JetBlue: No Middle Seats Until at Least July 6

JetBlue Airways today reiterated its commitment to social distancing on flights by extending its policy of blocking middle seats until at least July 6, the carrier said in a statement.

The policy, part of the airline’s multi-layered “Safety from the Ground Up” program, comes as the airline is also set to roll out temperature monitoring for its flight and inflight crewmembers and electrostatic aircraft fogging in June.

JetBlue will only allow the middle seat to be used if passengers are traveling together.

“As communities start to reopen and with summer travel kicking off this weekend, more people are beginning to fly and we want them to feel safe on JetBlue,” said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s president and chief operating officer, in a release. “Our program layers together a series of protections throughout the entire travel journey, which work together to help keep everyone safe and well.”

Middle seats will be blocked on its Airbus aircraft, and on its smaller Embraer 190 aircraft, JetBlue will block aisle seats.

“We’re known for generous legroom and space, and now more than ever those choosing to travel want as much space as possible,” Geraghty said. “We are pleased to extend our efforts to keep seats free and help everyone onboard spread out.”

JetBlue’s program puts in place safeguards across four focus areas, including healthy crewmembers, who will receive temperature checks, disinfectant kits and required face coverings; clean air and surfaces, including disinfectant approved to kill coronavirus, hand sanitizer throughout terminals and disinfectant wipes to customers onboard upon request, and using electrostatic sprayers to fog the inside of the aircraft; more space and few touchpoints, featuring face coverings for all customers during check-in, boarding and inflight, touchless check-in and boarding back to front; and travel flexibility, including waiving change and cancel fees for tickets purchased by May 31 to give customers confidence when booking.