Originally Posted by pilotpayne

Yes and what a fine siege it is.
You are correct 321lrs across the pond. It’s a fairly safe bet we aren’t talking 330s ot anything. Europe especially London is one of the top destinations we are missing and with the plane and the location of JFK and BOS it should do just fine.

It will be a mint (our business class) heavy plane so that will be the big focus.

What you will need to continue the “siege” is more gates. Even after SWA leaves you will be gate limited.

Originally Posted by Skyward

SWA is leaving? I haven’t heard that

Originally Posted by Skyward

SWA is leaving? I haven’t heard that

Originally Posted by Fredturbo

Agreed. DL will mop the floor with them.

Originally Posted by PilotJ3

They are moving from those gates. I believe it’s 3-4 more gates for us.

Originally Posted by gloopy

Absolutely its 321LR's, which is not going to be a game changing plane by any means; simply a semi-viable, medium CASM option. I only mentioned the C Series because some (from the perspective of all airlines) seem to think its going to be some game changing "long and thin" transformative paradigm shifter and its simply not going to be to any significant extent and even if it was, NE to EU isn't long and thin anyway. Regarding the 321LR, the hope is to capitalze on the higher RASM from FC/Mint, however to any extent that's successful it will only further drive up the costs for the rest, which are already highly competitive and extremely fare sensitive as it is, especially when attatched to a much smaller network for mileage rewards etc.

Infinite growth is an irrestibile temptation for any airline, especially smaller so called "LCC" ones. Looking at the route maps of larger competitors as an all you can eat buffet is just going to happen. Managers simply can't not do it.

The goal for the legacies isn't to crush the LCC's into oblivion. Far from it. They acually want (and to some extent need) them to exist to an extent enough to satisfy the regulators/politicians. SWA in ATL has been one of the best things to happen to DL in a long time for example. But spamming hundreds of thousands (to millions) of seats a year into already saturated TA markets means something will have to give once it gets to beyond a token amount.

MaxJet and Eos went after the legacies when they were at their most vulnerable and bleeding billions and shedding markets as fast as they could find parking spots in the desert and sim time for the displacements, all the while they were desperatly trying to stave off a massive assault from the LCC's domesically. Battles had to be picked and clearly the closest aligator to the boat was the threat of the loss of prime international flying vs the $59 fare to Florida. Times have changed and legacy CEO's and BoD's have a much higher incentive to vigorously compete in all markets, not to mention the LCC cost differential has narrowed substantially anyway.

A small amount will be yielded to the LCC's for political reasons, but beyond that the fangs will come out and any that try infinite growth mode with TA flying (especially premium products) will force a opposite and disproportionate reaction from established and highly invested legacies because they will have no other choice. This isn't 2002 anymore. The days of surrendering marketshare to LCC's out of fear and desperation to survive are long over.

Originally Posted by Tailhookah

Great post and spot on. Time will tell. I’m sure B6 will “wow” some and Delta might even lose a few biz pax... the cheap ones who aren’t trying to get good FF status. B6 has zero chance of woo-ing any HVC’s away. They’re too loyal to the program and vice versa. But when B6 cancels one of those flights and your new biz traveler either has to coach it home a day late or shell out big money 💰 to ride on Delta, you’ll never see them again. 321lr... new designator. A321tarj. Trans Atlantic Regional Jet. It makes the 757-200 look yuuuuuge.

Originally Posted by PilotJ3

They are moving from those gates. I believe it’s 3-4 more gates for us.