He DID have a relationship at one point. He, along with June Morris created Morris Air which had Ticketless Travel backl n the mid 90's. WN wanted that technology and bought Morris Air. Opened up the NorthWest and handed them a bunch of 737's. I was working for WN in LAS at the time and was stunned at how simple Ticketless Travel was at the time. We used to print up the Manifest of everyone booked on each flight in case the computers went down and the Morris Employee's thought it was dumb. The idea changed the booking habits of passengers overnight. Back then, passengers would make multiple reservations on several flights and there was no penalty. WN used to overbook a 737 by 30-50 seats each Sunday from LAS to the LA Basin. As soon as Ticketless came, folks stopped almost immediately. 1. They had to actually spend money for a second ticket and 2, the mindset of not having a paper ticket created a mindset that they HAD to go on the flight booked.

From what I understand, Needleman had many ideas that he used to create JetBle, more leg room, JFK, free TV, etc and the folks in DAL laughed at him. He signed a noncompete for 5 years and created Jetblue. They got tired of him and went he South and now has Breeze.

I love WN but he's right, folks are willing to pay for a little extra and WN could bring in more revenue. The mindset of if it worked for Herb and Colleen, it'll work for me is dead. WN is no longer the disrupter and needs to innovate as they've done for decades. Not sure if Elliott Management is the answer but something has to change.