its decision to significantly contract its operations, airlines, including JetBlue, have jumped on the opportunity to expand at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL), with the latter potentially eyeing the number one spot at the airport.

Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that during the first six months of 2025, Spirit Airlines was the largest airline at FLL, offering over 2.9 million departing seats out of the airport’s total of 10.4 million. JetBlue was in second place, with over 1.9 million departing seats, followed by Delta Air Lines (1.2 million) and Southwest Airlines (1 million).

JetBlue’s expansion at FLL

Now, Cirium’s Diio Mi indicates that JetBlue’s gap to Spirit Airlines is down to less than 500,000 seats during the first six months of 2026, with the former actually offering more flights from the airport than the latter, 16,833 versus 15,709.

The reason why Spirit Airlines will still offer more seats is that out of the additional 5,021 flights JetBlue will offer during the first six months of 2026, 2,541 will be flown with the Airbus A220-300, which, compared to any of Spirit Airlines’ A320 family aircraft, is a fundamentally smaller aircraft. The airline configures its A220-300s with 140 seats.

During JetBlue’s Q4 2025 earnings call on January 27, 2026, its executives shed more light on the airline’s expansion at FLL. According to Marty St. George, the President of JetBlue, during the last quarter of 2025, the carrier “added significant close-in capacity” at FLL, and had previously unveiled over 20 new non-stop destinations and additional frequency on “a dozen” other routes.

St. George highlighted that while JetBlue expected a “one point RASM [revenue per available seat mile]” headwind in Q4 2025, the impact was “closer to half a point, reflecting customers’ strong response to our schedule additions and preference for award-winning customer experience.”

The executive noted that the airport is a “well-placed gateway for customers” due to its location between the Northeast and Latin America, and its expansion at FLL should offer “significant upside potential for JetBlue.”

Spirit Airlines pull-down

Later during the call, St. George said that FLL is “a relatively constrained airport, especially constrained for international gates,” and while JetBlue has “solid” routes to the north of FLL, “our challenges are really” on flights to the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that in May, when its Latin America-bound weekly flights are going to peak at 76, with the peak continuing until August, JetBlue will fly to eight destinations in Latin America from FLL. These are displayed below.

The only other airlines offering international flights from FLL during the month are Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (Azul), avianca, Copa Airlines, and Spirit Airlines.

JetBlue’s President continued that “with the pull-down that we have seen from Spirit Airlines [at FLL], gate resources became available,” and that the carrier has wanted to expand at the airport for “many, many years.”

“So, when the opportunity came up, we jumped on it very quickly to make sure that we could backfill, because this is an aspiration we have had for a long time.”

St. George noted that JetBlue does not want to become a legacy hub airline, so instead, it will only create “casual connections” at FLL with “good departure times” when the opportunity presents itself.

Potential lounge at FLL

Having opened a lounge at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in December 2025, and with its lounge opening doors to customers at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) later this year, JetBlue’s executives admitted that the airline is looking at building a lounge at FLL.

Joanna Geraghty, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JetBlue, stated during the same call that as the airline plans its future at the airport, it is a “great premium base that could lend itself to a lounge.”

“We have not announced anything yet, but we are really focused on [whether] it makes sense for a particular market, we will evaluate it, but it has to have a strong return, and it has to be tied to driving our JetForward initiatives around [our] premium customer.”

St. George echoed his own statements about FLL being a constrained airport. According to the executive, while the airline has been exploring whether a lounge could work at the airport, “we are not sure that we have space for it, but if we can make it work and provide a great customer experience, it is certainly something we will be talking about later on in 2026.”