JetBlue adds service from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip to Florida

JetBlue Airways will begin taking off from Long Island’s MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma in October, with nonstop service to three Florida destinations, Islip Town officials announced Tuesday.

JetBlue, the nation’s sixth-largest airline, will become the fourth airline to take off from the Islip Town-owned airport, joining Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Breeze Airways.

Starting in late October, the low-cost carrier will operate daily service between Islip and Orlando, as well as four round-trip flights per week between Long Island Airport and Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach.

“Our Long Island Airport customers have expressed obvious enthusiasm for more air service at ISP, and JetBlue is consistently one of the most frequent requests,” Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in a communicated.

The addition of the major airline is the latest in a series of upgrades at the airport that have encompassed more than $100 million in planning and investment projects since 2016, including a ground transportation hub, a skywalk and a fire emergency building.

The pending $2.8 billion Midway Crossing proposal would build a walkway connecting a new MacArthur terminal to the Long Island Rail Station in Ronkonkoma. The proposal calls for 2.7 million square feet of new construction, including a convention center, a 300-room hotel and health sciences facilities.

An environmental study that was supposed to begin in the spring is on hold while officials wait for state infrastructure funding, according to Mitch Pally, who chairs the nonprofit local development corporation leading the project.

Ahead of the summer season, MacArthur’s Transportation Security Administration deployed new identification technology, with a camera designed to scan photo IDs and confirm a traveler’s identity and flight details.

City officials, along with JetBlue’s announcement, also touted a nearly 23 percent increase in domestic airline seats flying out of MacArthur in April, compared to April of last year — more than any other commercial airport in New York or New England.

“JetBlue has been a New York airline for 24 years. … Our community has been clamoring for JetBlue service,” said Airport Commissioner Shelley LaRose-Arken, adding that Ronkonkoma Airport expects an increase of the number of passengers accordingly.

Florida is the most popular destination in all of New York, she said, including MacArthur.

Dave Jehn, JetBlue vice president for network planning and airline partnerships, also said the three destinations JetBlue chose to fly from MacArthur are among the most popular destinations for Long Islanders.

About 1.2 million passengers arrived and departed from MacArthur Airport in 2023, LaRose-Arken said.

“JetBlue is one of the most popular low-cost airlines in the country, and Long Island will almost certainly benefit from an economic boost from an increase in travelers at Long Island MacArthur Airport,” he said. said Matt Cohen, president and CEO of Long Island. Association, a nonprofit trade organization, said in a statement.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who pushed for funding for the Ronkonkoma airport, also welcomed the airline’s expansion to Long Island.

“The success of the airport is the key to a more vibrant economy on Long Island,” he said in a statement.

Long Island economist Martin Cantor mostly agrees.

“This is a big deal for Long Island,” said Cantor, director of the Long Island Center for Socio-Economic Policy. He conducted two economic impact studies regarding the airport and Midway Crossing in 2015 and 2021.

Long Islanders have “an untapped propensity to travel,” he said, and the airline “could attract passengers” who don’t want to go to Kennedy Airport.

JetBlue’s return to Long Island also means a boost to the region’s reputation and adds another air option for regional travelers, he said.

But, he added, the added routes also mean Long Island continues to export travelers to Florida.

“No one from Florida comes to Long Island to spend money on tourism. Florida is like the tourism capital,” Cantor said.

He also said JetBlue’s decision to leave MacArthur coincides with “major work” at Kennedy that may cause delays for travelers.

“I don’t believe in coincidences in the airline industry,” he said.

Before JetBlue, Breeze Airways was the airline to recently add service from Islip, with flights beginning in 2022. . JetBlue founder David Neeleman launched the low-cost carrier in 2018 and began flying in 2021.

But, while the news comes at a high for MacArthur, the announcement for JetBlue comes amid the company’s struggles.

JetBlue ranked ninth out of the nation’s 10 largest airlines in canceled flights and on-time arrivals last year, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The New York-based airline plans this month to pull service from several cities, drop several destinations from Los Angeles and end service to other cities, including between Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Atlanta, AP reported.

JetBlue has lost more than $2 billion since its last profitable year, 2019, AP reported. Federal lawsuits blocked the airline from entering into a partnership with American Airlines created in Boston and New York, as well as buying Spirit Airlines, with a judge saying the proposed $3.8 billion deal violated antitrust law .

Thomas Legere, 69, of Southport, North Carolina, sitting on a bench outside the airport Tuesday, said he was “delighted” with the news.

“It’s a real pain to go to JFK or LaGuardia to get JetBlue,” said Legere, who is originally from Long Island and frequently passes through MacArthur for work.

“I have heard of JetBlue many times. It’s a very good company,” Amos Rémy from Haiti said in French.

Stephanie Pintucci, 41, of Lindenhurst, traveling to California from MacArthur on Tuesday with her family, said she frequently visits Orlando. But will she move to JetBlue?

“It depends on the price,” she says.

With Steve Langford and James Carbone