Originally Posted by Clear Right (Post 1069414)

Interesting article: What I glean from this article is B6 has the lowest Ex-Fuel CASM in the industry, the highest revenue growth in the industry with a superior customer service product and now one of the strongest airline brands. Oh, and by the way the most productive pilot group in the industry, that is compensated quite well. Currently 5th among all passenger airlines: http://web.mit.edu/airlinedata/www/2...0PERSONNEL.htm All of this while remaining 100% Non-Union. The most modern and fuel efficient fleet in the industry. Sounds to me like they are doing everything right over at JetBlue. Sounds like the SWA of not too long ago.

Why would the Board of Directors want to merge or fragment with the huge upside potential of JetBlue. All of this done during the worst economic times of the Airline Industry, imagine these numbers under a robust economy. Only way I see a B6 tie-up, while I agree they are a very attractive target is through some type of hostile takeover with a huge premium on their stock price. Don't forget that Lufthansa owns a large stake in the company and would like to keep it that way and they are very well financed.

Originally Posted by shiznit (Post 1069443)

Ask the guys in my crashpad what they think of a "handbook" instead of a legal CBA. The ones on reserve get hosed regularly by scheds., bending the rules however they need to just to get "meat in a seat".

Originally Posted by Clear Right (Post 1069414)

Interesting article: What I glean from this article is B6 has the lowest Ex-Fuel CASM in the industry, the highest revenue growth in the industry with a superior customer service product and now one of the strongest airline brands. Oh, and by the way the most productive pilot group in the industry, that is compensated quite well. Currently 5th among all passenger airlines. All of this while remaining 100% Non-Union. The most modern and fuel efficient fleet in the industry. Sounds to me like they are doing everything right over at JetBlue. Sounds like the SWA of not too long ago.

Why would the Board of Directors want to merge or fragment with the huge upside potential of JetBlue. All of this done during the worst economic times of the Airline Industry, imagine these numbers under a robust economy. Only way I see a B6 tie-up, while I agree they are a very attractive target is through some type of hostile takeover with a huge premium on their stock price. Don't forget that Lufthansa owns a large stake in the company and would like to keep it that way and they are very well financed.

Originally Posted by johnso29 (Post 1069494)

AirTran was also a low labor cost, money making, sucessful airline and they got hitched to SWA. Just because an airline is profitable and successful doesn't mean they aren't looking for a dance partner.

Just food for thought.

Originally Posted by Flyby1206 (Post 1069526)

If I were a big carrier (UA, DL, AA, US, WN) I would want to let jetblue run on their own until they reached their peak and couldnt grow/expand/take market share from competitors. Once they reach the top then the bidding war will begin. I still think B6 has a pretty good amount of growth ahead before we hit the top. That is when things will start to unfold in my opinion.

Airtran in ATL was a good example. They pretty much reached their max growth in ATL, and then SWA snatched them up.

B6 is at their max in JFK, but will stand to gain some ground in LGA/DCA with new slots that will come available. More growth in BOS (100 flights currently, heading towards 150) and a few more destinations in the Caribbean to reach.

Originally Posted by forgot to bid (Post 1069539)

I could see the justification for acquiring an airline once it has maxed out it's growth.

See, Airline 101 says: Merge then Shrink, Merge then Shrink, Merge then Shrink.

So you want to merge and shrink, not grow. So max out and then shrink from there, don't merge and be forced to grow, that's just crazy talk right there.

Originally Posted by forgot to bid (Post 1069539)

I could see the justification for acquiring an airline once it has maxed out it's growth.

See, Airline 101 says: Merge then Shrink, Merge then Shrink, Merge then Shrink.

So you want to merge and shrink, not grow. So max out and then shrink from there, don't merge and be forced to grow, that's just crazy talk right there.

Originally Posted by Flyby1206 (Post 1069550)

Forgot to throw a BK in there every few cycles!