Again, JetBlue is not buying Spirit’s operation, they are buying its staff and assets, the value of which have not changed. Spirit could be profiting massively or hemorrhaging money and it would not make any difference as the business model will cease to exist. If you want to argue that grounded NEO’s would be less valuable, a good portion of the fleet would need to be grounded to refit and repaint at some point anyway, and the recompense from Pratt for the operational impacts would transfer to JetBlue anyway.

 

Agreed it is an asset /aircraft required staffing /training center purchase nothing more.

 

Correct. This deal is about pilots and airplanes, everything else is gravy. Also one less ULCC and hideous yellow liveries is a public service.

 

Wasn't the main point of the deal to get western routes and slots?

 

No, JB has been pretty open about needing planes/pilots so they can expand. Sure some of that expansion will probably be west of BUF, but NK doesn't hold some sacred route authority or valuable slot portfolio out west. JB isn't interested in the NK customer base, brand, or business model.

 

Yep. Planes, real estate, and people. None of that has changed. If JB backs out they risk spirit finding another partner, restructuring and going it alone, or getting chopped into pieces of which JB may only be able to buy a fraction of what they want with the balance being split among other carriers.

If the DOJ wins both Spirit and JB are in very dire straits. Spirit more so than JB though. Needless to say I’m updating my logbook when I thought I’d be retiring from this airline. The next 2 months will be a big turning point.

The DOJ needs to take their ball and go home and just leave us alone.

 

The interest rates are in the the Bridge Facility.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...7786dex991.htm

This one may have been superseded? I can't remember the date of the most recent one. This one quotes SOFR plus between 3% and 4.5%. So somewhere around 8 - 10% as of now, but it will fluctuate.

This is just the bridge to get through the first year. I guess that gives them time to negotiate longer term financing? I dunno how these transactions usually work.

 

Just to be clear, there are only 3 slot controlled airports in the US.

JFK, LGA, and DCA.

The issue is gate access/infrastructure in non-slot controlled airports.

 

With the $141 million loss (probably higher) in Q3 which includes August and September there is plenty of room to be concerned. B6 is posting losses 3 out of the 4 quarters. B6 is having the financial phone call via web as a listen only, so no questions allowed from investors. In three months B6 has lost 66% of share value which says the investors do not trust or have realized B6 is full of it and they are leaving the building. B6 always blames the weather, the NE, the E-190 and the everything else except the lack of competent people running the show and the horrible operations B6 runs. What load factor does B6 need to have to make a profit? The planes are almost full which means B6 needs about 100% load factor to make money. Historically airlines need to have a load factor of 60% to make a profit. The story that we operate out of the NE is old news and B6 decided to operate out of the NE so figure it out. All carriers operate out of the NE so B6 is not alone. The E190 excuse is also old news and those that are paid for should be used until there are enough A220s with the major mechanical issues with this airplane solved. Probably the most important thing is that B6 needs real new management and exterminate many unnecessary management positions to become lean and efficient.

 

The 60% load factor to break even is a very old rule of thumb based on an entirely different revenue management system. Irrelevant now for any large airline.