Originally Posted by
bluespoon
Probably a lot. JB went after us hard early on but they’ve basically given up and can’t compete. Also we offer non stop flights with a more efficient operation, can’t really compete with that. As far as JB and Breeze merging, It’s hard to guage how Neeleman still feels about the whole JB thing, you’d think he wants to preside over JB once more but I just don’t see it. They seem to be focused on creating a new thing with Breeze. The A220 is valuable efficiency wise but the operational reliability is just not there yet, we’re going to operate a fleet of Learjets to support them with parts and crew, that’s how bad it is.
Agreed, I dont see Neeleman returning to JB in some glorious fashion, maybe they merge and he has a symbolic seat on the BOD but nothing more. It really comes down to the financial backers of Breeze and how their ROI is looking and how much longer they want to finance the "startup phase" of MX. Could JB approach them and make an offer to cash them out? Jetblue's entire identity now is East Coast Leisure Airline. They need to defend that segment furiously or risk continued irrelevance.
I think a large part of the Breeze network wouldn't work with JB, but this is more about consolidating in the region. JB could benefit from some sort of mid-atlantic base that Breeze operates, probably RDU as a front runner. No doubt the operational efficiency is a struggle, but that could get better with more network consolidation instead of smaller bases spread around (RIC/ORF/RDU/CHS). I hadn't heard they will be flying Lears, that's a pretty big sign things are terrible operationally...
Originally Posted by
pilotpayne
When did we go after breeze?
I'd argue stuff like VRB wouldn't happen without Breeze going first. A lot of the growth in secondary NE/FL markets would be because they are sniping traffic that used to be more loyal to JB.