JetBlue puts in severance plan in case of takeover move

[Smartass Flyboy]

Anybody know if the B6 Terminal at JFK will have US Customs and Intl' arrival gates ?

LGA777

My quick response was to say no, because generally ICE has certain usage levels needed to justify a FIS, but on the other hand the terminal it replaces had a FIS. Since TWA had a FIS in 5 maybe B6 could get one in the new terminal.

[h2opunk1822]

the way thats gonna be is termanal 5 is gonna be the gates.. there is only going to be 6 more gates then what we have now.. once t5 is done.. they are gonna plow t6 and thats going to be our customs gates

[nwafan20]

As soon as I read that, Virgin America popped in my mind. I can't think of any other airline.

Delta won't touch them, too large of an Airbus fleet, as an all-Boeing fleet that would really screw things up

Southwest would be the LAST to touch them.

Virgin is the only one I can think of.

[Matt Molnar]

There is news today that Branson has received a buyout offer for Virgin Media, the cable-TV arm of his empire, worth an estimated $11 billion. I know this is far-reaching speculation, especially with the U.S.'s foreign ownership rules, but that kind of cash could sure go a long way toward gobbling up an airline.

[Alex T]

Why is everyone so quick to deny SWA away from mergers?

WN has been quoted a few times in admitting to looking at a merge or a take over of an airline.

WN has also been quoted saying they could find a way to merge a non boeing fleet into theirs.

You also have to remember a few of B6's Key Leaders came from SWA.

WN has bought and merged with two airlines before.

Just something to stir the pot with.... ;)

I am not saying I know anything though... :twisted:

Alex

[nwafan20]

Why is everyone so quick to deny SWA away from mergers?

WN has been quoted a few times in admitting to looking at a merge or a take over of an airline.

WN has also been quoted saying they could find a way to merge a non boeing fleet into theirs.

You also have to remember a few of B6's Key Leaders came from SWA.

WN has bought and merged with two airlines before.

Just something to stir the pot with.... ;)

I am not saying I know anything though... :twisted:

Alex

I'm sorry, I just don't see how a 500+ B737 (with 100+ on order) airline could integrate a 100+ A320 operator (with 75 on order) when the B737 and the A32X series are direct competitors. The fleet would not work very well in my mind.

Now if WN were to merge with ATA, I could easily see that. They already have a strong bond together.

[Alex T]

Matt--
My Boy your kinda missing the point, look at the large fleet WN has compared to B6, they could swallow B6 as a whole and get RID OF the airbus fleet. and Still be able to handle it, the 100+ order could replace the A320 fleet and they could use the E190 for regional routes....

Not something totally out of reach... *stirs pot again*

Alex

[hiss srq]

*stirs pot again*

Alex

If you think it would happen though you havent been stirring it you have been smokeing it.

[Alex T]

[quote=hiss srq]

*stirs pot again*

Alex

If you think it would happen though you havent been stirring it you have been smokeing it.[/quote:dc1b1]

I am not saying it is happening, nor am I saying it isn't.

But think of the History WN has done. if WN sees a way to make money in the LONG TERM they will do it.

They may lose a lot of money immediatly but WN can afford to lose money in this state.

WN has bought and merged with a non boeing fleet before, this was Muse Air/Trans Star, a fleet of MD80's, do u see any with WN now?

Nope, WN got rid of them.

Realisitcally a B6 and WN merger may not work, BUT, it is not out of the realm of possibilities, and WN HAS BEEN stated and quoted in agreeing that they could make a non boeing fleet work, and also agreed it has been in the market to look at mergers.

Will it happen, WHO KNOWS?

I don't.

But I am throwing out other facts that could support a WN/B6 merger in what has been done in the History of WN.

Alex

[T-Bird76]

WN didn't merge with Muse air, they bought Muse and it ran as a totally separate division on WN. WN elected to dump everything that was Muse expect for slots, gates, and routes. WN could never dump 100+ A320s it would kill Airbus and totally devalue the price of a new A320. This is exactly what happened to the 717 when AA bought out TWA. AA dumped the 717s airlines that had orders for new 717s canceled the orders, bought the second hand but still new planes and the 717 failed. Not saying the A320 program would collapse but the economic impact to Airbus would be dramatic. Again I don't see WN going after jetBlue, Virgin America yes or even AirTran to some degree. Given jetBlue's poor operational and economic performance the shareholders will be very interested in a white knight to come along and boost the share price.

[hiss srq]

Now that you put it that way let WN buy B6. I would love nothing more than to see Airbus crippled.

[Matt Molnar]

I don't see what the big deal is regarding the mixing of fleets. The way I see it, jetBlue and Southwest could operate as completely separate entities while combining and significantly reducing expensive resources such as HR, customer service, cleaning, fuel, etc.

[T-Bird76]

I don't see what the big deal is regarding the mixing of fleets. The way I see it, jetBlue and Southwest could operate as completely separate entities while combining and significantly reducing expensive resources such as HR, customer service, cleaning, fuel, etc.

The expense is the complete different fleets itself. You're doubling up on MX, training, parts, handling equipment, and staff. Simply combing a few support depts wouldn't save even half the money it would cost to operate such a large and diverse fleet. Look at the trouble U.S is having, both HP and US have virtually the same exact fleet and the issues of combining the two airlines is HUGE!

If you look at the past when Delta bought most of PanAm's assets they dumped the Airbus product within a few short years and only kept what was compatible to their operation.

[Matt Molnar]

The expense is the complete different fleets itself. You're doubling up on MX, training, parts, handling equipment, and staff. Simply combing a few support depts wouldn't save even half the money it would cost to operate such a large and diverse fleet.

You make it sound as if they'd be adding all these expenses without getting anything back, when of course they'd be gaining a whole bunch of revenue from the new routes they'd be operating. It's not as if jetBlue is losing Delta-esqe sums of cash...$22 million in Q1 2007 (due in large part to the winter ice storm debacle), preceded by Q4 2006 where they turned a profit.

jetBlue would benefit significantly from Southwest's superior operations management. Southwest would benefit significantly from jetBlue's superior marketing and brand. Despite their great business success, Southwest still has a stigma as being a the national carrier of trailer trash. Despite their winter PR problems and dreary ontime performance, jetBlue maintains a phenomenally strong brand based in the city with the most critics per square mile in the world: New York. New Yorkers generally don't talk praisingly about Spirit or U.S. or AirTran or Southwest (most native NYers have never flown WN, but midwestern transplants sure have), they give props to jetBlue. And the hubbub about the stranded passengers at JFK was the result not of people disliking jetBlue, but because people were shocked that such a well-liked business could fail so miserably. Southwest would never be able to build such loyalty on their own.

I'm not saying this will ever happen, and there are plenty of reasons why it might not, but these are a couple of reasons why it would make sense.