ATLflyer2017

Coke to Pepsi while disappointing for a Coke fan is not a service cut. I can't blame the airline for making a decision to save money. JetBlue is trying to save time and money with these recent changes. Why would they consult the customers? No customer is going to vote for reduction in service (no matter how minimal they are). I don't love JetBlue (don't have much chance to fly them) however these seem like calculated decisions to save time and money.

RWPrincess

DL is anything but bluster at BOS. They've long considered that as sort of a mini-hub. Also, they just opened a new terminal yesterday with Ed Bastian there to do it.

In regards to B6, just flew from the West Coast and it was clear my plane was not catered properly. We ran out of ginger ale immediately and I was in Row 4. The plane had just flown in from another West Coast turn before we flew to JFK. Also, I saw gate agents taking the vacuum onboard between flights.

I just said this in another thread but clearly there is an internal issue given all these cost cuts and recent executive movements. Also, don't believe what you read about the switch to Pepsi being about sustainability. I must have gone through at least 5 plastic cups on my last flight when I could have just had 1 or 2 bottles of Dasani.

dtremit

To be clear, Bastian was there to celebrate them getting exclusive use of that terminal. DL has operated in that terminal continuously since it was built in 2005. (They were supposed to have occupied a majority of it from the start, but they backed out of their lease in bankruptcy six months after it opened and gave up a lot of gates.)

They've only gained a few net new gates, though, and will still be constrained.

RWPrincess

The point is that BOS is not insignificant for DL or Ed Bastian wouldn't have been there in person.

lost_perspicacity

why is serving from carts a service reduction? I find I get my drink faster with the change.

moulder3

In case anyone is interested, it appears the reduced catering is now out of trial and LIVE for all short & medium-haul B6 flights (including flights like BOS-MCO/FLL!). For the life of me, I can't figure out why Jetblue is trying to race to the bottom.

https://paxex.aero/2019/09/jetblue-s...atering-shift/

tphuang

DL is expanding in BOS for the specific reason of putting pressure on B6 and hurting B6 in the long run. A lot of what Ed Bastian has said in interviews and on conference calls have been less than truthful (like for example they are going to expand to 150 flights by summer of 2018, when they've gotten to 130 by this sumer) with the intent of making DL sound like it's going to takeover and that B6 is in trouble. Which will influence stock prices and force B6 board into cost or growth cutting measures.

Anyone who has looked at the fare data could tell you their entire BOS operation is running at huge loss presumably so that B6 will feel the pain and reduce service/growth in other station like JFK. B6 has long been a huge thorn in the eyes of DL especially in NYC. Clearly at this point, AA has significantly cut back JFK so B6 is the only thing standing between DL and total domination of NYC. At which point, they can then jack up prices like they've done in all of their fortress hubs.

For this reason alone, I can't wait for the next downturn and DL will look at it stations and cut back on the station that's the most underperforming, which will be BOS. And at this point, I will fly even UA ahead of DL because we need proper competition here in NYC.

bennos

Well, except for the minor operation that UA operates out of EWR. And all the INTL carriers that effectively provide competition on the international routes. (AA/BA aren't leaving JFK-LHR any time soon.)

Sure, some people prefer JFK over EWR and vice versa, but as a whole JFK/LGA/EWR operate as one market, largely due to their roughly equal convenience from Manhattan.

And anyway I don't see B6 leaving JFK any time soon, unless they go bankrupt.

GW McLintock

Or get acquired by another airline.

-J.

BKSweetheart

You shut your mouth. BLASPHEMY!!!

phllax

I flew LAX-JFK r/t this weekend and noticed that they are still stocking about a case worth of mini-bottled water in the Pantry. Both flights were full. On the Eastbound leg there seemed to be plenty left at last call on the way down, on the Westbound leg I took the last one around the time we were abeam Denver and let one of the F/A's know. After that they almost immediately did a water service followed by another cart service about 20 minutes later.

In addition, I asked the Mint F/A if anyone missed the fruit and he said the only item people consistently ate when stocked were bananas, but they removed them a few years back. They ended up trashing the fruit most of the time. To me that seems logical, as bananas and oranges can be eaten without washing, and bananas are not messy when compared to something like an orange which must be peeled. Even if told the fruit is pre-washed, I am sure most people still passed.

tphuang

As UA discovered after they shut down JFK, a lot of people prefer flying into JFK vs EWR. When I lived in midtown east of Manhattan, I almost always picked JFK, so I didn't have to deal with NJ Transit. Even now, DL has a huge yield advantage over UA on NYC-LAX market despite operating higher capacity aircraft.

With AA 's cutbacks, it seems like most of the ff went to DL rather than UA.

Of course B6 won't leave JFK, but the goal of these moves by DL is to force B6 into more cost cutting measure or cutting semi-important routes like JFK-CLT which are actually marginally profitable to chase after higher margined VFR/leisure routes that have little relevance for the rest of the network.

KRSW

I just had a friend (a B6 employee) vent tonight about the cutbacks. As some had feared, aircraft are indeed running out of catering supplies. Worse, some of them are running out mid-cycle. They mentioned one aircraft which was completely out of catering items (no water, soda, etc.) and needed to go out for one more leg before it was scheduled to be replenished. Since they weren't scheduled for catering, it apparently took quite a bit of effort to get something put onto the aircraft, and even then it wasn't a full catering service.

As far as this being a move to improve turn-around times, I call bull. It doesn't take any appreciable more time for catering to drop off a bag of ice compared to swapping out catering carts. I know SkyChefs ain't cheap, but they can't be THAT expensive compared to a cancelled flight.

From our office's own travel, B6 used to be our #1 choice, followed by DL. In the past few years, that's been reversed. B6 used to be different. Anyone remember 2 bags included? Flexible about changes? Now they're just another legacy carrier, without the robust network and hubs. As of the August '19 DOT report, JetBlue has the worst on-time performance out of all the carriers, even substantially below Spirit and Frontier. While they're not dead last in cancellations, I do wonder if any flights will be cancelled due to the lack of catering. I know I wouldn't send up a plane with 150 people and no drinks / potable water on-board -- to me that'd be a safety issue.

GW McLintock

Yes they would. Potable water is pumped onboard (they can't go with a tank under 75% full) before each flight, since that water also goes to the lavatories. But the rest of catering, forget it... it's all about the completion factor. They'll send a transcon out without fresh food before even risking a delay.

-J.

KRSW

With all of the news stories about dirty water tanks, I was under the impression that the tanks weren't used for drinking water these days.