JetBlue loses $22mil 1stQ

[General Lee]

General, when was the last time you were on a JB flight?

I take DAL every week back and forth to work, and I greatly appreciate the ride.

That said, if JB were running BNA-ATL several times a day, you'd never see my butt on a DAL flight.

JB has a FANTASTIC product... beats DAL hands-down.

Their financial performance is a completely different issue... altogether.

I have flown on a JB flight, and I thought they did a good job. Was it fantastic? No. The blue chips were ok, and the LiveTV was good, kinda like Song's (now mainline's on the 757). The pilots were nice, and the stews were ok. And, it is doubtful you will ever see a JB flight from BNA to ATL, unless it is a weather divert or an E190 MX divert.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[HomerJ]

JetBlue...one bad week

Delta....daily horror show at the JFK Express Gates. Walk down and check it out. Pick any day...it's a nightmare EVERY day. Then tell me you'd send your worst enemy onto one of Freedom's Dash-8's after screaming over the 100 people surrounding each ticket counter...


We're gonna be just fine...best product in the industry. I'm a native NY'er and people here are fanatical about JetBlue. I know tons of people who refuse to fly on any other airline and I don't blame them.

It's because the DL Express operation is there for only one reason : to inflict as much pain on JB as possible. International feed? Right. They don't care what kind of operation they run as long as that dash or rj that taxis out causes a JB flight a few more minutes on the ground or in the air. Yea, they're pissing off their customers, but even if the planes operate empty they still serve their purpose.

 

[ils2minimums]

The legacys all have have one or two, or even three BKs under their belt. They have stuck it to the taxpayers and to their own employees, then have a big party when they show a profit.

Not ALL of them.

 

[clickclickboom]

Well maybe JB is waiting until we have 400 jets on property then we can go into chapter 11 drop a 100 flights a day into ATL and offer $29 fares below our costs to damage Delta..

Oh wait Delta's been doing that for 5 years to everyone else

Delta is by no means out of the woods..

They have this take over the world mentality and it will cost millions to compete with a handful of airlines in different geographical areas. Add in some employee discontent and a dash or "open skies from the EU" invading their intl market share and I would say we are already a few years into the 10 year cycle..


I wouldnt be surprised to start to see a slow buildup in Salt Lake either..

 

[Bavarian Chef]

I have flown on a JB flight, and I thought they did a good job. Was it fantastic? No. The blue chips were ok, and the LiveTV was good, kinda like Song's (now mainline's on the 757).

Bye Bye--General Lee

Yeah, but was it COMCASTIC?

TV like Song's? Song wanted me to pay for it, it's still free on JB. The one free thing they did have was very cool though: Trivia. You could play a trivia contest (kinda like at a bar) with all the other pax. Touch screens too. Var Nice.

 

[Lear70]

Hey Rich,

How's Airtran treating you guys??

You know,,, I can't really complain.

Really.



I know that's a bit hard to believe, but seriously, I've only gotten hosed twice and that was simply because the company HAD to cover stuff, not just because they had deliberately low-staffed the airline and had to screw just about EVERYONE.

I got a call last week from JB for an interview (after 7 years of applying - I had actually been keeping it current just to see if they EVER called). Thought about it pretty hard as everyone there I know loves it, but eventually called to say "No, thanks anyway."

Management here is not overly friendly, but we have a great Chief Pilot (saw him yesterday come out to the airplane just to apologize to a flight attendant, in person, for a CA who had been an a*s.) I have great QOL, pay could be better, and will be with the new contract we'll have before the end of the year (probably later than sooner but it'll be here), and I get lots of time off with commutable trips and great trip trading flexibility.

My FIRST WEEK here I went into the CP's office 'cause I had a 7 day cruise I had already scheduled while still at PCL and couldn't get it off. 2 minute conversation, BAM! Gone off my schedule, courtesy of the CP and A.S., the admin manager for the pilots. No mess, no fuss, happy to help!

