The airline is in the middle of a plan to reduce costs by culling unprofitable routes and drumming up revenue with higher-priced seats.

JetBlue is executing a cost-cut strategy of cutting unprofitable routes, deferring aircraft deliveries and pricing premium seats. It was also reported by CNBC that the airline has already offered senior pilots voluntary early retirement packages as part of the restructuring.

Unit costs in 2025 will rise as much as 7% excluding fuel, the airline said Tuesday in a statement, outpacing analysts’ estimates on higher spending for compensation and aircraft maintenance. JetBlue shares fell as much as 18% as markets opened in New York, their biggest slump since Aug. 12.

JetBlue’s fourth-quarter results beat expectations, but the outlook for a key revenue metric was below forecasts.

The company also expects the average fuel price per gallon to increase to a range of between $2.65 and $2.80 in the first quarter from $2.47 in the fourth quarter. The stock fell

JetBlue Airways forecast higher costs and unit revenue below analysts' expectations for the first quarter on Tuesday, sending the New York-based carrier's shares down 26% in morning trade. The carrier forecast first-quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM),

JetBlue Airways Corp. reported fourth-quarter earnings that were better than Wall Street expected as demand climbed after the November election and during the winter holidays and fuel prices fell.