JetBlue Adds 12 First Class Seats By Cutting 12 EvenMore Seats—And Giving Everyone In Coach Less

Aviation watchdog JonNYC reports that JetBlue’s new Airbus A320 will have three rows of first class: 12 BlueFirst seats in a 2-2 layout. The forward EvenMore cabin shrinks from five rows to three. He identifies the configuration as ‘3R0’ and expects the full product reveal September 1. JetBlue “So much for the Premium Push, Jetblue sticks with 3 rows of First Class with 12 seats for A320s, reducing EvenMore from five rows to three rows. Full product reveal most likely September 1st. (Aircraft referred to as 3R0) — JonNYC (@xJonNYC) August 27, 2026 He also leaks the seat map making the moving pieces here clear. JetBlue’s current 162-seat A320 has 30 full EvenMore seats in five forward rows, 12 separately sold extra-legroom seats at the exits, and 120 standard seats. The new map keeps 162 seats and the same 120 in regular coach. 12 BlueFirst 18 EvenMore 12 exit row extra-legroom 120 standard pic.twitter.com/mLEPr087xb — JonNYC (@xJonNYC) August 27, 2026 That means the new plane will still have the same 42 ‘premium’ seats, replacing 12 EvenMore seats with 12 BlueFirst seats. BlueFirst gives the airline a more expensive product to sell but doesn’t shift the plane more premium. Passengers In Economy Are Going To Suffer For This JetBlue’s original plan called for two or three rows of 2-2 first class. It raised the fleetwide framework in March to three or four rows across non-Mint aircraft, a similar overall seat count and about 27% premium mix across the airline. The seat map preserves the A320’s 162 seats. A fourth row of larger seats would probably require taking out more coach seating. Already this is going to be a very tight product for everyone in back. American’s ex-US Airways Airbus A320s with 12 first class seats have a total of 150 seats JetBlue squeezes in 12 more seats than American Airlines does into the same aircraft! The current JetBlue A320 has 27 rows. This leaked map ends at row 28. JetBlue can keep 162 seats because each first class row has four seats instead of six, but it has to find room for an additional physical row. The airline has not confirmed pitch, though earlier reporting pointed to standard economy seat pitch falling from 32 inches to about 30. JetBlue built its reputation on giving coach passengers more room than competitors. That ends now, completely. A first class seat should command a much larger fare premium than an EvenMore seat, while a small cabin gives JetBlue a better chance to protect pricing. But it also means their plan lacks significant upside. JetBlue Is Cutting The Product They Say Works EvenMore is more than legroom in the first few rows. JetBlue added dedicated overhead bins, early boarding, priority security where available, complimentary alcohol and a premium snack. When it launched that bundle in January 2025, JetBlue reserved the new perks for the forward cabin and reclassified mid-cabin and exit-row positions as separately sold “extra legroom.” JetBlue has repeatedly said EvenMore and Preferred Seating are outperforming expectations. Its broader premium RASM rose about 13% in the second quarter, compared with 11% for Main, and earlier quarters showed a larger premium advantage. EvenMore is selling well, though JetBlue does not publish enough to calculate its profitability. Fewer seats should let the airline charge more, but they will also be harder for Mosaic elite members to obtain. Delta And American Put More Seats Up Front Twelve first class seats is not ambitious. It matches United’s current A320. Delta’s A320 and American’s new retrofit each have 16. JetBlue still beats Delta’s A320 in the combined number of first class and extra-legroom seats, while United and American devote materially more of the airplane to those products. Overall American says they’re moving from 25% domestic premium seats of some kind to 40%. JetBlue is holding constant. A320 configuration Total First class Extra-legroom coach First + extra-legroom share JetBlue 3R0 162 12 30* 25.9% Delta 157 16 18 21.7% United 150 12 42 36.0% American retrofit 150 16 33 32.7% JetBlue is targeting about 27% premium mix across the airline. Its public plan tops out at four rows, or 16 first class seats, even on larger non-Mint aircraft. Delta and United put 20 first class seats on their standard A321neos, and American plans to increase its current 20. United can support more premium seats with a larger corporate base, network and elite population. JetBlue describes its own strategy as the best East Coast leisure network. A larger cabin could leave JetBlue discounting empty seats on off-peak Caribbean and Florida flights. The same conservative choice risks leaving high-fare customers with nothing to buy on peak Boston and New York departures. They hub in some of the most premium markets! BlueFirst Isn’t Enough To Turn Around Revenue JetBlue’s geography gives it access to premium demand and premium costs. They need premium revenue. Roughly half its flights touch New York, where it has about 13% seat share. It had about 26% in Boston last year. BlueFirst helps JetBlue avoid pushing demand it can’t meet to other airlines. It also makes Mint connections work better, with a premium domestic flight to pair with international business class. JetBlue says BlueFirst across its fleet is its largest remaining ‘JetForward’ plan earnings driver. It says the completed onboard product overhaul should produce about five points of RASM improvement. At JetBlue’s current scale that is roughly $450 million of gross annual revenue, but the company doesn’t say how much it expects these 12 seats to contribute. JetBlue lost $602 million in 2025, its sixth consecutive annual net loss. It lost another $566 million in the first half of 2026. Full-year adjusted operating margin guidance remains negative 2% to negative 5%. They expect to lose money, and to pay out $590 million in interest expense on $8.5 billion of debt. They once expected to retrofit 25% of the non-Mint fleet during 2026, later reduced that to about 20%, and now says most of the work will occur in 2027. BlueFirst will contribute little to 2026, with the full payoff expected only in late 2028 or 2029. But 12 seats – that tradeoff with upsells to their EvenMore product – will only move the needle so much. Topics on this page