JetBlue posts 2Q loss, but beats Wall St. estimate

Shares jumped 80 cents, or 20.7 percent, to $4.69 in midday trading. The stock has ranged from $3.04 to $11.38 in the past year.

JetBlue posted a loss of $7 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $21 million, or 11 cents per share.

Revenue rose 18 percent, to $859 million, from $730 million a year earlier.

Analysts expected a loss of 7 cents per share, on revenue of $856 million, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

Saying the industry faces "unprecedented challenges," the Forest Hills, N.Y.-based carrier said it will suspend its near-term growth plans beginning in September.

JetBlue expects September capacity to be down 10 percent and does not expect to grow next year. JetBlue thinks capacity will slip one to three percent in the third quarter and fall six to nine percent in the fourth quarter.

The airline also said it will defer delivery of 10 Embraer 190 jets to 2016. They were originally scheduled for delivery between 2009 and 2011.

In late May, JetBlue announced plans to put off buying 21 new Airbus jetliners for four or five years.

The company added it will halt operations in Ontario, Calif., as of Sept. 3. JetBlue did not specify how many workers will be affected by the move. Ontario, about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, was the company's first location on the West Coast when it began flying in 2001.