THAT'S why I won't be submitting an app to NWA, UAL, or anywhere else unless this place goes south... I'm here and I like it.

I hope your commute to BNA is much better to ATL than to DTW.

Actually, it's about the same. DAL has downloaded some of their mainline flights to Freedom which has made it a little harder (I have to take one of the 2 early morning mainline flights to make it or end up driving once a month on average). Going BNA-DTW there was both NWA and SWA nonstops, so it was pretty easy.

I can only hope that one of these days AAI will come back to BNA. (fingers crossed)

It's all going peachy here at 9E, but I don't think my retro check is coming in the mail anytime soon. I think my ears have dropped to the floor waiting for SG to call me... Though these days, the first class date gets my dedication (that is, until the better offer comes along

LOL - most of us were doing the same thing. Whoever called first, won.

Forward me your stuff: [email protected]

There are 7 people from PCL currently on the interview list. They'll be another list coming out soon,,, if you can get to the AIR, Inc career fair, talk to Steph, then have 2 or 3 of us walk your stuff into Floy and email Stephanie about it, that "should" be enough to get you in the door.

I think most of us here are a bit envious of how JB is actually trying to run a decent business, trying to treat pax the "right" way. With that said, for us pilots, it's still business as usual. The highest bidder gets our loyalty. QOL and pay is more important than anything. If JB starts pulling any labor/mgmt crap, we'll see that place go down the drain in a dime. And that's exactly why SWA gets it. You'll never see a legacy FO running down the ramp in the rain trying to do his walkaround, so that they can do a 30 minute turn in hub.

Ayuh, that's about right.

I have flown on a JB flight, and I thought they did a good job. Was it fantastic? No. The blue chips were ok, and the LiveTV was good, kinda like Song's (now mainline's on the 757). The pilots were nice, and the stews were ok. And, it is doubtful you will ever see a JB flight from BNA to ATL, unless it is a weather divert or an E190 MX divert.

That's very true... although I wouldn't mind. I'd ESPECIALLY like it if WE started coming in here regularly again from ATL. DAL airfares on that route are EXTREMELY high - they have the market cornered on that city pairing. Methinks there's some obvious yield there, but AAI can't figure out how to make it a connecting city without competing with SWA (at least that's what JL and BF have said). But then again, we operate ATL-MEM as a turn, so why not BNA?

As far as JB goes, my family LOVES them. If they'd drop the hub-and-spoke thing out of JFK, they'd get a lot more business... No one wants to go to JFK to connect to MIA or LAX. Why add 6 hours to your day? Then again, you have to do the same thing on DAL... ATL during a summer thunderstorm isn't much better than JFK during a Nor'easter.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

I stand corrected. Airtran shows great strength. Congrats Airtran. I have to wonder if JetBlue is using JFK problems as an excuse. For years JetBlue has used JFK's customer base as a source of strength and profit. Now it's weighing them down. Hmmmmm.


I was also wrong about a legacy, UAL. They sucked wind this quarter. UAL is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. I have no idea what is going on over there. What is holding them back??




AirTran Swings to Profit

By Ted Reed
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
4/25/2007 9:23 AM EDT
Click here for more stories by Ted Reed


AirTran (AAI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) beat estimates and reversed a year-ago loss, despite declining unit revenue.

The Orlando-based low-cost carrier reported net income of $2.4 million, or 3 cents a share. Revenue was $504.5 million, up 21.3%. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 1 cent a share on revenue of $504.3 million.

Shares of AirTran rose 4% in premarket trading. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company lost $8.9 million. Revenue per available seat mile declined 0.4%, and capacity grew 20.5%. AirTran also reported a 6% increase in its average fare and a 70.1% load factor.

"Our revenue performance was better than expected and reflects a balancing of capacity in the marketplace, as well as demand for our product," said President Bob Fornaro, in a prepared statement.

