Interesting take on Song

[BLUE BAYOU]

That Song, song, song, song, song...heheh couldn't help it. The TVs in the 757s will only be good when they're installed. My bet is when the WAR kicks off, no one is going to start on a new venture. IF Song flies it's first flight to PBI on April 15th it will have 199 seats available, JBs eight flights will have 1296 available... But most of those are already sold out. BTW, N558JB, "Song Sung Blue" will be our 38th aircraft on line. But as Jeff G has stated, there's plenty of customers to move around between all the airlines. It'll be fun to see some new colors out there plying the skies.

 

[Dieterly]

My company pays for my tickets from MCO up to JFK, airline of my choice. Since OTP and service are two very important factors in my book, I mostly fly JetBlue. Song might be able match price and and OTP, but I really don't think they will come close to the JB service. Just have a look across pacific, SIA and CX are full, while UA and NW are not, for the simple reason passengers like to be treated nice. With DL's skyhaggs and nasty check-in staff I think JB doesn't have to worry.

 

[Race Pilot]

I realize Delta pilots will fly the Song, but what keeps their pay from being equal to or lower than JetBlue. Seems like the company would want something much lower to compete.?

Something that people always seem to miss on these threads is that there are lots of ways to have lower costs than just pilot pay. JetBlue pays a pretty good wage I think and that's not including the profit sharing (which will be BIG this year as it was last). JB keeps costs low through a variety of means including leveraging technology (very few costly paper manuals) and the fact that so almost all of our reservations are done via the web. The actual reservation agents we do use work from their homes and therefore may (I'm not sure on this) get paid a little less than an agent working in a huge reservation center somewhere. But they can sit around in their fuzzy bunny slippers so they are happy when talking to our customers.

Of course there are plenty of other areas where a company can be smart and save money, and JB does a lot of focusing on this. The thing JB will never do is cut corners on is safety, it is our first core value. The others (caring, integrity, fun, passion) are seen out on the line every day in the way our crews (flight, inflight, ground, etc) handle themselves and give the customer something they want to come back for. I agree that there are many out there that fly for price alone but as Dieterly said, there are plenty that will continue to want great service, high completion factors and on-time reliability, and a smiling face to great you at every turn. That's what JetBlue will continue to deliver even after our 50th airplane arrives later this fall and our 100th down the road.

 

[General Lee]

Dieterly,

Hmmmm. Well, first of all there won't be any old hags on Song, because everyone who wants to be at Song, except the Pilots, will have to be re-interviewed or first time interviewed---which means no Bit@hes allowed. Only "fun" ones allowed----so you probably will see different attitudes than some of the old sky hags. The planes will look just as nice inside as the Jetblue A320's, and there will be a different and better entertainment system. (Blue Bayou----we have more cash than anyone---and not losiong it as fast as AA---so we can outlast the Iraq deal and the economy---and the systems will be in the planes---the contracts are signed) If you want to fly Jetblue from JFK to wherever---great. But, for those people who want a choice in airports---Song maybe for them. And, with all of the new advancements and the frequent flyer miles-----some people will change and enjoy Song. There is no doubt Jetblue will lose passengers and it will stunt their growth. If you think that adding 36 757's to their route network will not hurt them alittle atleast---you are dreaming. But, there will be good competition in this, and that is good for everyone.

Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Flying Freddie]

General Lee,
What happened to the Passengers who were flying in those 757's before Song? I hope you name the aircraft just like blueJet.
1) Green With Envy
2) Need Greenbacks
3) Desparately seeking Greenbacks
4) Greenish Blue
5) BLUEish Green

 

[Jeff G]

There is no doubt Jetblue will lose passengers and it will stunt their growth.

This isn't a zero-sum game. The Florida market is growing. More likely the market will continue to grow and some of that growth will go to Delta, instead of all of it going to JetBlue. JetBlue doesn't have the planes to fully service the market no matter what Delta does, so it's hard to make the case that Delta is "stunting" JetBlue's growth or even slowing it down. Maybe later on the bottom of the market will be found, but nobody has found it yet. In that case, additional growth at JetBlue will go towards other markets. Chicago, Boston... Cincinnati?

 

[fredflyer]

I saw your CEO on Cavuto on FOX and he said that Song will only provide a 12% more capacity lift than what they have now. (Express) Hmmmm. Our Express 737's had 119 seats, and our Song 757's will have 199 seats. 12%??? 80 extra seats is 12%? Wrong.

How many 737's did/does Express have?

 

[General Lee]

Fred Flyer,

I believe Delta has around 50 total 737-200's, and of those about 30 are still left at Delta Express flying up and down the east coast. The remaining 737-200's are now going to CVG to fly mainline routes that cannot support MD88's, or are too big for CRJ70's. Eventually all of the 737-200's will be based out of CVG, and they will be replaced eventually (2005-2006) by something in the 100 seat range (A318, 737-600, 717). We also have about 17 737-300's based in SLC and DFW, and 9 737-300's based in LGA flying the Delta Shuttle Routes---LGA to BOS and DCA.

Jeff G,

I know that there will be a lot of pax generated from our competition, but remember we both have other competition. Continental flies a lot of people out of EWR to Florida and SJU. Spirit flies a lot of MD80's from LGA to FLorida and on to SJU. And now Song and Jetblue will fight it out at JFK. There probably are a lot of new passengers that will try both of our airlines, but you at Jetblue cannot count on sustaining your current growth rate with all of the new entrants and Song nipping at your tail. I am sure your customers are loyal, but if they try Song once and think it was nice not to have to drive that far from the city to JFK--and LGA is closer---you might lose some customers. Delta really is trying to get things right with Song---faster turn times, nicer employees with a different attitude, interesting entertainment options, mileage programs with travel options, selling food that has to taste good if you were to buy it, etc. Our management has made no smoke screens here---they are gunning for Jetblue and have the money to give it a good try. I like friendly competition like the next guy, but Delta is serious---because they have to be.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[SWA/FO]

General Lee,

Does Delta have more money then LUV? What about ISP! HA "Song" is not going there?

Maybe the Pilot's uniforms will be cool looking?

 

[General Lee]

SWAFO,

According to the Delta CFO (which is probably biased)---Delta had $2.6 Billion in cash, and $5 billion to mortgage, and Southwest had $2.5 billion in cash and more to mortgage.(I don't know that part, but the $2.5 bil in cash was given) Yes, I am sure Delta has burned some of that away and Southwest probably has more cash on hand now, but not much more. Yes, Delta had a quarterly loss of $320mil---and some of that was one of those one time charges that will never come up again--I hope. Compared to the rest of the Majors---Delta is the star (behind Southwest I guess....)

ISP sucks as an airport. I used to fly into there on Express from FLL, MCO, PBI, and TPA. We still fly acouple of 737-200 flights a day in there, but I am sure Song will drop it because they might not be able to fill 199 seats on the lime green 757's. The terminal there is old, the runways are short, and the people are interesting. We still have RJ's (some 70 seaters) that can funnel people thru ATL and then down to FLA if they want to use us. I think Song will have a better chance at filling the seats at LGA,JFK, and EWR. But, you will see our planes in BDL---where we might compete. I guess they will be flying from IAD, BOS, BDL, and the three NYC airports. Eventually you might see them in LAS, PHX, SNA, and OAK. There are rumors that we might eventually have up to 60 757's at Song (out of 120 total 757's).
But, if you do see one of our crews outside one of those Lime green 757's, come over and say hi. I am sure the FO can afford to buy both of you a Starbucks Latte.

Bye Bye---General Lee