Boston route for JetBlue?

JetBlue Airways Corp., a low-cost carrier based in New York, will probably start shuttle flights between New York and Boston with fares at about $100 round-trip to win more business travelers.

JetBlue would take on larger rivals Delta Air Lines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. with shuttle service between the cities using 100-seat jets it will add starting this year, CEO David Neeleman said. The route is "high" on the list of possible uses for the smaller plane JetBlue is buying from Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, he said.

"We have a good presence in Boston and New York," Neeleman said Tuesday at a conference in Sao Paulo on Brazilian tourism. "We're probably going to be there with the Embraer 190. It's a route we think we're going to do with a charge of about $100 round trip."

JetBlue's fare would be less than half what airlines charge on the route now. Web sites for Delta and US Airways Tuesday offered fares as low as $255.40 for a March 15 round trip between New York and Boston. The three airlines already compete on routes along the U.S. East Coast.