Originally Posted by
sbm12
I don't mind flying even E- on the short flights when I know I'm in J/F on the long ones either. But it is all about setting expectations. Imagine an uninformed passenger (which most are) coming off their FRA-JFK flight in J/F and then heading over to their connecting gate in a different terminal. There's no lounge when you get to the gate area, which is very confusing. Then, no pre-boarding. And you get on the plane and there isn't even the fake intra-Europe J with the curtain and the blocked seat. It won't fly for the high revenue passnegers.
Agreed that the current B6 product would not match LH very well, certainly not for the premium cabin customers.
But here are a couple of considerations:
1. New terminal T-5 will be opened 9/08.
2. While B6 does not have Euro Biz class, it coes have 36" seat pitch which is more than Euro Biz.
3. Most customers (75%) who fly LH TATL are flying Y
4. As far as going to a different terminal, unless LH moves into T-5, that's the way JFK is laid out. At least there is now the AirTrain.
Finally, if LH is serious about making an alliance with B6, adding features as a lounge and a premium class are relatively simple, certainly a lot simpler than creating a carrier with the presence of B6 at JFK from scratch.
The one real plus of a B6/LH "alliance" is that unlike the other two carriers with a major presence at JFK (AA and DL) B6 does not compete with LH on TATL.
I think the biggest issue will be a possible conflict between the JBLU business model and the one LH might like JBLU to adopt. As a minority stakeholder it's not clear how much influence LH would have.