New flights
 

Jetblue has expanded their schedule to two cities already. (Next year, Spring 05) These are Ontario, one new flight, for a total of two, and New Orleans, one more flight, to a total of 3. They are expected to add extra flights to SJC, SMF, and SEA. These all begin in Spring 05.

Don't forget that their going to add cities and/or flights when the 190s start coming in. I can't wait till they get the 190s, I heard from people that flew the 170s on other airlines that its a awesome plane.
:)

Cities
 

Just because they get the 190's doesn't mean that they stop expanding with the A 320. They are just going to supplement each other. Couldn't tell if that is what you meant.

320s and 190s
 

According to JBLU mgmt, route decisions are made fairly quickly if new opportunities arise - otherwise they have some kind of longer term plan. As an investor, here is what I have inferred (I could be completely wrong):
- As the 190s start entering the fleet in Fall 2005, they will use them in markets where 320s will be an overkill but 190s can experience full loads. This usually opens new cities. They expect many of the non-top 10 cities to be very viable for 190s that they could not serve with 320s. I expect a lot of domestic cities added this way.
- They will use 190s even on existing routes at times when the loads are not at their peak. This would essentially free up 320s for long range flying or add frequency at a time which could not have been profitably served by the larger planes.
- There will be more international expansion with increased capacity. Mexico and Canada are in their sights. I expect more Carribean flying as well.

While 190s and 320s are almost comparable in cost for flying similar distances, they expect a segmentation - 320s will be flying longer distances and 190s shorter distances. This means, in practice, the CASM (Cost for Available Seat Mile) for 190s will be higher than 320s - probably a $5 to $10 premium on each segment of a 190. They had not decided if they will charge different prices on the same route for 190 and 320, but the expectation is that they would (or another way to thing of it - is that they may offer more seats in the higher fare buckets on 190s than on the 320s getting a slightly better yield on the 190s).

The only comparable for this model is AirTran's 717 vs 737 flts. AirTran does a lot more short haul and medium haul than JetBlue. Note that AirTran says that it can run a profitable operation out of MDW while ATA could not, primarily becuase of its mix of 717 and 737 aircraft. I expect Jetblue to use such a mix to defend itself against a WN assault or a network carrier attack.

Note that Jetblue will continue to add both 320s and 190s to their fleet from next year. While they are not ready to go across the Atlantic they do gain a lot of capacity for more international flying. They could easily pick up a lot of high volume international routes to the south of the border in addition to domestic cities and filling out their network.

This is unconfirmed by JetBlue at this point, but some in the local business press in Indy have said that JB is eyeing IND for expansion circa May '05. I'm guessing it would be morning and evening flights with the 190?

SJC badly needs an extra flt
 

As AA retreats from SJC, Jetblue has a definite opportunity. OAK is a nice airport but there is a lot of business traffic SJC-JFK. With additional flts B6 will be able to establish a proper foothold in SJC. Look at the success in SMF.

Is there any truth to the rumor that JB tried to get into Houston but CO started gobbling up any extra gates to stop them?

I was just saying what Neelman was saying (SMF, SJC). They could enter the Indy market, but I doubt they would do it with the A320. I would have guessed they use the 190.

On another forum, someone said that a flight attendant from CO told him the exact thing. She said that 7 gates became available in the A terminal, but continental bought them so jetblue would not enter the market. They are planning on using these gates for COEX.

I'm not quite sure if the renovations are done over at HOU, but if there are, it looks like there's plenty of room for JetBlue in Terminal B.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/11/23...eut/index.html

An interesting article.

Thanks for the link -- Neeleman was exceptionally frank in that interview.

B6 to DFW?
 

When is B6 coming, if ever?

Most likely in 2006, but no one knows with Jetblue.

My brother-in-law heard a rumour that JetBlue would expand to JAX. Anyone know if there is any truth to that one?

Susan

Many rumors
 

At this point I am sure most of the rumors have a kernel of truth. Jetblue does keep its plans fluid, so unless they have seriously started looking at specific dates, I'd give most rumors a pass.

All I know is that JetBlue has said any many occasions that they are going to expand but they have not given any clue where those cities where the 190's will be used. I sent them an email a while ago about it and they said that many cities are still under consideration. Guess they don't want to tick anyone off.

The "rumors" for jetBlue
 

Hey everyone,

New to the board, jetBlue flight attendant here. Well, the rumors go around the company the same way they do here. Here is the situation with the rumors. As soon as jetBlue knows if it is going somewhere, we know. Maybe a day later, the public knows. I think as soon as they find out, and everything is finalized, they make it public asap! Rumors are all over about Jamaica, North Carolina, Chicago, when I hear, I will let you know...lol.

Keep ya posted!

Thank you. Always nice to have an informant on the inside to backup rumors.

And at JetBlue, we don't know about a new BlueCity until the public knows...well not until the night before at least. Everything is top secret. Really! :) Rumors float but we don't know anymore than the public does.

Welcome to the FlyerTalk Forum! :D

It will be a while as long as Southwest keeps whining about the Wright Amendment.

As an investor, you should hope that's just a rumor. I don't know which is more idiotic -- charging $5 extra to fly on a 190, or making more full-fare seats available on an airplane that has fewer seats in total. I know JetBlue does some things differently, but economics is pretty much the same for all the airlines.

When is JetBlue going to add PDX to it's list of destinations. There flying to many cities on the west coast, but it boggles my mind why Portland has not been added.

I am sure that there are many cities that B6 would like to fly to but is constrained by fleet size and the 320 size. I am not sure PDX is a developed leisure market. For a short haul business market, frequency is very important. The 320s are not great planes to add freq flts to the non top 10 markets (and B6 does not even have Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, etc. covered yet). To start attacking the smaller markets, they need the 190s. Once you get the 190s, I'm sure you'll see a lot of network expansion and completion of connecting the dots.

For pure west coast runs from PDX there is a lot of competition from WN and AS. For transcon market, you need a critical mass. As this is winter, B6 may be better off adding more sun and sand flts and possibly add a few more international routes. I don't see PDX for the next 6 months but B6 has the ability to be very innovative and surprise almost everyone. Let us wait and see.

I vote for IAD-NAS. Or IAD-JFK. Or anything at DCA.

I think you miss the point. The intention is to use the 320 on long-haul, where RASM is a bit lower (and where the 190 is out of range), and use 190 mainly on short-haul, which will push CASM up a bit for the 190, but RASM is already higher on those routes - probably enough to cover the extra cost. For mid-range routes (which they don't have too many of), could go either way, so decisions will probably be based on available yields and traffic potential. Most routes will be either all 320 or all 190, plus a few seasonal routes that will alternate. For the seasonals, yield can be enhanced in the off (190) season without raising fares by decreasing capacity more at the lower fares, less at the higher fares.

NYC-BOS Shuttle
 

This article, which came out today, talks about how Jetblue will probably create a shuttle between JFK-Bos with their E-190. I would think that it would be used as more of a connector to the rest of their system then an actual shuttle.

http://www.boston.com/business/artic...huttle_market/

DCA is capacity/gate constrained. Unless US sells some of its assets there, no way B6 is going to get in.
Anyway, it'd be interesting to see how b6's cost structure works if it offers short-haul flights and many connections (JFK-BOS) like a legacy, although they still have a ways to go.