Hahahahahahaha...

That's perfect.

 

Not a chance in hell. The FAA process alone would take longer, and then we would need to "Southwest" them and completely modify every single procedure because we think we know a better way. In addition, I think what people don't realize about WB flying is the logistics involved. The passengers are the easy part; it's everything else you need in place to make the operation worthwhile. Heck, we would need to train our ground crews on completely new machines, loading techniques, and software; establish larger cargo and food and beverage contracts; work our pilot and fa contracts to accept them; change our gates; and on and on and on.

Flying them is easy; making them profitable and successful is another animal altogether.

 

Easier to do what Alaska did and just buy the setup already and integrate it. Nobody left in the US that is small enough that has WB that will also pass DOJ scrutiny. Took us 3 years to figure out ETOPS….

 

Agreed, we really missed the boat letting Alaska buy them. I think we will probably get them at some point, WBs that is; however, it won't be in the next year or two, as mentioned above. Easier to go smaller and use partnerships to handle the WB stuff, or go with something that has legs, XLR, for example, to accomplish almost the same thing, minus the cargo money.

 

GK would say Alaska and HAL where both to much money. I guess when he sells his house he puts it on the market for what the buyer wants to pay, not what the market will bear

Finally this place has direct.


As far as the DOJ, mergers use to be up to the DOJ, now one man makes the big merger decisions

 

Even if the "One Man" can make that choice, who would it even be? The only one that makes any sense would be Breeze. JB/NK have way too much debt, and NK has way too much overlap, so we get nothing but another fleet that we don't really want. We need the XLR Bus, not the 320 basic. Perhaps if orders could be converted, but again, just so much baggage and debt with both of them, I see this as very unlikely. I would also argue the Big 3 are out of the question for pretty much every reason. Alliagent is its own animal, and Alaska/Hawaii are off the table now. The only other options are regionals, of which Envoy/PSA/Piedmont are all AA; Skywest has deals with them all, so they won't be purchased. Republic, maybe? Not sure who owns them anymore or who's flying them.

At the end of the day, I think we are the only ones who can save ourselves. Our growth needs to be organic, as well as our fleet changes. The only option I really see would be Breeze, which would allow us to enter a new type, low-route overlap, access to a new customer base coming out of smaller airports, and a large order book. What do I know, though? I just fly these things; this is all so far above any of our pay grade, it's comical.

 

Avelo has 50 firm & 50 options on E-195 E2s. Hmmmmm…

 

Honestly forgot all about them, but certainly an option.

 

321 XLR does not have the range to connect many of our bases to EU. My bet is on 787…but what do I know.

This place is changing. You can t stay relevant in 2026 by only flying to LBB. At least they got that.

They got a few rallies scheduled next months. We should know more by then.

 

The rumor I heard was we did offer to buy Breeze. Our offer was lower than what they wanted though.