The capacity increase reflected the addition of 20 new Boeing 737-700s and two new Boeing 717-200s to the fleet. The carrier said the addition of new aircraft enabled it to reduce cost per available seat mile, excluding fuel, by 4.1%.

"As we move into our seasonally strong second quarter, our core financial and operating fundamentals are improving," CFO Stan Gadek said.

 

[FDJ2]

I was also wrong about a legacy, UAL. They sucked wind this quarter. /quote]


Not as bad some might think, actually they did fairly well. They generated over $620M in free cash flow, they posted a large operational profit and used the cash generated to pay down $1.4B in debt. UAL ended the quater with over $4B in cash with $1.4B in less debt. It's probably a smart move on UAL's part to use their free cash flow and operational profits to continue to reduce their debt, particularly when they have $4B in cash. The lowered debt will lower their costs going forward and improve their position if demand and yields weaken.

Airtran also had a solid 1st quarter.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

[

Not as bad some might think, actually they did fairly well. They generated over $620M in free cash flow, they posted a large operational profit and used the cash generated to pay down $1.4B in debt. UAL ended the quater with over $4B in cash with $1.4B in less debt. It's probably a smart move on UAL's part to use their free cash flow and operational profits to continue to reduce their debt, particularly when they have $4B in cash. The lowered debt will lower their costs going forward and improve their position if demand and yields weaken.

Airtran also had a solid 1st quarter.

Good point. CASM is down 4.3%. New mail contract will help too.


http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070425/aqw040.html?.v=10


The company recorded an income tax benefit in the first quarter of 2007 of $84 million associated with the quarter's pre-tax loss. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 36 percent. Because of its Net Operating Loss carry-forwards and excess tax deductions, the company expects to pay minimal cash taxes in 2007.

Strong Cash Generation Facilitates Early Pay Down of Exit Loan

The company generated positive operating cash flow of $626 million, approximately $170 million higher than the comparable period in 2006. During the quarter, the company used cash to pay down $986 million of its original $3 billion exit facility and refinanced the remaining $2 billion. The transaction resulted in reducing net interest costs by $70 million per year, less restrictive covenants and released approximately $2.5 billion of collateral. The company reduced its outstanding debt by an additional $331 million through payments of other scheduled debt maturities. Total on and off balance sheet debt reduction in the quarter was $1.4 billion.

The company ended the quarter with a total cash and short-term investments balance of $4.2 billion, including a restricted cash balance of $856 million.

Total revenues for the first quarter declined from the first quarter of 2006 by 2.1 percent, or $92 million, to $4.4 billion. In addition to the $81 million reduction driven by lower UAFC sales, other operating and cargo revenues declined as United reduced low-margin third-party maintenance work, experienced declining Pacific cargo yield, and stopped carrying US domestic mail at the end of the second quarter of 2006. The company recently announced it had agreed to terms with the U.S. Postal Service for a new contract to begin carrying domestic mail on April 28, which is expected to generate up to $400 million in revenue over the four and a half year

 

[Lampshade]

Morningstar says:

However, we remain concerned that the firm's expansion strategy is resulting in an unsustainable debt load. Debt-to-capital is around 80%, and we don't see much relief on the horizon as the firm is taking on additional debt to purchase 22 more planes. Interest and principal repayments are ballooning while the firm keeps running into operating problems--first with efficiency issues on the new Embraers and most recently with the lack of controls to handle weather problems. JetBlue's cash flow appears sufficient to handle its obligations in the near term, but we think the firm could be vulnerable if it runs into further problems.

 

[IronCityBlue]

implausable theory

It's because the DL Express operation is there for only one reason : to inflict as much pain on JB as possible. International feed? Right. They don't care what kind of operation they run as long as that dash or rj that taxis out causes a JB flight a few more minutes on the ground or in the air. Yea, they're pissing off their customers, but even if the planes operate empty they still serve their purpose.

