JetBlue has quite a few routes now with their A321 Mint product. Including BOS-SEA that starts sometime soon.

Sure they did.

And that's my point. These things take time to work through.

They standardized the product and amenities pretty quickly (what kind of catering, whether there will be E+, what new planes will have in terms of seatback IFE (none), etc.).

Contracts take time to work out, and they exacerbated labor issues with their handling of things that the contractual issue took longer than expected (an example of this, after 5 years of waiting for it, they got the labor agreement for the FA contract, and still need 1 year before it's fully implemented).

So the notion of putting innovation on hold until the integration is complete makes very little sense with the pace of this industry.

JetBlue needed Mint to compete on NYC-SFO/LAX with AA, DL, and UA.

Whether Mint is a profitable use on non-NYC city pairs is a question that hasn't been answered. Announced routes aren't worth much as evidence.

Maybe if AS were centered around the NYC market, not SEA, lie-flats would have a broader future.

VX products - announced or in place - have no future until fully vetted post-merger by the surviving exec team.

Indeed, it would be nutty not to figure out the go forward plan quickly considering that AS and VX each have 40+ aircraft on order.

Boston != NYC

Caribbean != SFO/LAX

Future announced routes as presumably backed up by aircraft orders. Are you saying that B6 is going to bail on the announced route expansion? Barring any major economic downturn, I suspect that is unlikely.

I didn't make any comment about profitability. I also don't know or comment on theater it makes sense of AS to go into the flat seat business. I simply answered the question as it was asked.

Copa probably has the best premium cabin on a 737 (for normal, scheduled service). This is of course excluding Privatair.

I would think maybe Alaska has sent a few people down to South America/Panama to see how its done :)

Wrong. The hard product was not and is still not standardized.

Thanks for confirming what I stated.

Search the source of the "catchy" quote and you'll see that it made for much success in "this industry."

DL offers lie-flat seats on some of its 757s (bigger than a 737, yes, but still single-aisle), and uses them on transcon routes including SEA->JFK. B6, as mentioned several times here, has its Mint on A320s as well and plans to expand its routing. Obviously Mint hasn't expanded much yet, and DL doesn't offer lie-flat on all of its 757s, but there are two relatively long-standing examples there.

Sure it is. There's a flat bed in all business, E+ in all economy, etc. Catering is practically the same across all of it.

This is a hugely capital intensive business, and it takes time to cycle through the fleet.

DL is in much the same situation -- varying degrees of IFE, various J seat types (though all flat), and C+ across the fleet.

While all this was happening, both of them were innovating their next generation product (DL the Suite, UA Polaris).

If you're suggesting a large airline get identical seats in all its J cabins across its fleet before innovating, that's essentially proving my point. It'd be ridiculous to spend the money to get to that level, let alone wait for that before deciding the next move. They will always fall behind further with that approach.

Sure it's not. IFE, DTV, in-seat power and J seat type are still not standard.

Both those innovations were introduced well after their merger integration plans were complete.

That's not at all what I stated.

Innovation planning can go on during merger integration, but you have to make the different nuts and bolts fit together before you start changing the color of the nuts and bolts.

Of course they are. All new J seats installed since the merger were the sCO seat. The PMUA IPTE seats are still around, but they're not going to rip them out as they're usable.

Just like AS has a standard F seat that's been around for a bit. You may still run into an old 734 with the pickup truck seats, but that needs to run its course.

New planes get streaming media on UA. DTV planes are running their course.

There are most definitely standards, but it takes time to let the old run its course.

Anyone who has experience dealing with large or expensive assets knows how to manage a lifecycle. You can decide on an new standard today, won't see it come to life for some time, all while you let the old standard keep going until it reaches the end of its lifecycle and is in need of rehabilitation.

Just because not everything is the same doesn't mean there is no standard.




Both those innovations were introduced well after their merger integration plans were complete.



That's not at all what I stated.

Innovation planning can go on during merger integration, but you have to make the different nuts and bolts fit together before you start changing the color of the nuts and bolts.[/QUOTE]

I defer to your inarguable logic.

By this measure, in terms of J-seats, no US carrier is standardised except for possibly the little Minnows that are AS and VX (which don't really count since they only have domestic business/first).

Same with most of the other aspects that are being talked about. Delta are the most consistent in many aspects, but have a much bigger variance in J-seats than UA.

Lol lie flat seats on AS. Thatzzz funny right dere I don't care who ya Re Thatzzz funnny

Holding out for lie flats on QX Q400, especially EUG-PDX and SEA-BLI. And pjs with amenity kits, so when the FA's take seats for the whole ride, I'll be off in slumberland and won't notice.

Weight and balance might be an issue.