Originally Posted by 11atsomto

Ahh yess the omnipresent WB rumors, been here as long as I have (5 years). I like you am not very bullish on WB acquisition. Some believe it some don't. A bar graph of those who believe relative to years of service is high initially, then descends on a steep gradient sometime between 1 and 2 years. This may also explain for why attrition is so high for that group. They realize it's not going to happen, so they go to someplace where it will.

First off the range of 321XLR enables them to do a lot that usually would be considered WB space. Florida markets to UK, Spain, France almost inexorable. JFK and BOS deeper into Europe like Italy Germany, Athenos (or wherever the latest Brooklynite Hipster destination du jour is). They can do all this without taking the capital risk of the WB.

On the other hand, historically a big part of B6's international strategy is VFR (no not 1200 squak...visiting friends and relatives)....and we are like numero uno for the Tri-State Dominican diaspora and do very well with other Caribbean countries. So why not do that for other diaspora?
At least from what I see....most international folk now are coming from Asia and the Indian subcontinent places that need wide bodies. However I think the more fertile land for that crop is in the Pacific time zone, our Eastern time zone soil won't bear as many fruits. In addition due to relations with Russia/war in Ukraine, the polar routes remain closed to US carriers. So NY to Asia is less accessible and not fuel efficient.