It doesn’t make sense for United at all if you know the backstory of the base selection and recent aircraft orders. For better or worse, UAL is now firmly committed as a Boeing customer / airline; just look at the metrics of the last order. There are just enough airbuses to replace the aging fleet and a long term order of 321’s to eventually replace the 75’s. Beyond that, it’s all Boeing. The company is open about being primarily a Boeing company / fleet. Also, the LAS base opened almost assuredly because of all the unfilled captain vacancies on the West Coast. And MCO makes sense as a lot of UAL pilots live there, so it’s convenient in that respect, and it’s a good way to attract more pilots, as well as opens up the potential for more Mexico / South American flying. This isn’t hypothetical information; Kirby has been open about all of this. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t look too much into the base openings, and I firmly believe the Airbus order that F9 management touts as having some sort of huge market value is exaggerated. It’s a Boone for F9 for sure, but not to the extent that a would-be-suitor is going to pay an arm and a leg to buy a company just to get an Airbus order, especially not to UAL which is a primarily Boeing company and displayed that intent recently with both a NB and WB order. Im speculating that the only thing F9 has that could benefit UAL are pilots, and they are leaving in droves for UA anyway. And in full disclosure, I’m someone rooting for it to happen.