"We were informed today that JetBlue will be making 10 underutilized flight slots available to other carriers who will be able to fly them in accordance with the amended flight resolution. JetBlue will continue to fly 24 slots, providing great service out of the Long Beach Airport. We expect very strong demand from airlines currently operating at the Long Beach Airport for each of the 10 flight slots that were made available today, and will immediately begin the process to allocate the available slots," said City Manager Patrick H. West.

The City's statement came after LBREPORT.com (and the PressTelegram, followed by some others) reported that a LB Airport/city management memo had sent LB's Mayor/Council a memo on April 3 noting that JetBlue Airways isn't currently on pace to meet Nov. 2018 City Council-approved "use 'em or lose 'em" flight slot rules (enacted to deter "slot squatting") and indicating that LGB asked JetBlue for its plans on the matter.

JetBlue issued a corporate statement (reported by LBREPORT.com) that didn't provide specifics, and LBREPORT.com pursued the story further. We asked an LB Airport spokesperson to indicate what JetBlue had said in response to the City's letter...and as of noon, we'd received no response from the City.

Nearly seven hours later, the City issued its statement above and provides additional background below.

[Scroll down for further.]

[City of LB April 10 statement text] The City anticipates the flight slots relinquished from JetBlue today will be permanently reallocated in accordance to the Airport's established reallocation process to the carriers on the existing waitlist. Each incumbent carrier on the waiting list will be offered one slot and the process will repeat in turn from top to bottom until all slots are allocated or until demand is satisfied.

Since 2015, passenger activity at Long Beach Airport has grown by over 57%. This growth is the result of increased air carrier competition with the introduction of Southwest and Hawaiian. 2018 was a record-high year for activity at the Airport with over 4.0 million passengers and over $47 million in revenue This activity is expected to be maintained at this level going forward.

The City of Long Beach maintains the Long Beach Airport Noise Compatibility Ordinance (Noise Ordinance). Originally enacted in 1981, this Noise Ordinance allows the City to restrict flight activity and the time of day aircraft operations may be scheduled and occur at the Airport, require minimum utilization of allocated flight slots, and prescribe administrative penalties and an alternative enforcement process for operators who violate the regulations.

On November 20, 2018, the Long Beach City Council, acting in its capacity as the certified operator of the Airport, approved amendments to the Flight Slot Allocation Resolution (Allocation Resolution) portion of the Noise Ordinance. The approved amendments prohibit air carriers from conducting operations in a manner that causes the carrier to operate less than the following percentages of its calendar month, quarter, and annual pro rata proportion of its allocated flight slots. This ensures airlines fly the flight slots that they have and supports Airport operations.

During any Calendar Month: Minimum Percentage of 60 percent
During any Calendar Quarter: Minimum Percentage of 70 percent
During any Calendar Year: Minimum Percentage of 85 percent

Towards the close of the first quarter of 2019, it became clear JetBlue Airways (JetBlue) was not on pace to meet the minimum use requirement of 70 percent, as required by the Allocation Resolution. To comply with the minimum slot utilization requirements, JetBlue announced on April 9, a decision to relinquish seven permanent flight slots and three supplemental flight slots.

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