Ya see when KooL BLUE Aid drinkers start blasting about how great they are doing, when so many others are on furlough, one can not simply ignore the fact that there is excess capacity in the system, which is exacerbated by LCCs like jet blue transfering high paying jobs to low paying jobs.
I need to raise the BS flag on this one.
It appears that some folks here believe it is a folly for others to celebrate in the financial success of their employer. How convenient it must be to pass it off as just naive and selfish hubris by a bunch of jetBlue "kool-Aid" drinkers.
Despite your assertions, nobody at jetBlue is dancing on the graves of those who've been trampled by this industry downturn. Quite the contrary, the vast majority of people at jetBlue are extremely grateful for their good fortune, and many have been given a new lease on life because of jetBlue's growth and success (i.e., former furloughees).
Perhaps (unlike many other airline employees) the reason jetBlue employees are happy to announce the success of their employer is due to the fact that they see themselves as an integral part of that success, and thus a reflection of their own performance, and because that many jetBlue employees are also shareholders in the company. These people have every right to celebrate and express their satisfaction in what should be embraced by everyone in this business. That being another small victory in an industry that has been decimated by unprecidented financial losses and wide-scale personal losses.
It seems in this case, that just as there may be a very small minority who finds glee in others' loss, there also seems to be those who are envious in the success of others. Both are equally wrong and should be recognized as such.
Finally, it is true that there is too much capacity in this business. But to say that doesn't adequately decribe its true nature. As always, the statement "it depends" applies in this case. If one looks at the capacity within specific market segments, the capacity issues runs contrary to itself.
Among the major hub and spoke carriers excess capacity is indeed a problem. If the major legacy carriers want to blame somebody they're better off turning inward among themselves to correct their problems. On the other hand LCC point-to-point carriers are faced with an under-capacity problem. Their business model has seen tremendous growth year over year despite substantial increases in new capacity. Just look at jetBlue's numbers in the most recent quarter. Despite a 66% increase in YOY capacity, load factors still increased to an industry high of 87.7%. With those kind of numbers you can bet that their was significant "spillage" to other carriers by passengers who wanted more low-cost ticket prices (thank-you Song!).
JetBlue, and others, will continue to grow capacity to respond to the still growing demand to their business model. To subscribe to the idea that they (with their impish fleet of 48 aircraft) are responsible for the "excess capacity" in other parts of the industry (and their associated ills) is truly naive and makes more reasonable people wonder who's really got their mugs charged with the proverbial "kool-aid."
