JetBlue makes waves with new international flights, lounge openings, and premium class enhancements

American carrier JetBlue is looking to turn its fortunes around by introducing domestic 'first class' seating onboard select aircraft from late 2025.

The airline announced its next premium move on Wednesday.

Part of the New York-based carrier's plans is to adjust its current offering for flights that do not offer the 'Mint' product.

For aircraft that are not configured with Mint, JetBlue will introduce a Domestic First product of a similar caliber to its popular Mint product offered on transcontinental and transatlantic routes.

JetBlue spoke with Business Travel News, and the airline released this statement regarding its latest decision:

As part of JetBlue's push into the premium passenger market, the airline announced its intentions to offer airport lounges in late 2025.

With its first locations already announced, Boston and New York, the offering will entice new passengers who can enjoy lounge access for drinks and nibbles before take-off and the new first class product by the end of next year as the airline looks to attract more big spenders.

JetBlue confirmed to CNBC that its first lounge at New York John F. Kennedy Airport Terminal 5 will be over 8,000 square feet, aiming to open the doors before the end of next year. Boston will quickly follow, located in Terminal C and covering 11,000 square feet.

In a bid to limit overcrowding in the JetBlue lounges, the airline will limit entry for select passengers. The airline confirmed that in the interim, only the highest tier of JetBlue's loyalty program, TrueBlue, and one guest will gain access to the lounge.

Dubbed Mini Mint or Junior Mint, the official name is yet to be decided, but first-class seating will be offered in a two-by-two configuration as it is introduced into the airline's fleet.

These seats will be at the front of the cabin on any aircraft that does not offer Mint.

JetBlue has confirmed that the first three rows of its Airbus A321neo, A321ceo, and A320 will feature the first class, while on the Airbus A220, first class will be available in the front two rows.

For Mint-enabled aircraft, passengers are treated to lie in flat seats. Introduced over a decade ago, the Mint product quickly rose in popularity, and the airline has rumored several times that it may expand another version of it (first class).

While the Mint product would be impractical on shorter routes, the airline will look to curate a new offering to enable premium paying customers to travel comfortably while still onboard.

Part of JetBlue's strategy is to double down on its leisure offerings. This year alone, the airline axed services to 15 markets, which resulted in the suspension of 54 routes across its network.

This was seen just last week with the carrier's decision to withdraw from London Gatwick in favor of Heathrow while redeploying the spare aircraft on its new Boston to Madrid and Edinburgh.

JetBlue's new Chief Executive Officer, Joanna Geraghty, looks to return JetBlue to profitability and has plans to refocus the airline on its core markets.

These include the state of Florida and Northeast and will see the postponement of several new aircraft while the airline looks to rebalance its books.

For JetBlue, its fleet is steadily growing and nearing 300 aircraft. Variants operated by the carrier include:

• Airbus A220-300
• Airbus A320-200
• Airbus A321-200
• Airbus A321neo
• Airbus A321LR
• Embraer E190

The airline is also set to operate the Airbus A321XLR, which is expected to be delivered in 2030. Multiple of its current Airbus A321neo are currently out of service due to ongoing Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine troubles.