What do you think? Buy the whole airline and merge it in or buy some of their planes or none of the above?

 

I hope none of the above...

 

Why would United buy JetBlue???

 

What prompted your "going to buy" JetBlue question post?

 

Evidence supporting:

UA pulled out of JFK, so there is greatly diminished direct "overlap". Considering that UAL and CAL mutually did the same thing with mainline flying in the year prior to the official merger announcement it could appear that the pieces are being moved around with an "end state" in mind.

Evidence against:

AK and VA apparently can't get their merger past DOJ/DOT...at least in the present form as the deal keeps getting delayed. If AK can't get the gov't to sign off on their deal, how on earth can UAL (or DAL or AA) buy anybody?

-and-

What assets does JB have that UAL could just not buy for a few billion dollars cheaper without the baggage of a merger?? (JBLU's market cap is currently $5.66B)

 

The company has stated on several occasions they want a 16000+ pilot force and can't buy all the narrowbody lift they want fast enough. The short cut is buying someone.

 

Rumor mill prompted me to initiate this thread.

 

If the target of an 18,000 (or 16k) pilot airline is serious, then buying another carrier is probably the only way to go. B6 is probably a better fit than Spirit. Virgin America might be a better choice, but Alaska already snapped them up.

Their Mint 321s would be a good replacement for the PS757s on the same routes.

Achieve market dominance in NYC. Plus eliminate a low fare competitor.

Instant fleet expansion with 160 A320/321 aircraft plus 60 'SNB' E190s.

MCO hub, with Caribbean and Latin American focus.

B6 is thinking about joining the star alliance, and LH owns a chunk of them, so there is convergence already.

If it can be done, Wall Street probably has a multi-orgasmic response.



I heard this rumor last week. I filed it under 'wishful thinking'. But it does have merit, if the price is right, and the anti-trust costs aren't too high.

 

Right the 130 A320s just drop right in, 33 A321s, and over a hundred more airbus orders between the two. As far as the 84 E190 - 100 seaters I dont know .....somebody else can figure that out.

 

Hawaiian =)