After flirting with a move to sunny Florida, Jet Blue Airways will stay at their headquarters in New York — even expanding by adding hundreds of new jobs, The Post has learned.
The Post exclusively reported in March that “New York’s hometown airline” was reviewing its option to relocate jobs ahead of the July 2023 expiration of its Long Island City lease — the location of its headquarters.
“We are exploring a number of paths, including staying in Long Island City, moving to another space in New York City, and/or shifting a to-be-determined number of [headquarter] roles to existing support centers in Florida,” the March 11 memo said.
One possibility, it said, involved having more staff assigned to Florida, which is home to its Orlando training center and the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of its travel products subsidiary.
Sen. Chuck Schumer immediately contacted JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes to plead with him to have JetBlue stay put. JetBlue has been headquartered in the Big Apple since its founding in 1998.
JetBlue received $935 million under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act last year to save jobs and keep its operations afloat during the pandemic.
Meanwhile JetBlue is moving full speed ahead with its $2 billion plan to renovate its Terminal 6 at JFK Airport — also a top priority of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Terminal 6 project also is expected to be discussed on Tuesday.
JFK Airport is slated to receive $294 million under the federal $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal announced by Schumer, the Senate majority leader, last week. The infusion of funding for the airport is another reason for JetBlue to stay put.
Jet Blue had no immediate comment.