JetBlue has (finally) decided to stop neglecting the 7th most populous state in the Union, and will begin direct service form Columbus, OH to KBOS and KJFK in October. Perhaps now I will actually get the chance to see what all the hype of the “true blue” experience is about.
They will begin service with E-190s, but I have no doubt that they will be adding flights and/or upgrading to the A320s not too long thereafter. I’ve written about B6’s potential in CMH before, but if you haven’t been to the city in the last 15-20 years or so, you really have NO IDEA how 1)Big, 2)White collar, or 3)Vibrant the capital of OH really is. Most people think Cleveland is the largest city in OH, but Columbus has nearly DOUBLE the population of Cleveland, which is second(Columbus-870,000;Cleveland-470,000). Columbus is the only large city in OH that has continued to increase in population over the last 2 decades, as the state overall has faced the unfortunate “rust belt” decline in numbers.
Anyhow, I’m pretty happy that they’re landing in CMH. Now if we could only get them to head up north a little… [Now that I’ve totally made Cleveland sound like a $#!+hole]
So, they are now flying to CMH! Does anyone foresee any more service to Ohio, or are they staying away from CLE and CVG for fear of the megahubs there?
I think it was Independence Air. I don’t think that Jetblue has left an airport yet. But I could be wrong. And if I am wrong I WILL be corrected very fast.
I’m thinking (unfortunately) that this may be it for OH, at least in the short term. That airline is expanding its routes awful quickly, and I can see them going into cities that are farther from the current ones they serve before flying to another OH city. If they do, I could see them going for CLE more than any other. CO has a “hub” there, but it’s not even close to the scale of KEWR or KIAH. The only LCCs that serve CLE are Southwest and USA3000. I certainly don’t see B6 flying into KCAK anytime soon because of the dominant presence of Airtran there, even though that airport fits the mold for jetBlue, and they’ve been courting David Neeleman for years.
As far as I know, noone has filled the slots and the counter/terminal space left vacant when Independence left (They actually left KCLE about a month or two before going under).
