Originally Posted by Gunfighter

That adds credibility to the rumor Tom B is on the short list for Chief Pilot. I think the BOS NB base is a lock. Only question now is 320, 73N or both?

Originally Posted by GutterGuard

7ER obviously.

/s

Originally Posted by gloopy

IMO we’ve planted the flag in BOS (finally!) and we should just open both. There is clearly more than enough flying in both fleets to cover it. The irrelevant “too close” (“mission” lol) nonsense means nothing. If the flying is there for each airframe, and it is, then bases make sense. JB has robust multi plane bases in NYC and BOS, in FLL and MCO. AK has multiple west coast bases close together. SWA has LA and LAS and PHX plus DAL and HOU. Covering trips with originating crews isn’t the same as projecting air power in a region.

The biggest factor preventing more bases IMO has been to preserve marketing’s ability to rapidly shift almost identical airframes on a dime for tiny upstream or downstream logistical savings. As both fleets continue to grow, that flexibility begins to exist only on the margins and not in the bulk of the flying.

While new categories can drive training churn initially, more base choices tends to stabilize and probably reduce training in the long run, as there is less incentive to chase things when more pilots are “locals”. And the company has clearly figured out how to minimize that initial churn anyway.

It doesn’t have to be either/or. There is clearly more than enough flying for both there. So the only reasons to open or not open NB bases there would be hotel costs and, more importantly, origination crew reliability vs panicked RR shuffling.

Originally Posted by gloopy

IMO we’ve planted the flag in BOS (finally!) and we should just open both. There is clearly more than enough flying in both fleets to cover it. The irrelevant “too close” (“mission” lol) nonsense means nothing. If the flying is there for each airframe, and it is, then bases make sense. JB has robust multi plane bases in NYC and BOS, in FLL and MCO. AK has multiple west coast bases close together. SWA has LA and LAS and PHX plus DAL and HOU. Covering trips with originating crews isn’t the same as projecting air power in a region.

Originally Posted by iaflyer

This post shows exactly why we shouldn't have a NB base in Boston.

We make significantly more money than Jetblue (hasn't made a profit in YEARS - last time was 2019!).

Alaska made a profit margin of under 1% in 2025.
Southwest made a profit margin of 1.7% in 2025.

And us.. we made a profit margin of 7.9% in 2025.

Please don't compare how was should have a NB base in Boston "because other airlines do"

Originally Posted by iaflyer

This post shows exactly why we shouldn't have a NB base in Boston.

We make significantly more money than Jetblue (hasn't made a profit in YEARS - last time was 2019!).

Alaska made a profit margin of under 1% in 2025.
Southwest made a profit margin of 1.7% in 2025.

And us.. we made a profit margin of 7.9% in 2025.

Please don't compare how was should have a NB base in Boston "because other airlines do"

Originally Posted by saturn

It's lazy logic to assume due to our profitability, all practices and decison making are correct. Just as much as it is lazy to assume one thing working at another airline automatically makes sense for another, like you're alluding to.

Opening more bases or less is a rounding error on our overall enterprise annual margin.

Originally Posted by iaflyer

This post shows exactly why we shouldn't have a NB base in Boston.

We make significantly more money than Jetblue (hasn't made a profit in YEARS - last time was 2019!).

Alaska made a profit margin of under 1% in 2025.
Southwest made a profit margin of 1.7% in 2025.

And us.. we made a profit margin of 7.9% in 2025.

Please don't compare how was should have a NB base in Boston "because other airlines do"

Originally Posted by gloopy

Your POV would be outstandingly accurate…if…pilot bases were a massive, almost primary, reason for the profit disparity you mention. I don’t think that’s a reasonable overall all take.

Instead I think it’s 99.7812% hub build outs including a main hub in the most efficient airport in the galaxy, AmEx, MRO, Trainer (hoping to trigger ppl with that one but it’s true regardless), HVC rewards, the overall network, and yes even customer service, jaded pilot IROP comments notwithstanding, etc. Us not having a NB base in BOS is not what keeps us from mirroring the numbers you mentioned. I hope you don’t actually believe that and were just being facetious.

FWIW the 0.2188% that marginal pilot basing (yes my math adds up) has little to do with overall profits, but if a base makes sense, that small percentage would be higher than the present position. I think more than enough flying is or will soon be there for one or two NB bases there. Even when you allow for some nimble close in marketing moves.

The argument of not that long ago used to be “but they’d have to have a CP and V-files!!!” But that argument actually made a little more sense than “we can’t have any base closer to existing bases if less profitable airlines have bases that close to their other bases.”

Unless you’re saying that if we had a BOS NB base last year it would have lost us 6B lol.