Originally Posted by
Roy Biggins
I will say, it looks unlikely that JetBlue will merge with anyone. Joanna and MSG seemed to have convinced the board that there’s a path forward as a VFR stand alone, east coast carrier. Good F’ing luck to us. If there was an interested party, it would likely be announced within a year. A change of admin is coming. Even if Trump runs for a 3rd term (given his ego, it’s entirely possible), it’s unlikely he’ll win it.
As things stand today I’d say this seems correct. However there’s only so long you’ll be allowed to run a company in the red before a management shakeup is called for.
I agree that Joanna and MSG are not the merger management team. That’s not what they want and it’s not what they’re here for. They are the stop the bleeding and reverse the trend of losses team.
Unlike us pilots top management is temporary and so are the strategic pieces moving around the chessboard. What’s true today may not (will likely not) be true next week, quarter, or year.
Our current managers are doing a halfway decent job of stopping the losses and there’s a chance we may even break even in the not too distant future. Does that change the calculus of a potential dance partner? I don’t know and neither does anyone on this thread.
One thing I think those of us here at JetBlue are fairly certain of is that even if we are profitable it will never be significant profit margins and that there is no long term viability in an east coast centric, VFR airline. There are three mega carriers, one domestic powerhouse and Alaska on the way up due to their strategic merger.
Nothing is imminent but it almost has to be merge, be acquired or eventually die on the vine.
We need scale and a more robust network. The way things are today, that’ll never happen with organic growth.