Originally Posted by
GPullR
At least somebody gets it. Mergers have huge expenses, losses will go through the roof for a few years minimum. Will burn through cash at a very high rate. Still haven't heard a single financially sound plan for this new bigger airline. Current management is your demise. If you can't make money in the best quarters while the big 4 are, you are in deep trouble.
Until you prove me otherwise, I don't believe you know much about JB or the specific challenges it has faced or is facing.
Now, as for the big four airlines, and the profits you say they are now making, those airlines which use their scale as both a way to attract high value customers, and as a weapon against small airlines, those big four are a product of... Wait for it... Very costly and expensive mergers that burned cash and racked up debt...
It sucks that JB is gonna have to go through this process, but the big four all had to go through this process to achieve the scale they have today. Staying small and remaining at the end of the big fours gun barrels isn't a great option. This industry isn't forgiving to those companies that don't look 5-10 years into the future and only do what's easiest/cheapest for today. JB can't control the macro-environment, and certainly there are scenarios that could overwhelm the plan, but otherwise I don't think staying small and independent is a better path forward. Although it's still possible that independent path is forced on us.
I listened to the JBLU earnings call yesterday, and as someone making the comments you are making, I can only assume you did as well. So I wonder what you thought about the tone and demeanor on the call of both JB executives and the analysts that asked questions and made comments? What did their demeanor signal to you about the current state of the company and the investor analysts concerns with the plan?