JetBlue has cleared a major hurdle to expanding at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, and its plans could bring the airline back to a terminal it left four years ago. On October 8, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration approved a special exemption allowing JetBlue to acquire 22 takeoff-and-landing slots formerly held by Spirit Airlines. JetBlue has also expressed interest in returning to Terminal A, the historic Marine Air Terminal, but no Terminal A reopening date or new JetBlue route schedule has been announced.
For travelers, the immediate answer is simple: JetBlue still operates at LaGuardia’s Terminal B. The airline’s current LaGuardia airport information lists Terminal B, while the Port Authority says Terminal A remains closed to the public with no scheduled commercial flights. The slot approval makes a 2027 expansion possible; it has not changed today’s terminal assignments.
Why JetBlue wants to go back to a terminal it left in 2022
JetBlue began using the Marine Air Terminal in December 2017 after Delta vacated the building, and renovated its passenger facilities the following year. The historic rotunda offered a compact entrance to a small airline operation, separate from LaGuardia’s much larger central terminals. By 2021, however, JetBlue was growing under its Northeast Alliance with American Airlines and wanted to put most of its flights alongside American in the newly rebuilt Terminal B.
In an October 2021 announcement, JetBlue explained that its Boston flights would remain at Terminal A while other routes moved to Terminal B, with a complete relocation to follow. That relocation finished in July 2022. The alliance that helped drive the co-location was subsequently dismantled after a federal antitrust ruling, removing one of the original reasons for keeping the two carriers together.
Spirit eventually became the Marine Air Terminal’s last commercial airline, then ceased flying altogether on May 2, 2026. At Spirit’s bankruptcy auction, JetBlue bid $58.5 million for its LaGuardia slots, beating Frontier’s $57.5 million offer. Reporting on a JetBlue employee message in July indicated the airline wanted to move back into Terminal A. Separately, the Port Authority said the winning bidder would have to assume Spirit’s Terminal A lease, connecting the slot deal to a physical terminal as well as runway access.
What 22 LaGuardia slots actually buy
LaGuardia is slot-controlled, which means airlines need FAA-issued operating authorizations for takeoffs and landings during constrained periods. They cannot simply schedule more flights because they have aircraft and willing customers. JetBlue held 31 arrival and departure slots before the auction, and the 22 additional authorizations would bring its holdings to 53, according to Travel Weekly’s account of the transaction.
The Spirit package comprised 12 departure slots and 10 arrival slots, so it is inaccurate to interpret the 22 as 22 new daily round trips. JetBlue said the purchase could support up to 12 additional daily round trips, using its wider slot portfolio to balance arrivals and departures. The eventual destination mix and number of flights will depend on how JetBlue uses those rights, whether it reshuffles existing service and which ground facilities it can operate.
There was also a regulatory obstacle: LaGuardia’s standing slot order generally prohibits outright buying and selling of slots. In its October 8 decision, the FAA granted a case-specific exemption permitting the Spirit-to-JetBlue transaction. The agency waived minimum-use requirements through April 2027 to allow the airline to get operations underway and barred JetBlue from leasing or trading the acquired slots to another carrier until after April 2028. The approval permits the transaction; it does not by itself prove the sale has formally closed.
JetBlue told reporters in July that it expected expansion related to the slots to begin in 2027. Its second-quarter SEC filing also described the sale as subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. October’s FAA decision removes the main identified regulatory hurdle, but an airline launch still requires a finalized schedule, aircraft assignments, staffing, gates and passenger facilities.
What a Terminal A return would mean for passengers
A move back to the Marine Air Terminal could give JetBlue a smaller, more self-contained check-in and boarding operation. That was part of the building’s appeal during the old shuttle years, but it comes with tradeoffs: Terminal A sits apart from Terminal B, so a split operation would require passengers to pay much closer attention to their terminal, particularly for connecting flights or when booking different legs on different airlines. A particular walking time or security advantage should not be assumed before JetBlue publishes its operating plan.
The Port Authority is also planning a larger change. Its 2025 annual report commits to replacing Terminal A’s outdated boarding areas while preserving the original 1940 Marine Air Terminal, including its rotunda and observation decks. That raises questions about how renewed airline operations and the future construction project would be staged. The agency has not announced a firm reopening date for scheduled flights or a timetable showing how any JetBlue operation would fit into that construction.
For the building’s Pan Am history, James Brooks mural, rooftop observation deck and later shuttle years, see our recently updated history of LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal. The current JetBlue decision is primarily about airline access and terminal logistics, rather than a change to the landmark’s protected architecture.
Until JetBlue announces routes and a terminal assignment, passengers should continue using Terminal B for JetBlue flights at LaGuardia. The next announcements to watch are confirmation that the slot purchase has closed, JetBlue’s 2027 schedule, and a Port Authority update on Terminal A’s lease and redevelopment. Those will determine whether this becomes a full return to the Marine Air Terminal, a split-terminal operation, or a different arrangement for the new flights.
