First it was American Airlines. Now JetBlue Airways is cutting back on flights to Haiti. The latest change, however, affects only the U.S.-based carrier’s route from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to Port-au-Prince, but still means higher air fares for U.S.-bound passengers trying to get out of the volatile Caribbean nation.
Beginning May 5 until June 14, JetBlue’s Port-au-Prince route out of New York will be reduced to twice weekly, Tuesdays and Saturdays. Then, from June 15 until Sept. 4, flight service will increase to four times a week: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
There is currently no change in the airline’s daily service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport, the airline confirmed to the Miami Herald.
The New York service cutbacks are due to a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers and the Federal Aviation Administration encouraging all major airlines flying out of New York city airports — JetBlue, Delta, American and United — to cut service this summer because there aren’t enough air traffic controllers and it’s anticipating a busy travel summer.
JetBlue is the only U.S. carrier that flies directly to Haiti from the New York-New Jersey area where there is a growing Haitian diaspora, and sometimes its route presents a cheaper alternative for travelers trying to just get out of Haiti. Meanwhile, low-cost Broward-based Spirit Airlines does fly to Port-au-Prince out of Fort Lauderdale but only five days a week. There are no flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
This week, the Miami Herald reported that American Airlines had not only reduced the size of its aircraft currently flying into Port-au-Prince out of Miami International Airport but that beginning May 9 the airline intends to cut back to just six flights a week from the current seven. The airline will not have any Tuesday flights. Air fares on the Miami route are also giving passengers sticker shock with costs of over $3,000.
In both cases, U.S.-bound passengers out of Haiti can expect to see higher fares and less availability at a time when more Haitians are qualifying to come to the U.S. thanks to a two-year humanitarian parole program rolled out by the Biden administration in January for nationals of Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
