Originally Posted by
BearX220
Of course, but take a 50-flight-per-year customer in, say, PHX with a nationwide trip agenda. Given a choice between having that customer fly 20/50 flights on AS or 50/50 on AA, which would AS prefer? Do they want a piece of that customer or not?
Again, how do these purity filters and base-shaving strategies help support the company? Especially when it's now ballooned into a 230-aircraft deal with no fortress market, embattled even on home ground (PNW) and in deep trouble in California.
They need more than a cohort of King / Snohomish / Pierce fans, people who don't travel to DL or AA destinations, to make that go.
How many domestic partners did Southwest have? Oh, right, zero.
Where have Southwest’s fortress markets been? Dallas? Houston? The Bay Area? Phoenix? Denver? Fort Lauderdale?
While we’re at it, does Jet Blue have fortress markets in New York, Fort Lauderdale or Boston?
Alaska will be fine if they concentrate on some basics. Problem is they aren’t doing that at all in part because the merger, in part because their own damn fault. Horizon’s a dumpster fire at the worst possible time; they have all the downside from killing off the VX brand and none of the synergies or ability to have a unified customer experience/AS brand you paid good money to research and develop right now. Oh, and moving into California means EVERYONE guns at them: AA because of JFK transcons and LAX, UA because of SFO and LAX, WN because of intra-CA and LAX, DL because of SEA and LAX, B6 because of Mint. So fail to execute and everyone can take a shot.
That being said, I love how a profitable company is doomed because WN/no partners/no lie flats. You’d think they declared the dividend was suspended and they’re losing money...