I have heard JB rumors more than once here.

Airline ceo's are just dumb enough to do that. Bidding war for virgin and then end up merging and both taking on the ridiculous debt load.


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It's the recurring hot rumor going around SY right now, having flared up again yesterday.

unless of course an 11th hour TA pops out of mediation.....Road shows...voting...results.....no vote......start the whole process over......re evaluate.....direct negotiations.....mediation.....etc etc....Timeline goes out the window

What does Sun Country have that Alaska can't do on their own?

You don't merge with someone just to merge, there has to be cost savings, strategic advantages, assets.

But merging for a small MSP presence and 13 737s? Makes no sense.

JetBlue is the only logical mate.

Perhaps they want to pull an Atlas type move. Atlas purchased Southern (and Florida West Cargo, or some entity like that) I think in part to re-set and therefore stall contract negotiations. Would an acquisition of Sun Country (probably wouldn't cost all that much) put negotiations back to square one?

It's 23 737's, however they're all leased. It does give them immediate presence in the Midwest without having to start from scratch. And considering we're talking about the same airline that bought Jet America... I think anything is possible. Frankly I was more taken back by their Virgin acquisition than I would be by a Sun Country buyout.
Alaska also just announced two new destinations in/out of MSP; SFO and I think LAX? Just about about every city that SY goes to out of MSP in the continental US, so does Alaska. Lots of overlap. The operations do align a lot more than you think.

Cost savings would be an established base, Mx hangars, 23 planes, crews, ground equipment, a simulator. The assets are all here. It's a major market grab, and a presence in the middle of the country. They need to grow in middle America. AS/VA already has a coast to coast presence, To compete with Delta. I don't think Alaska has the money left to buy JetBlue. Sun country might only cost a couple hundred million not a couple billion.

Make NO mistake. The merger with VX wasn't a merger. It was an acquisition. Acquiring Sun Country is much much different than merging. From an assets standpoint it might make sense to acquire Sun Country.

It would be an acquisition.