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One of the reasons why I don’t fly JetBlue often is the lack of a premium cabin on most domestic routes. The airline offers its Mint® (Business Class) on select routes and transatlantic flights, but not the majority. We’ve known for some time that this is changing in 2026 when JetBlue finally adds a First Class cabin fleetwide. Today, we got some more insight with an installation timeline for next year.
@JonNYC shared on X today that JetBlue has slated its first aircraft prototype to hit in June 2026 with installations beginning in June. About 20 aircraft per month will see the installation of the new seats at this time.
JetBlue plans to reconfigure its fleet to add a First Class cabin as follows:
- Airbus A220: 143 seats total with eight First Class and 135 Economy Class seats (currently, the Airbus A220s have 140 seats total)
- Airbus A320: 162 seats total with 12 First Class and 150 Economy Class seats (currently, the Airbus A320s have 162 seats total)
- Airbus A321ceo: 198 seats total with 12 First Class and 186 Economy Class seats (currently the Airbus A321ceos have 200 seats total)
- Airbus A321neos: 200 seats total with 12 First Class and 188 Economy Class seats (currently the Airbus A321neos have 200 seats total)
Matthew at Live and Let’s Fly first reported that JetBlue would be shrinking the amount of legroom across its cabins. This includes:
- First Class will offer 36 to 37 inches of legroom
- Even More Space will offer 35 inches of legroom
- Core (Economy Class) will shrink from 32 to 30 inches of legroom
JetBlue has been making moves to become a more premium airline. Its first airport lounge will open this week on December 18th.
Anthony’s Take: I’m excited to check out JetBlue’s First Class (“Mini Mint”) and hope it aligns with its transatlantic offerings in terms of soft product. This coupled with the United partnership might see me flying JetBlue more.
(Image Credits: JetBlue Airways.)
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4 comments
So… most people lose out. Yay?!?
Couldn’t the same be said of every airline as it installed bigger, premium seats?
JetBlue’s entire premise has been that they offer more legroom to everyone. They had already densified their planes and now it’s getting much worse. I’d say that’s not a good look for one of your signature features. Just add in some first class seats and leave the seat pitch alone on the remaining coach seats. If JetBlue kills off their main attraction for non-first passengers (which is 90%+) then why choose them over a competitor? Vastly smaller route network, seats at least as bad as any other domestic airline, limited partners, and an uninspiring frequent flier program?
All valid points.