Infinite1K

JetBlue Will Add 30 New Routes, Launch Mint® at Newark

Interesting to see United getting some competition out of EWR.

And the Mint routes to SFO (up to 2x daily) and LAX (up to 3x daily), while not as frequent as United could be interesting and draw passengers/revenue from United considering how bad their policies and service has been.

WineCountryUA

For B6 specific discussion, please use New Flights including Mint from EWR to LAX/SFO in the B6 forum.

Use this thread to discuss the impact on UA / UA reaction to the B6 move

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

garykung

Minimal impact to UA.

In a related thread:

With UA at its Weakest, B6 should make a Move in SFO

I said that SFO is UA's Asian gateway. Obviously EWR is UA's one of the European gateways. These 2 hubs are about international, not domestic.

Also - even B6 wants a piece of the UA p.s. profit, many UA flyers are (or were for now) corporate accounts. So unless B6 can offer the similar deal, it barely makes a dent to UA.

Keep in mind - UA M+ status is a worldwide status, but not B6. So with that, B6's attraction has been limited.

DELee

David

halls120

I flew B6 once about 6 years ago on a business trip. never again. meeting ended early, and I had no options for an early return. I'd consider them for leisure travel, but never on business.

dkc192

Seems like introductory Mint prices start at $850 one way, which is similar to what they charge on JFK-LAX/SFO and $150 above the current P fare filed by UA (and similarly by AA and DL). Sure, they have a better product than UA, but I doubt they'll be attracting many loyal UA J fliers with this kind of pricing combined with their lower frequencies and weaker network.

LondonElite

Outside of the US you’ll find that spontaneous changes to non-flexible tickets usually come with a request to open your wallet and hand over a credit card.

UA_Flyer

I do hope the competition will have positive impacts on UA:

1. up its in flight amenity and meal offerings
2. expedite looking into new seats for 757-200 if they are going to be the primary aircraft on PS routes
3. Switch to Polaris configures wide-body aircraft on PS routes.

A little competition is not bad for flyers unless one is blindly following UA.

cfischer

competition is always good, but my guess is the impact on UA will be minimal.

mduell

Newark is still in the US.

wingnuthead

You're probably correct. UA isn't a product focused company, or at least hasn't been for years. Jet Blue is more product focused, but they are still a niche player. EWR is my (mostly) home airport, and I have been using JB for more of our voluntary travel over the past few years, but hated the trip to JFK most of the time. So I at least welcome the addition of the new routes to EWR, especially as AA abandoned the airport a few years ago, and UA really sets the domestic flight price structure at EWR overall. ANY competition at EWR is better than less...

But alas, as you point out, UA probably doesn't care. Although, I remember many years ago, when Jet Blue opened up Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose and a few others, AA pulled out immediately. (I was commuting from NY to San Jose weekly!)

Dublin_rfk

Have you ever left the airport? :-)

DELee

Unfortunately, I think one has to use the River Styx entrance to get to EWR...

David

Dublin_rfk

As asked on a different thread. Where's my incentive? I fly last minute with a lot of changes. I like and use the 'perks' I get from being brand loyal. And very few of my trips are nonstop and I can see trying to get to a minor market with multiple checked bags.

bocastephen

If UA is just an airline of corporate contracts and very few organic customers, they are probably not concerned - but that's not being realistic. Anytime a competitor enters your bread and butter market routes with a superior product, better service, and lower prices, you better be concerned because if everyone except the corporate contract flyers are gone, there isn't enough left to keep the lights on - also most companies, and travel agencies, have contracts with multiple airlines and people will have a choice when they decide how to get from NY to LA. I suspect B6 will be offering my agency some nice commission incentives on these routes to poach UA flyers, and it's not exactly a hard sell for me to ask a client to consider Mint, a product they already know is far superior to UA PS.