Novel theory, but I still don't buy it. Delta is spending thousands on each regional flight just to add 1-2 minutes block time to a few JB flights? You know I never thought I'd say this, but I don't think you're giving airline management enough credit.

Oh gosh, I think I just uke: a little in my mouth.

 

[ferlo]

..............

 

[Bavarian Chef]

Awards & Accolades

Best Low Cost/No Frills AirlineOAG, 2007 Airline of the Year Awards
Leading Provider of Domestic
Airfare DealsTravelZoo Awards, 2007
Best U.S. AirlineAirline Quality Ranking Survey
#2 rated airline, University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University
Best Domestic Airline for ValueTravel + Leisure, World's Best Values Awards
Most Admired CompaniesFortune magazine, #3 rated airline
Best Airline for Customer SatisfactionMarket Metrix

Best Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2006 Readers' Choice Awards

Extra Mile AwardFrommer's Budget Travel, for our shut-eye and snack bar services

Top U.S. Airline for Consumer DemandKanbay Research Institute 2006 Travel Demand Today Report

Best Domestic AirlineTravel + Leisure, 2006 World's Best Values Awards

Best Domestic Airline for ValueTravel + Leisure, 2006 World's Best Values Awards

Highest Low-Cost Carrier Customer SatisfactionJ.D. Power and Associates 2006 North America Airline Satisfaction Study

Best U.S. AirlineAirline Quality Ranking Survey, University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University

Best Low Cost/No Frills AirlineOAG, 2006 Airline of the Year Awards

Best Airline ValueEntrepreneur Magazine

Passenger Service AwardAir Transport World Magazine

Best Low-Cost CarrierCondé Nast Traveler, 2005 Business Travel Awards

Best Airline for Economy ClassGlobal Traveler Magazine

Best Low-Cost CarrierGlobal Traveler Magazine

#2 Domestic AirlineZagat, 2005 Airline Survey

Best Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2005 Business Travel Awards

Best Value for CostCondé Nast Traveler, 2005 Business Travel Awards

Great Gay Marketing AwardOut & About Travel Magazine, 2005 Travel Awards

#10 Top Performing Medium AirlineAviation Week & Space Technology Magazine, 2005 Top-Performing Companies

#17 Most Improved Medium AirlineAviation Week & Space Technology Magazine, 2005 Top-Performing Companies

#47 & 48 Reasons to Love Your CountryGQ Magazine, “62 Reasons to Love Your Country”

Silver Award (JetBlue’s Self-Service Check-In Kiosk)Business Week Magazine, 2005 Annual Design Awards

#25 JetBlue/Sky’s The LimitWired Magazine, The Wired 40 “masters of technology and innovation”

Best BrandingThe Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), 2005 Atlas Awards

World’s Best low-cost AirlineSkytrax, 2005 Airline of the Year Survey

#2 Airline in North AmericaSkytrax, 2005 Airline of the Year Survey

Top-Hospitality AirlineMarket Metrix, 2005 Hospitality Index

Best Airline QualityThe Wall Street Journal, 2005 Airline Quality Survey

Best Airline ServiceThe Associated Press, 2005 Annual Survey

Corporate Community Partnership AwardAmerican Red Cross

Best U.S. AirlineAirline Quality Ranking Survey, University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University

Best U.S. Airline Customer SatisfactionJ.D. Power and Associates Reports, 2005 Airline Satisfaction Index Study

Best Domestic AirlineNorth American Travel Journalists Association

Best U.S. ServiceBusiness 2.0, 2004 Omaha Aviation Institute’s Quality Ranking Survey

Best Corporate ServiceUSTA/Eastern Corporate Service

Best U.S. AirlineAirline Quality Ranking Survey, University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University

Best Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2004 Readers' Choice Awards

Best Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2004 Business Travel Awards

