JetBlue TrueBlue - Jetblue entertaining Mexico expansion

The news of a recent meeting between Tourism Secretary of Mexico and Dave Barger - Jetblue CEO - has yet to make it to the news outlets here so we'll have to do with the report in Spanish:

http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/prensa/?contenido=36674

The meeting was held June 27th, in Mexico I believe, where they discussed possible city pairs, including:

JFK - Guadalajara(GDL) no current non-stop
MCO - Guadalajara(GDL) no current ns, conx on DL,CO,AA
MCO - Monterrey(MTY) no current ns, conx on DL, CO, AA
IAD - Mexico City(MEX) currently served 1d by UA
JFK - Toluca(TLC) no current ns, conx on CO in IAH

The Toluca route was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. The city is centrally located in the country about 40 miles from Mexico City and the capital of its state. It is the fifth-largest metroploitan area in the country. Jetblue was mentioned in the report to be interested in opening doors to partnerships with the 3 LCC's that serve approx. 30 different destinations in Mexico. Is the NY Mexican community sizeable enough to make this work?

Surprised that GDL, given its size(2cd largest metro), has no nonstop service from NYC which makes me wonder again if NY has enough of a Mexican community.

Not sure of the size of the Mexican community in MCO either and both routes are a surprise to me. Still think that MCO is going to see European airline connections to Latin American destinations in range of the 320.

Interesting competition possibilty against UA out of IAD.

Good to see that Jetblue is still searching out ways to diversify their network.

I've heard that TLC is a viable alternative to MEX for many folks who live out that way, similar to HPN/SWF v. JFK.

An ethnic community drives a certain number of flights, but so do business travelers and economics. And the NYC Mexican community is big, but nowhere near as big as the PR or DR communities, at least from what I've seen. I have no real numbers to back up that assertion.

How long before DL jumps in the action for the possible nonstops out of JFK?

What about PVR, SJD, MZT had no currently nonstop from JFK. :confused: I'm sure if B6 will considering for which specific routes is taken from JFK or MCO. I think it could be work out very well during 3 or 4x weekly flight from JFK-PVR, MZT, SJD and others Mexican cities. It will be great opportunities for leisure & business traveler.

And the NYC Mexican community is big, but nowhere near as big as the PR or DR communities, at least from what I've seen. I have no real numbers to back up that assertion.

have been curious about this (why is Mexican food ubiquitous in Chicago but scarce in NYC?), so went and looked up Census 2000 (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/index.html) (yes, old) figures:

US states with Mexican population over 150,000 (in 000s)
USA 20641
CA 8456
TX 5072
IL 1144
AZ 1066
CO 451
FL 364
NM 330
WA 330
NV 286
GA 275
NY 261
NC 247
MI 221
OR 215
IN 153

NYC itself is the country's largest Latino city, with 2.16 million Latino residents (vs. 1.72M in LA) but has a Mexican population that rivals, say, Santa Ana's. however, NYC has the largest South American population and second-largest Central American population in the USA. I don't know how useful an onward connections from Mexico to points further south would be -- although it would be pretty hard to give CO a run for its money on its EWR-Central America nonstops.

I've heard that TLC is a viable alternative to MEX for many folks who live out that way, similar to HPN/SWF v. JFK.

An ethnic community drives a certain number of flights, but so do business travelers and economics. And the NYC Mexican community is big, but nowhere near as big as the PR or DR communities, at least from what I've seen.

Seems like TLC would be a viable alternative, maybe not so much for business travel, but I'm just guessing. It would be even more viable if they were able to market it as a conx. to any one of 30 cities in Mexico and probably draw a good mix of tourist/nationals.

The JFK-MEX market is covered by DL, MX and AM(Aeromexico) nonstop.

