If flight attendants don't call out from work during the month of May, the carrier will give them $1,000 bonuses.
The message, which was shared with staff Friday and was seen by CNBC, said flight attendants would receive $100 bonuses for picking up open trips. Part-time flight attendants would be paid for meeting attendance goals.
After two years of the Covid epidemic, travelers are returning in droves, and so airlines are willing to pay crews extra to avoid disruptions.
Staffing shortages have hamstrung airlines over the past year, particularly during Covid peaks, such as widespread omicron cases that sideline crews during the year-end holidays. Triple pay or bonuses was used to ease staff shortages.
The spring rewards programs come at a time when hours are tight and staffing levels are not where they need to be.
Flight attendants were urged not to turn down assignments.
As the airline industry grapples with staffing shortages and high fuel prices, the COO of JetBlue told CNBC that the airline will moderate capacity as needed.
The incentive program starts days after JetBlue made a surprise, $3.6 billion, all-cash offer to buy discount carrier Spirit Airlines, throwing the $2.9 billion deal to combine with fellow ultralow-cost airline Frontier Airlines into question.
The merger agreement with Frontier is still in place despite the fact that Spirit will entertain the offer from JetBlue.
The deal would allow it to grow quickly and better compete against the four largest U.S. carriers: Delta, United, Southwest and American. The tie-up would lead to higher fares for consumers.
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