JetBlue goes after shuttle market

JetBlue Airways plans to fly to New York from Logan International Airport and begin service from Manchester Airport in New Hampshire, a strategy that reflects the aggressive expansion of discount airlines that could lower fares further.

In an interview, JetBlue chief executive and Utah native David Neeleman said the upstart carrier wants to beef up service in New England, specifically Boston to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Manchester, N.H., to Kennedy, as his airline prepares to take delivery of the first of 200 new 100-seat jets this summer. He would not say when flights would begin or discuss frequency, but the airline tends to move into markets quickly when planes become available.

Low-fare airlines are changing the face of Logan Airport and the aviation industry. Over the past two years, three discount airlines, JetBlue, Independence Air and Song, have started service from Logan, which had rebuffed JetBlue in June 2001. With discount airlines thriving, "legacy" airlines, including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, are adopting their upstart competition's no-frills, low-fare strategy.

Airline analysts have long speculated that discounters like JetBlue would invade the lucrative shuttle market as their bigger competitors struggle. Delta, which is staving off a bankruptcy filing, and US Airways, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, currently control the shuttle market out of Logan.

Delta and US Airways shuttles run hourly on weekdays. Low-fare airline AirTran Airways has also said it is considering a Boston-New York shuttle.

"JetBlue just sees Boston as such a desirable market that they'll do Boston to JFK regardless of what happens with the legacy carriers," said Mark Cestari, vice president of marketing at SmarterTravel.com.

JetBlue mostly flies from the Northeast to Florida and the West Coast, taking advantage of the 3,000-mile flight range of its fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. But the carrier plans to use its new airplanes, which can fly a shorter 2,000 miles without refueling, to serve short-haul markets.

Flying to New York from Boston makes sense for other reasons, said Neeleman, who was in Boston recently to mark JetBlue's one-year anniversary at Logan and unveil new service to San Jose, Calif., and Las Vegas.

JetBlue flies to 26 markets from New York, while it will only serve nine from Logan, with the addition of San Jose and Las Vegas in May. The airline could use service to New York to feed passengers onto its flights elsewhere, including several to the Caribbean.