I question the ability to serve GDL and MTY with a significant business share. These two markets would seem to be more suited to nationals in the case of GDL and a more equal mix of nationals/tourists in the case of MTY.



have been curious about this (why is Mexican food ubiquitous in Chicago but scarce in NYC?), so went and looked up Census 2000 (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/index.html) (yes, old) figures:

US states with Mexican population over 150,000 (in 000s)
USA 20641
CA 8456
TX 5072
IL 1144
AZ 1066
CO 451
FL 364
NM 330
WA 330
NV 286
GA 275
NY 261
NC 247
MI 221
OR 215
IN 153




Thanks for the info. Anecdotally, I have flown to GDL out of Chicago back when ATA was still around. The flew the route daily until they folded I think. I see why now. The Mexican-national pop. in IL is surprisingly high. That is until you take a stroll through(what's the name of the neighborhood in Chicago?) However, the flight (mid-Spring) was hardly a quarter-full both ways(50-ish pax) and I believe my friends and I were the only "gringos" on board.

There is currently 2 daily ns to GDL from Chicago, both served by Mexican airlines. I don't recall how many there were in 2006 when I flew but it Chicago can only support 2 ns, even though its almost totally O&D, I'd have my doubts about New York.

Love to be able to provide O&D numbers for the routes in consideration instead of speculation but that will have to be left for someone with access. *hint*

What about PVR, SJD, MZT had no currently nonstop from JFK. :confused: I'm sure if B6 will considering for which specific routes is taken from JFK or MCO. I think it could be work out very well during 3 or 4x weekly flight from JFK-PVR, MZT, SJD and others Mexican cities. It will be great opportunities for leisure & business traveler.

SJD - would work from JFK hub
PVR- might work from JFK hub
MZT -no chance of it even being thought of by B6 (though its a interesting place!!!)

The Caribbean is much closer to JFK/BOS for warm weather travellers and, lets face it, the water is clearer, bluer, and warmer than the pacific mexican resorts though Los Cabos is close. Los Cabos has the aura right now of "the place to go and be seen." Puerto Vallarta is Mexico's second biggest resort area so there is always a chance but I think DL had problems even filling JFK-PVR let alone profiting off it. Ask a New Yorker or Bostonian where Mazatlan is and they probably would answer somewhere in South America. Mazatlan has its niche for people west of the Mississippi and Western Canada (Canadians easily outnumber Americans in MZT) who like inexpensive vacations involving sport fishing and tequila sunrises.

What about PVR, SJD, MZT had no currently nonstop from JFK. :confused:


Those would be a departure from the Mexican cities that Jetblue had discussed with Secretary of Tourism. They seem to be framing the service around Mexican nationals and not so much around tourism. Especially with the current economic worries and even though I've noticed Mexico tourism numbers from the US holding steady it dosen't seem like Jetblue is looking at tourist destinations to Mexico in the near-term.

As adambisi correctly pointed out, the Carribean is a more convenient playground for New Yorkers.

The Toluca route was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. The city is centrally located in the country about 40 miles from Mexico City and the capital of its state. It is the fifth-largest metroploitan area in the country. Jetblue was mentioned in the report to be interested in opening doors to partnerships with the 3 LCC's that serve approx. 30 different destinations in Mexico. Is the NY Mexican community sizeable enough to make this work?
The state Toluca is the capital of, Mexico, (yes, Mexico (country) has a state that is called Mexico (actually, the city and the country got the name from the state)), is the most prosperous state in Mexico, and has a large portion of Mexico's heavy industry.

TLC is actually not far from western Mexico City, and is easier to get to from there than MEX during rush-hour (or any other part of the day...). Many companies have moved their Mexican HQ's to an area called Santa Fe in the west of Mexico City - TLC may be a much better option for these businessmen than MEX.

Edit: Oh yeah, as mentioned, TLC is a major LCC airport serving central Mexico.

TLC is actually not far from western Mexico City, and is easier to get to from there than MEX during rush-hour (or any other part of the day...). Many companies have moved their Mexican HQ's to an area called Santa Fe in the west of Mexico City - TLC may be a much better option for these businessmen than MEX.

Thank you for adding to the discussion and the information you provide about the possible business segment opportunity makes the route look more possible.

