I know B6 has either started or announced a bunch of new routes recently. However, I was curious to see if the was any other new routes being considered for the near future? (i.e. MDW, STL, MKE, MYR)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ination+rumors

Last post on the other thread was 8/2. Anything more recent?

There have been some rumblings through the company about RFD. That coupled, with the recent article in the Chicago Tribune article about a significant announcement coming shortly about new service at RFD, gives it some legs to stand on. I haven't really heard much but I'll try and keep my ears open.

I appreciate it, JetBlueFA. It's neat to see that they want to get into the Chicago area, even though it's at an airport 90 miles from the city itself. I could see they would fail to get some people who would still go CO, ATA, Airtran to MDW, but they be able to get some of the the people who are in or going to the area outside Chicago itself.

I wonder if JetBlue has ever considered flying to MSN?

A BOS-MSN flight on one of their 190s might do quite well as both cities have significant college/university populations with unique travel circumstances, many times related to academic and/or scientific research.

Both cities are also the seats of their respective state governments and have budding biotech industries. Madison is a fast-growing area of about 1/2 million that also attracts a lot of passengers from nearby Milwaukee and Rockford/Northern Illinois (each for slightly different reasons, but both include convenience and less hassles). MSN has a brand new terminal which was completed this year and won an award for its "green" design. The terminal is more than double its original size, so it has some space for new carriers. MSN currently has NO LCC's and BOS is one of the top-8 destinations of originating passengers there that is not served with a direct flight at this time (already has nonstops to EWR, LGA, DCA, LAS, DEN, etc). I think the route could be a real winner for B6 as it concentrates on more short to medium-haul flights to increase revenue.

I've noticed they've been connecting Boston with quite a few of its fellow college towns/state capitals recently (Raleigh-Durham, Columbus, Austin, Richmond, etc). I doubt this is unintentional--I think recognizing and responding to this underserved and unique market is absolutely brilliant on their part, in fact--and MSN could fit in nicely with this business plan.

Is this article what you were referring to regarding a signifigant announcement about Rockford? If so, I can confirm at least part of it was fiction, as United only announced a second RT on sundays to Denver. The only evidence I could find of a relationship between RFD and JetBlue is this article from 2003 , this paragraph in Wikipedia and this article from March , also from the Register Star, that basicly says JetBlue isn't interested. That being said, it would be nice to see JetBlue come to Rockford.

I absolutely agree. I'm in such a position; an academic who lives in Boston but spends a good part of the week doing work at OSU in Columbus. I can't wait for October to roll around and I can start taking the JetBlue flight..

Well, that's not likely to happen now, as JetBlue is seeking "eight arrival authorizations at O'Hare" .

Why ORD instead of MDW? Doesn't ORD have a worse reputation for weather delays, as well as being further away from the Chicago city center than MDW?

Exactly my thoughts. Only thing that comes to mind for MDW is its neighborhood location. I believe many of the neighbors would like to shut it down and maybe JetBlue doesn't want to fight that battle. Also, with the shorter runways than ORD, are weight restrictions potentially an issue for the 320s?

Overall, ORD seems a bit odd. Only thing I see going in its favor is that its the largest market in the US where B6 doesn't have a presence. There are definitely lots of people, but I think grabbing a decent market share in this market is going to be tough. Its been fairly well developed for years now (with other hubs not too far away in STL, DTW, CLE, and MSP) and short of maybe a lower price, not sure what B6 can really bring that isn't being offered now?

TED(rar!) used to fly 320s to/from Midway to Florida (neither know nor care the exact cities), so I doubt that they would be weight restricted.

MDW-FLL looks to be 1166 miles while MDW-LGB is 1741 miles. Did Ted fly MDW->West Coast which is about 50% further?

The oldest timetable I have (June 2006) only shows 2/3 flights to Denver (893 miles). However, the runways at Midway are shorter than the one at Burbank.

Another day, another article, this one sugsting that if JetBlue can't get into O'Hare, they might try Gary, Milwaukee, or Rockford. One thing that doesn't lend credence to this article is that it is the only return when googling Jetblue and Rockford (as of this posting). There is also some discussionabout this on Ben Mutzabaugh's blog (his source is the same article).