calcapt

Carriers do it routinely. Airlines will defend their hubs and passengers at costs that seem illogical to most. A carrier assumes that when a customer is lost they won't come back; therefore, it is better to lose revenue and keep passengers and market share for a time in the future when loads and yields will improve to the point where profit can be made. That is what the JB team is having a hard time understanding. What Delta is saying to JB is: Hey buddy, we are not going to allow you to waltz in here and steal our business. Some may call it irrational competition but Delta is just reacting to JB coming in and lowballing ticket prices just to steal business. If Delta has to match or lower prices even more - so be it. JB's own management says that they are operating their flights at a loss yet they continue to offer bargains galore. So who is irrational now? You may recall that IAir tried that pretty unsuccessfully at IAD. It used to be that all the majors were always at each others throats trying to move in on routes, hubs and the like. Once they all understood that moving to Atlanta was only going to start a war with Delta or moving to DFW was only asking for a fight with AA, they essentially stopped doing it and declared a truce. It always turned into a bloodbath and everybody involved lost money. The only ones still silly enough to think they can move about untouched are the LCCs. They somehow think the Legacys will be willing to surrender market share just because someone new comes to town. It won't happen without a costly fight, a VERY COSTLY fight!