Incidentally, these discussions seemed to come, if not as a result of then, as a curious coincidence to AA reducing service to Mexico beginning in September. (Spanish again):

http://www.hosteltur.com/noticias/54080_jetblue-podria-entrar-mercado-nacional-low-cost.html

AA will end service to Monterrey and Guadalajara from Dallas. These are served by MD80's in summer and were served by Eagle in the off season as far as I can tell but no longer. There were also reductions on DFW-MEX, PVR and ACA.

How much of these flights feed came from the east? I would assume most of the pax from the west went through LAX on an AA codeshare.

Seems like TLC would be a viable alternative,

I was in MEX all of June on business and was looking for a weekend trip home. Searching Orbitz, CO kept offering TLC on the return (even though I specially asked for MEX, and not to use other airports) so they seem to possibly consider MEX and TLC co-airports.

What about PVR, SJD, MZT had no currently nonstop from JFK. :confused: I'm sure if B6 will considering for which specific routes is taken from JFK or MCO. I think it could be work out very well during 3 or 4x weekly flight from JFK-PVR, MZT, SJD and others Mexican cities. It will be great opportunities for leisure & business traveler.

Delta has been running a Saturday-only service to PVR from JFK since a few months ago.

What about Mexico to Boston? There's no nonstop service between Mexico City and Boston. Between tourism and business, this flight could probably work perhaps on a seasonal basis.

However, I think jetBlue should look further into Latin America. Managua, San Salvador and Panama City would work well from New York. Panama City could probably support an Orlando flight with the 190. Copa already has a 738 flying this route. Further into the Caribbean, Kingston, Jamaica would be a nice fit. Belize City and Cozumel could be served with the 190 seasonally. Merida MX has only CO flights to Houston and an Aeromexico flight to Miami.

The Toluca route was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. The city is centrally located in the country about 40 miles from Mexico City and the capital of its state. It is the fifth-largest metroploitan area in the country. Jetblue was mentioned in the report to be interested in opening doors to partnerships with the 3 LCC's that serve approx. 30 different destinations in Mexico.


I love the idea of a partnership with one or more LCC's and one of those LCC's - Interjet - would be a perfect fit for JetBlue. I started a thread (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=856960) about them (with lots of info and mutiple links) in the Budget Travel forum a couple of weeks ago.

Their main base is at Toluca. The president of Interjet is Miguel Aleman Magnani. His grandfather was President of Mexico from 1946-1952. His father was the Governor of Veracruz. Interjet just paid $25 million for the landing slots of Aero California at Benito Juarez (MEX). They seem to be fairly well placed both politically and financially.

Although Interjet doesn't have Direct TV (at least I don't think they do) check out their promotional video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-1ToLZyL6w) (in Spanish) on youtube. You can see the interior of their aircraft at about the 1:50 mark and elsewhere throughout the video.

They currently have 13 Airbus A320 jets with an average age of 4.7 years. About half their fleet was built in 1999 and 2000 and were planes formerly flown by other airlines, while the other half are brand new planes built in 2007 and 2008 and are being delivered new to Interjet with more on the way. The interior is gray leather seats and they offer 34" pitch throughout the plane.

Talk about a match made in heaven.

BTW, there was a recent article from the San Antonio Express News that may or may not relate to the discussion at hand, but I'll share it so we can all wildly speculate :D

S.A. airport close to adding airlines (http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/SA_airport_seen_as_getting_close_to_adding_airline s.html)

Despite turmoil in the aviation industry, San Antonio officials are working hard to lure new airlines to the city and may be getting close to landing two, the city's aviation director said Tuesday.

Mark Webb told business leaders at a Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce luncheon that San Antonio International Airport has “weathered the storm pretty well” and is pushing ahead to find more carriers for the city as it completes $218 million worth of airport improvements.

After the luncheon, the aviation director said the airport's best chances of expansion are with JetBlue Airways, based in New York, and low-cost Mexican carrier Interjet.

Isn't B6 is next announcements new city? Hopefully if B6 will be very successful routes from JFK-SAT or BOS-SAT. I'm sure if B6 will have focus cities to get more predictions new routes from SAT-FLL, MCO, PHX, LGB, SFO. Its will be opreated on E90 instead of A320. I won't worry about SAT instead of AUS. I knows the loads will be done extremely very well from JFK-SAT.