NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — JetBlue Airways Corp., slowing expansion plans for the second time this year, delayed delivery of 32 Embraer 190 jets it had been scheduled to receive over the next four years.The move will cut JetBlue's 2007 growth to 14 percent to 17 percent from a planned 18 percent to 20 percent. New York-based JetBlue, the eighth-largest US airline, also may sell or lease some Airbus SAS A320s or Embraer 190s, spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said in an interview yesterday.

The delays mark JetBlue's latest effort to return to profitability after losses in three of the past four quarters. The low-cost carrier said in October it would pare growth without giving details. It blamed rising competition and higher fuel costs.

"We are now entering a new chapter in the JetBlue story," chief executive officer David Neeleman said in a statement. The airline will be more focused on "targeted growth that builds on our market dominance on the East Coast".

Shares of JetBlue rose 15 cents to $13.53 at 10.12 a.m. in New York in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has fallen 12 percent this year.

The 32 Embraers originally scheduled to join the JetBlue fleet in 2007 through 2010 were delayed to 2011 through 2014, Dervin said. The change removes eight planned deliveries in each of the four years. JetBlue had 94 A320s and 21 Embraer 190s as of Sept. 30.

Neeleman crafted a "return-to-profitability plan" in April, after JetBlue reported losses in the last quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006.

As part of that plan, the airline delayed 12 A320 deliveries to 2011 and 2012 from the original schedule of 2007 and 2009. JetBlue later sold five A320s, slowing capacity growth this year to a range of 20 percent to 22 percent, from a planned 28 percent to 30 percent increase.

"We are going to manage our capacity in 2007, possibly with aircraft sales," Dervin said yesterday. "A firm plan has not been completed yet. We have the option to sell more A320s or some 190s."

Neeleman blamed rapid expansion, competition that held down fares and higher fuel prices for the two unprofitable quarters, JetBlue's first back-to-back losses in four years as a publicly traded airline.

JetBlue reported a third-quarter net loss of $500,000, or break-even on a per-share basis. The airline had a $14 million profit in the second quarter.

JetBlue faces more US East Coast competition as US Airways Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and AirTran Holdings Inc. vie for passengers in New York-to-Florida markets. Jet fuel for immediate delivery has averaged $1.96 a gallon in 2006, up 15 percent from a year earlier.

To keep costs low, JetBlue flew only 156-seat A320s until adding the Embraer 190 a year ago to fly to markets too small for the larger jets. JetBlue was the first airline to fly the 100-seat Embraer, made by Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA of Brazil.

AirTran, a low-cost airline based in Orlando, Florida, in September delayed delivery of eight Boeing Co. 737 jets from 2007 and 2008 until 2009 through 2011 as it scaled back growth plans amid growing competition along the US East Coast.