Best Value for CostCondé Nast Traveler, 2004 Business Travel Awards

#2 Domestic AirlineTravel & Leisure, 2004 World's Best Awards

#2 Domestic Airline - ServiceTravel & Leisure, 2004 World's Best Service Readers' Poll Awards

Best Domestic AirlineNorth American Travel Journalists Association, 5-Star Award

North America's Leading Budget Airline11th Annual World Travel Awards

Top 5 Domestic AirlineDepartures, 2004 Readers' Favorite Survey

Best Low Cost Carrier in the WorldGlobal Traveler Magazine

Best Low Cost Carrier, (Second Place) Executive Travel Magazine

Best in Executive TravelExecutive Travel Magazine

Airline Excellence Award, North AmericaSkytrax, 2004 Airline of the Year Survey

Best Low Cost AirlineSkytrax, 2004 Airline of the Year Survey

Best Cabin Staff, North AmericaSkytrax, 2004 Airline of the Year Survey

Best AirlineNew York Press, Best of Manhattan 2004 Readers' Poll

Favorite U.S. AirlineSalon.com, Readers' Choice

Most Wanted ListGotham

Best Company in North AmericaGlobal Finance Magazine

Best CFO (John Owen)Institutional Investor Magazine

Airline Customer Loyalty AwardBrandweek

Corporate Service AwardUnited States Tennis Association, Eastern Corporate Service Award

Best Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2003 Readers' Choice Awards

Best Value for CostCondé Nast Traveler, 2003 Readers' Choice Awards

Best Domestic AirlineNorth American Travel Journalists Association, Five-Star Award

#2 Domestic AirlineTravel & Leisure, 2003 World's Best Awards

#2 Domestic Airline - ServiceTravel & Leisure, 2003 World's Best Service Readers' Poll Awards

Top 5 Domestic AirlineDepartures, 2003 Readers' Favorite Survey

#3 World's Best Low Cost Airline (Best US Low Cost Airline)Business Traveler, 2003 World's Best Airlines Awards

Best Budget Airline10th Annual World Travel Awards

Best US Airline (Non-Major)Business Travel News, 2003 Airline Survey

Best Low Cost AirlineEntrepreneur

Best Low Cost AirlineSkytrax, 2003 Airline of the Year Survey

Best Cabin Staff, North AmericaSkytrax, 2003 Airline of the Year Survey

Airline of the YearAirfinance Journal, 2003 Deal of the Year

North American Corporate Finance Deal of the YearAirfinance Journal, 2003 Deal of the Year

Airline Customer Loyalty AwardBrandweek

IPO of the YearCorporate Finance

Marketing AwardAirline Business, 2003 Airline Strategy Award

Editors' ChoiceTravel-Holiday

Outstanding Inflight EntertainmentOnboard Services, 2003 Onboard Services Awards

Outstanding Safety VideoOnboard Services, 2003 Onboard Services Awards

Best Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2002 Readers' Choice Awards

Best Domestic Airline - CoachCondé Nast Traveler, 2002 Readers' Choice Awards

Best Domestic Airline - Value For CostCondé Nast Traveler, 2002 Readers' Choice Awards

Best Domestic AirlineNorth American Travel Journalists Association, Five-Star Award

#2 Domestic AirlineTravel and Leisure, 2002 World's Best Awards

Best Low-Cost Carrier (Runner-Up)Business Traveler, 2002 Best in Business Travel Awards

"It" AirlineEntertainment Weekly, 2002 It List

Editor's ChoiceWorth

Marketer of the YearAdvertising Age

#4 Brand of the Yearbrandchannel.com, 2002 Readers' Choice

Finance AwardAirline Business, 2002 Airline Strategy Awards

Market Development AwardAir Transport World, 2002 Industry Achievement Awards

Best Overall AirlineOnboard Services, 2002 Onboard Service Awards

Best Inflight or Onboard ServiceOnboard Services, 2002 Onboard Service Awards

Best Onboard EntertainmentOnboard Services, 2002 Onboard Service Awards

Best Uniforms (2nd Place)Onboard Services, 2002 Onboard Service Awards

Best Domestic Airline - CoachCondé Nast Traveler, 2001 Business Travel Awards

Best Domestic AirlineNorth American Travel Journalists Association, Five-Star Award

