JetBlue has revealed today the airline’s plan to fly the Airbus A321neo with Mint Suites on its prestigious transcontinental route from New York to Los Angeles. The first Airbus A321neo with the new Mint business class product was delivered to JetBlue less than two months ago. The current schedule will see the aircraft operate on the route from June 1st through September. The airline is anticipating running one daily roundtrip flight with the aircraft.
The initial schedules
JetBlue is exclusively using the new aircraft for one daily roundtrip between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) starting from June 1st. JetBlue thus far has only received one Airbus A321neo with the new Mint product. It is slated to run the following services, although flight schedules are subject to change:
From June 1st through June 9th, the aircraft will run the following flights (all times are local):
- Flight 23 departs JFK at 10:30 and arrives in LAX at 13:51
- Flight 124 departs LAX at 15:01 and arrives in JFK at 23:24
The schedule changes slightly from June 10th through September 7th (all times local):
- Flight 2123 departs JFK at 09:00 and arrives in LAX at 11:59
- Flight 1524 departs LAX at 13:20 and arrives in JFK at 22:00
JetBlue had previously announced it would operate the first services with its new Mint suites, including two spacious Mint Studios, with 144 economy seats on flights from JFK to LAX starting in the summer.
What to know about the aircraft and product
If you have the flexibility of choosing which flight to take, then do not miss this aircraft, whether you choose to fly in business or economy class. For premium travelers, hands down, this is the aircraft you want to fly if you can.
JetBlue revealed a major overhaul of its Mint business class that has performed well already on transcontinental routes. In anticipation of its flights to London, JetBlue decided to go with an entirely new product in business class. It also decided to put that product on select Airbus A321neos for domestic use.
The new Mint is the Thompson Aero Seating VantageSOLO seat. Designed for narrowbody premium travelers, the seat itself is categorized as a herringbone-style. However, each seat is a suite with doors for privacy. For those customers that want to catch some entertainment or get some work done inflight, the Mint suites come with 17-inch seatback screens, wireless charging capabilities, a phone ledge, dedicated stowage spaces for laptops, shoes, and handbags. There are 14 Mint suites onboard the aircraft.
In the front of each cabin, passengers will find the all-new Mint Studio in the first row. These seats offer more room than the traditional Mint suite. The Mint Studios feature an extra-large 22-inch seatback screen, an extra side table, and even a guest seat for a friend to join when flying at cruising altitude. The bed is also larger than those in the Mint suites.
Meanwhile, in economy class, JetBlue features 144 seats in a 3-3 configuration that are 18.4 inches wide – the widest available for the A321neo. There are seven rows of extra-legroom economy at the front of the economy cabin. All economy seats feature a 10.1-inch high-definition seatback screen to access on-demand entertainment, including live television.
All seats feature access to power, including AC and USB ports. This will come in handy for customers who choose to use their own devices to access the internet. The airline has also included personal handheld device pairing capabilities for use as a remote or gaming controller inflight.
Will more flights be operated with this product?
It is almost certain that JetBlue will seek to upgrade most of its transcontinental flying between New York and Los Angeles to Airbus A321neo aircraft with the new Mint product. First and foremost, this is a highly competitive market that requires airlines to put their best foot forward to attract customers. United has entered the market and Delta has recently done some short-term scheduling of aircraft with a better cabin on the route.
Product consistency is also a big deal. A consistent configuration means less confusion for passengers over which seats to book and sets the standard for what to expect on a flight. A change from a Mint Studio, for example, to a window seat in standard JetBlue Mint without direct aisle access would be a huge downgrade in terms of personal space and features.
For that, JetBlue will need to wait for more Airbus A321neos featuring the new product. The rollout may take some time to extend across the airline’s schedule if it does decide to upgrade all flights on the route.
Will you fly on JetBlue’s new Airbus A321neo featuring the new Mint product? Let us know in the comments!
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