JetBlue is laying off workers and reshuffling jobs as it moves to cut $300 million in costs

JetBlue

JetBlue announced a round of layoffs and buyouts on Friday.

• JetBlue announced a round of layoffs, buyouts, and a restructuring of positions on Friday afternoon.
• It did not specify how many jobs would be affected by the decision.
• The restructuring comes at a time when JetBlue is seeking to honor a goal set in December 2016, when it announced a plan to reduce operational costs by up to $300 million a year by 2020.

On Friday, JetBlue announced a round of layoffs, buyouts, and a restructuring of staff in an effort to cut expenses to the tune of $300 million.

In a statement to Business Insider, JetBlue's Shelby Wallace said, "To streamline how we work, we are moving certain teams and roles into new reporting structures and are eliminating a number of positions. We need to make these difficult decisions to ensure we are set up for success."

The statement continued: "We aimed to reduce the number of involuntary departures by offering voluntary buyouts and by eliminating a number of open positions. We will continue to hire strategically in our support center teams, and these changes do not affect staffing levels of our frontline crew members."

JetBlue did not specify how many jobs would be affected by the decision.

JetBlue spokesman Doug McGraw told CNBC that the cuts are focused on office jobs, and that the airline is not planning to let go of airport workers such as gate agents. It is also not planning to cut flight crew jobs.

The restructuring comes at a time when JetBlue is seeking to honor a goal set in December 2016, when it announced a plan to reduce operational costs by up to $300 million a year by 2020 through a combination of targeted stock buybacks and various cost-saving steps.