I wanna know that. I need new parts for my AR build.

 

Classy timing.

 

It's just a gun... I can shoot as many rounds with my handgun as I can an ar. Honestly I'm building it as my hunting rifle. Not many guns are a better first hunting gun for kids with lack of recoil etc.most AR guys wouldn't like it with a more classic scope and the color of it.

 

A well built strike fund is a more powerful weapon.

 

yep, the ar is what I'll do for fun when we are on strike. Got some coyotes that need to be thinned out. I'm actually looking forward to the strike now. (Kidding)

 

Quick question, I don't work for B6, but from an outsider looking in I have a question. Is there a reason you guys don't fly to many of the midwestern airports STL, IND, CMH, CVG, MCI, and until recently MSP? And as a follow up, do you guys ever expect to see service to those cities being added?

 

JetBlue is obsessed with profit margins. It believes it can make more profit by flying to the Caribbean or transcon instead of to the Midwest.

Part of that reason I believe is related to the high CASM of the 190. It seems JetBlue doesn't like to fly that plane on stage lengths much longer than 1,000nm. I've heard the 320 has a lower CASM at that distance, which is probably why MSP is getting a 320 right out the gate.

Perhaps we'll see more Midwest growth as Boston grows and becomes more heavily focused on business traffic. A new, lower CASM aircraft to replace the 190s would also help the business case for those markets.

 

I think I remember RH saying in the pocket session video last month that IND is their next target city in the Midwest.

 

Marty was asked about IND by a flight attendant, I believe, and he said something to the effect of "it's on the list", whatever that means.

 

In my opinion, I think they are scared of season underperformances exacerbated by extreme competition from the upper and lower ends of the industry. The majors can throw RJs to get service to places Waterloo, IA and other similar places. JB can't really even throw an E-190 at it because it costs a lot to operate. Maybe with electric airplanes it will become more feasible. The other problem I see is that JB doesn't do a huge amount of analysis on routes. I'm sure they have the WOPR working on route strategy day and night but I have my doubts about their algorithms. That being said, JB is a point to point non-stop airline, mostly. I personally think this is a big achilles heel. Our network sucks. Unless you are going to either JFK, BOS, MCO, FLL, LGB, or one of its out and back locations, you can forget about JB. For example, if you want to get from MSY to PBI, you have to go all the way up north to JFK. This is absolutely disastrous to our network. Why fly JB and have an 8 hr adventure when you can fly on SWA, AA, DL and go either non-stop or through ATL?

I don't know if those cities will ever get service but I think we desperately need it. We have a pretty big hole in our network... anything that is not the east or west coast. If they add IND, it might be JFK-IND-JFK or something like that. I heard from a friend that in a recent email they mentioned improving maintenance related schedule disruptions by having more out-and-backs. I personally would add these cities and have a more SWA style route structure. I think JB is constrained by two things: 1) they want to save every penny possible so they want to avoid contract maintenance outside of JB bases, 2) they fly their airplanes 24 hrs/day leaving very little "slack" in the system. It's a mathematical act of sorcery to determine the proper amount of slack in a system where you minimize waste and maximize profit. I personally think that BJ has just enough slack to allow for minor delays but they have mathematically convinced themselves that designing enough slack to deal with IROPs is a waste. In other words, if a snowstorm comes through, or a hurricane, or other large scale disruptions occur, they would rather let the system crash because the overall cost is less than designing a more real-time resilient scheduling protocol.