ryw

I know a lot of the focus is on the northeast. But maybe it also makes sense on the west coast with B6 shutting down their LGB operations and consolidating to LAX at the same time that AA is scaling back at LAX. Still makes me wonder if we’ll get a new (semi) dominant carrier at LAX post covid - UA, DL, or some OneWorld/B6 alliance.

It strikes me that with AA’s AS and B6 partnerships, it’s kind of reflecting DL’s international partner strategy, but with domestic carriers.

Newman55

I agree. The only thing I can think of as a plus for Jetblue is getting rid of a weak competitor and some international feed.

BenA

Have you taken an objective look at Mint? It’s a better experience than even Delta One Transcon - hardly “slightly better than Spirit”.

flyerCO

There's more to flying than just transcontinental. Also, most B6 flights are Y. Lastly, while nice I don't consider it a better experience. Each has their own pluses and minuses, but in total are pretty much on par with each other.

DLSuites

i agree. the service on JetBlue is horrible. The flight attendants just really go through the motions, not really giving one damn about you. So what, you get unlimited unhealthy free chips. Big deal. EMS is a joke as well. No free drinks and a very watered down loyalty program that is worst in class.

Delta doesnt need to do anything. AA is a joke and where it matters most for DL is at JFK. Not the best way to fly when you have to switch terminals to connect a B6 and a AA flight. Some people might say you have to do that as well with AF, Korean and Delta at JFK but don't forget, there are a few DL non stops on their own metal out of T4 to CDG. Most people connecting to/from Paris will use the Delta metal. When I fly to Paris and go non stop I might take the AF metal, depending on equipment. B6 + AA at JFK will be a non starter. Wont work. Plus, as others have mentioned, both airlines are worst in class with departure and arrival delays.

kavok

Domestic traffic will return far sooner than international (which is also going to put UA in a tough spot). But rather than respond to AA on the international side, DL should focus more on its own domestic flows.

Going forward, there will be the new terminals at SLC, LGA, and LAX that will all help improve connection experiences. The A220s should provide more flexibility on routes, and swapping out most of the CRJs to at least 700/900s would be nice. Most importantly, DL should continue doing what they are doing, which is offering a product people actually want to fly.

DLASflyer

I do wonder how long Delta can justify keeping all of Terminal A at BOS. The second half isn’t even open right now but I’m sure they have to keep paying for it.

ekozie

"I don't care if it's the first act of 'Henry V.'"

In NYC, DL is 31% of traffic, UA 30%, and AA+B6 30% combined. AA is struggling for FCF, and outsourcing risk to AS and B6 as a last gasp. These are the the exact moves I would take if I was the CEO of an airline that's struggling to avoid BK between October and December of this year. AA has given up control of their domestic network on the coasts, is keeping DFW, ORD, and CLT, and praying int'l comes back. I don't think their prayers are going to be answered.

Hope is not a strategy.

cmd320

IMO where B6 (outside of Mint flights) and even NK shine are on shorter flights which otherwise don't see any notable service in F on a legacy. FL to DC for example.

On B6 I can get a nice EMS exit row, and with no one in the middle (which there often isn't) I'd take that any day over F on AA or DL given I'm going to pay less than half the price, have better legroom, and the only difference in soft product is I'm going to have to pay for my drinks.

On NK I can get BFS which is not markedly different from a domestic F hard product, pay far less than half the price of domestic F, and again, the only real difference in soft product is I'm going to have to pay for my snacks and drinks which I doubt could ever be more than $50 on a flight that short.

DMPHL

Agreed on most, except when things go pear-shaped on NK, you better have good travel insurance or look forward to enjoying an extra 4 days in Plattsburgh.

cmd320

Yes, but honestly in that kind of scenario the ticket is so cheap one can just buy another ticket on a different airline in an emergency and still end up spending less than I would have for domestic F.

hhdl

B6 IRROPS are also pretty brutal.

PurdueFlyer

my take on this (for DL) is about the landscape in LAX moreso than the Northeast.

AA already announced the AS codeshare & their associated new INTL destinations from SEA, which DL will now have to compete with once the AA flights start. AA then announced a big reduction in LAX international flying (cancelling HKG, PVG, PEK, GRU, EZE etc). So now comes the new announcement with B6. They'll no doubt get gate space vacated by AA, but probably will serve domestic destinations similar to what AA is already doing. B6 doesn't have airplanes capable of flying things like LAX-PEK. (I'd be all over a Mint A321-NEO to Hawaii though!)

I know LAX INTL is always a blood bath, and INT'L recovery will lag behind domestic once this pandemic is over. But, in a Post-COVID revenue environment, nothing is off the table. Will DL want to operate both LA-PVG and SEA-PVG, especially with AA starting SEA-PVG as well? What about the other TPAC routes? Yeah there is extensive competition from OAL (not just American) at both of those gateways, but DL has to at least be looking at things like LAX-PEK/HKG and maybe others as better options at this point than what SEA gave them, even in the boom times.

DMPHL

True. I imagine part of the hope is that the partnership with AA will alleviate some of that pain by allowing interlining during IRROPS, at least when it's not, say, a winter storm when AA's operation goes to s**t, as well!

tphuang

Yes, that's definitely a major part of this deal.

The biggest complaints about JetBlue in Boston before this was lack of options for irrops, not flying to many places domestically in middle of the country and not flying internationally.

Well, partnership with aa solve the first two. And they are starting to fly to Europe next year. We have corporate demand stuck at near zero in northeast. By the time corporate demand comes back a little bit, JetBlue will have resolved three of the biggest concerns for ff.

And over in NYC, aa is basically giving JetBlue slots and gates because they can't afford to fly those routes themselves anymore. JetBlue is making a major push here to expand it's new York and new jersey footprint. Again, partnership with aa has solved a lot of the biggest concerns facing them.

And since aa has such a terrible product according to some, it should be easy for JetBlue to convert those as customers to JetBlue ff, right?