I've heard Nk is going to pull out of fll and reallocate a/c to domestic markets. I get the feeling Nk is not interested in fare wars

 

Agreed. I've heard this sentiment as well. There are tons of places NK can make money without fighting in FLL. Spirit has no loyalty to a given hub (which is a good thing in their case), unlike JetBlue which has been investing a lot of time and money into FLL.

 

Problem is the legacies will go after Spirit in a big way. No way they will let them survive, ala SWA the past 30 years. Watch the legacy earnings announcements the next few weeks. They are no longer struggling and will attack every potential threat.

 

That's just plain funny right there!!! You need to read up on business pans and understand marketing to the fullest before you spew this.

 

I know, rite? "Marketing to the fullest?" Lol....

 

Based on investor presentations, JB sees growing international flying as where the $ is to be had. Spirit, on the other hand, sees the $ is to be made domestically. Part of that could be JB has a much more developed domestic market, and so there's not much 'low hanging fruit' for their business model in the US, while Spirit, with a lower cost structure and a more developed international market, sees the 'low hanging fruit' to be had in the US. I'm not sure just watching the FLL market is a good representation of the strength of the two players. As it is, Spirit was the #1 carrier in FLL in 2011, but JB was top dog in 2012.

Another angle to watch in the FLL market is the airport infrastructure. Spirit operates out of the 'international' concourse now, while JB has to tug all their aircraft over to their concourse after an international arrival. That international terminal is due to be torn down, and a gate shuffle will ensue. Whoever ends up with the new 'international gates' or gates closest to the international gates when the concourse gets rebuilt will be telling of the future plans for FLL.

The real horse to watch is Southwest. They're the #3 airline in FLL, and they don't fly internationally at all . . . yet. An international 'focus city', gates right next to the new south runway - its an intriguing thought.

 

Actually, I think the plan is to build a connector between the International Terminal and the JetBlue Terminal to prevent the customs shuffle, isn't the construction already happening?

Agreed to see what happens with SWA, they are starting to fly the old AirTran Caribbean routes, so it will be interesting to see how FLL developes for SWA...regardless it will still be much cheaper to fly to the Caribbean, Central and South America on JetBlue/Spirit or Southwest than American due to the crazy expensive Miami Fees.

 

Beware the hubris Spirit folks.

Just because some think there may be bumpy roads ahead doesn't mean we don't understand anything. A profitable legacy in attack mode is nothing to blow off.

A lot of these responses remind me of the recession proof boasts of Netjets guys in 2008. Nothing in aviation is set in stone.

 

I believe Spirit should not be underestimated and very well could be "the next SWA"

 

I think that's a concern, but even at triple it's size, is a 150 airplane airline really that much of a threat to an airline the size of United, Delta, AA? I still think that would put Spirits market share at a fraction of the big boys........

Anyway, time will tell. I think the legacies bigger threat is the ME airlines and their international flying, not so much FLL-LBE, lol