NEW YORK, Feb 20, 2026, 06:12 EST — Premarket
- JBLU last closed at $5.91, down 8.5%, after a heavy-volume session
- Oil rose about 2% on Thursday, putting airline margins back under a spotlight
- JetBlue pitched its JetForward plan to investors this week as the FAA probes a Newark engine incident
JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) shares were little changed around $5.91 in premarket trading on Friday after an 8.5% slide in the previous session. The stock closed Thursday at $5.91, down 0.55, on about 19.7 million shares. (Investing)
Fuel is the swing factor for airline stocks, and oil moved the wrong way on Thursday. U.S. and Brent crude futures were last up about 2% after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. inventories; “Support for oil prices came from a very bullish EIA report,” said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo. (Reuters)
That comes as JetBlue tries to convince investors its turnaround has traction. At a Barclays conference on Wednesday, chief financial officer Ursula Hurley said the airline is aiming for a break-even or better operating margin in 2026 and positive free cash flow in 2027 — cash left after capital spending. “Demand in the first quarter is really strong,” Hurley said, adding the carrier has more than $6.5 billion in unencumbered assets and expects fewer aircraft to sit idle from Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan (GTF) engine issues. (Investing)
JetBlue’s Thursday drop outpaced a broad selloff in airline stocks. Southwest fell 5.0%, Delta dropped 5.2% and United slid 5.9%, while the Nasdaq and Dow also ended lower. (MarketWatch)
The company also flagged fresh network changes. JetBlue said it will add nonstop service between Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental and New York’s JFK, with twice-daily flights beginning May 21. “We’re pleased to reintroduce nonstop service between JFK and Houston,” said Dave Jehn, JetBlue’s vice president of network planning and airline partnerships. (JetBlue Newsroom)
Executives have leaned hard on operations as part of the pitch. They pointed to a seven-point rise in Net Promoter Score, a customer loyalty metric, and said reliability improved enough to meet or beat its on-time goals last year.
Operational headlines cut the other way this week. Air traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport was disrupted on Wednesday after a JetBlue Airbus A320 returned following an engine failure and reports of smoke, and the FAA said it will investigate; “Safety is JetBlue’s top priority,” the airline said. (Reuters)
For traders, the next read is simple: crude first, then fares. JetBlue’s margin story looks easier with steady fuel, but it gets tougher when oil moves and disruptions pile up.
But the downside case is close at hand. If oil stays elevated, JetBlue and other carriers may struggle to pass costs through without hitting demand, and any drag from engine inspections or a tougher FAA review could add to expense and squeeze cash generation.
Investors will parse the next weekly U.S. inventory report from the Energy Information Administration on Feb. 25 for clues on fuel direction, alongside any update on the Newark probe. JetBlue’s new Houston-JFK flights are scheduled to start May 21, giving the market another checkpoint on execution.
