Airbus A321neo: Jetblue has to close business class suite doors due to staff shortage

Business class suites are now available on many airlines. But on flights to the USA, there are certain rules that airlines must adhere to. If there are lockable doors in business class, there must be more flight attendants on board. This now has unpleasant consequences for Jetblue.

Reason: The FAA assumes that doors mean additional workload for the crew. Because they must be open for taxi, takeoff, and landing, the crew must take care of that.

“Large” amount of work

This extra work means airlines need more cabin crew — more than the current minimum of one flight attendant for every 50 seats. “The amount of work required to ensure that the doors of the 16 or 24 seat rows are in the correct position during taxi, take-off and landing is significant,” the FAA said in a message cited by the Paxex portal.

“Because this is a critical safety feature to reduce the likelihood of the door remaining closed during takeoff and landing, the FAA will require an additional crew member to grant this exemption.” Jetblue has done just that. There are 160 seats on the Airbus A321neo, 16 of which are in business class. The Airbus A321LR has 138 seats, 24 of which are in business class.

Everything stays the same with LR.

Due to FAA regulations, Jetblue has increased the number of flight attendants from four to five on the Airbus A321 and from three to four on the A321 LR. Now the airline is reversing this with the Airbus A321neo because it does not have enough staff. As a result, the airline is closing the wing doors on these models. Everything remains the same with the Airbus A321 LR.