Spirit Future
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if they go out of business because this merger did not happen? How can the judge say that this will be good for competition?
Truly believe Spirit is in big trouble now.
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6 thoughts on “Spirit Future”
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Chapter 7 or merger. Tax payer gets beat again by the blues. Chapter 7
It’s too bad that the Worcester Chamber didn’t testify in the court case. They could testify that ORH has been successful with “recruit”ing and “retain”ing. But what the judge and DOJ didn’t understand is “incubate”ion. DOJ’s argument was that consolidation would stifle competition and as a result, fares go up. Spirit/JetBlue offered to pull out/reduce flights in markets where combined, they would dominate. That means there would be an opportunity to backfill. After all, both airlines must have been doing well in those markets, right? So, what happens next? Glad you asked. Historically, low cost, and ultra low cost carriers jump on opportunities like mergers to fill the low cost voids. Way back when, that was JetBlue and Spirit. That’s how they grew. Today? So, what would have happened if those offerings that JetBlue and Spirit made to close the deal have actually occurred? You got it. Today’s Ultra Low Cost carriers like Breeze and Avelo who are waiting on the sidelines will step in with their ultra low prices. That’s the natural progression in the airline industry. So, in reality, the Biden administration’s logic of restricting threats to competition is actually stifling competition by building “barriers of entry” for new entrants. I’m sorry, but isn’t that supporting oligopolies? Business 101. I am dumbfounded why that argument was not made by the defense, especially from 2 airlines that not only succeeded in that environment, but there are already ultra low cost carriers eager to back fill them with their low fares. What am I missing?
Bring it back locally? Part of the concessions Spirit/JetBlue offered included Boston. So, they could have given up those markets in BOS but they could still preserve their customer base by repositioning a few of those flights at ORH. So, why in the world would this current administration support the decision when it would have actually grown jobs at BOS and ORH, AND stimulate more competition? That’s a head scratcher!
JB Appeals the ruling. Go Fetterman!
JetBlue is making some route decisions, yesterday they anounced termination of Baltimore routes, and some west coast routes as well. Hopefully ORH get more routes. The flights have been at 90% capacity. JB is going to play another hand and will probably be the last hand for them to play to be relevant. JB is going to try and funnel as many passengers they can to Logan and JFK to expand there passenger loads to Europe in the 320xl mint service. JB may want to move short routes to Worcester. A few more seasonal flight to WestPalm beach may work, Puerto Rico would be a slam dunk, midwest flight do well,, or bring back flight to JFK.
Seems like JetBlue is focusing more on profitable routes to try and make money again. Lot of route cuts were because they weren’t making money. Seems like JetBlue is focused in on that and the routes making money. I don’t expect anything to be removed from Worcester considering FLL and MCO loads lately have been extremely good (85%+ with a lot of flights selling out) and Fort Myers is only until April anyways. I would not be surprised if this isn’t the only routes being cut and if JetBlue slows down expanding in other parts of the US. They’ve lost over $100M last quarter and fourth quarter isn’t looking too bright either.
Worcester should be fine but if JetBlue is going to expand here, they’ll need to bring their own crews most likely and be very careful with where they choose to fly too. JFK should be the last option for them and Tampa should be #1. If you ever look at comments on the airports Facebook post, a lot of people mention a flight to Tampa. While West Palm Beach is a great alternative, you can drive the 45 minutes or take brightline from FLL and go up there.
January 30th is when we will get data on Q4 for JetBlue and how it went. It’s expected to be released before the stock market opens (according to NASDAQ’s website) so it’ll be something to watch. Q4 will really show if JetBlue is going to plan on being careful or staying loose with what they’ll do.
This is just a prediction but since they lost money in Q3, my guess is they’ll probably have lost money in Q4 as well because October-December other than thanksgiving and Christmas weeks are dead times especially since not many people travel in October. Q1 2024 has a potential to earn money with MLK weekend being a long weekend, college students going back to school, plus February break to the end of March always being busy with school vacations and spring break but not holding my breath on it. I hope I’m wrong with the losing money prediction but I don’t think I will be. If that prediction is right, more routes will probably be cut. JetBlue mentioned they want to focus on leisure destinations so flights from Boston to DC and LaGuardia would be the first to lose frequency (they have 13 trips to DC and 7-8 on average to Laguardia). Be interesting to see the new plan for 2024 for the airline