#2 Domestic AirlineCondé Nast Traveler, 2001 Reader's Choice Awards

#2 Domestic AirlineZagat, 2001 Airline Survey

Best New AirlineMoney

Favorite U.S. AirlineOrange County Register/Knight Ridder

Seal of ApprovalDiversion

"A" Ratinglanetfeedback, leading online consumer feedback service

#2 AirlineEpinions.com

"It" AirlineVanity Fair, 2000 It List

http://jetblue.com/about/ourcompany/history/about_ourhistory.html


We got the Great Gay Marketing Award???????

Have fun wit that one...

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Bavarian,

Great job digging so far into the past. Kinda brings back memories of no mx on brand new airplanes and low or no lease payments, doesn't it?

I don't care if Neeleman gets the Nobel Peace prize. If he can't get the airline to turn a profit, you're up the creek without a paddle.

The good news for JetBlue is UAL had a bad quarter too. Those without fortress Hubs are feeling the pain. UAL can't handle JetBlue, SWA and Frontier eating them up in all their markets.

 

[Flydaplane]

Impressive list, but you're right this one's worth commenting on!

Great Gay Marketing AwardOut & About Travel Magazine, 2005 Travel Awards


Wow, my hats off to ya! I'll keep my pants on though!

 

[jetpig32]

Novel theory, but I still don't buy it. Delta is spending thousands on each regional flight just to add 1-2 minutes block time to a few JB flights? You know I never thought I'd say this, but I don't think you're giving airline management enough credit.

Oh gosh, I think I just uke: a little in my mouth.

Lets see. Total fuel burn JFK-BDL in Dash. 700 LBS. $200 in fuel. Block time 1.2. Crew cost, $100 (pathetic). The expierience of DL connection out of JFK, priceless. I doubt direct operating cost is more then $500 on that flight. Noticing similar DCI banks of flights arount JB's banks, perhaps the slowdown theroy is a possibility. Put 1 First/Bus class pax connecting from BDL-JFK-DUB, probably paid for the DOC of that Dash flight. And you slowed down JB.

 

[clickclickboom]

Impressive list, but you're right this one's worth commenting on!

Great Gay Marketing AwardOut & About Travel Magazine, 2005 Travel Awards


Wow, my hats off to ya! I'll keep my pants on though!

WTF !! Can someone please explain the critera that goes into the selection process!!

It must be all of our " just say no to anal fissures" poster boys based in FLL

 

[Splinter]

General Lee...you haven't been banned yet? I worked under Delta for 8 years, and to this day your "customer service" ranks just above wiping human feces on each person's face as they exit the aircraft. Get those international flights built up because you will never touch the service from JetBlue and Southwest as long as people like you are the face of the company.

 

[mnboyev]

wow......my airline's better than yours......will it never end ? ........dumb question..the industry runs on ego...pure and simple.

 

[IronCityBlue]

still don't buy it

Lets see. Total fuel burn JFK-BDL in Dash. 700 LBS. $200 in fuel. Block time 1.2. Crew cost, $100 (pathetic). The expierience of DL connection out of JFK, priceless. I doubt direct operating cost is more then $500 on that flight. Noticing similar DCI banks of flights arount JB's banks, perhaps the slowdown theroy is a possibility. Put 1 First/Bus class pax connecting from BDL-JFK-DUB, probably paid for the DOC of that Dash flight. And you slowed down JB.

Your example cost 500 bucks to delay a JB aircraft by about 1 minute. Hardly the hemmoraging ROI an airline that's lean, mean and got its act together would be looking for. Not to mention the Dash's are very flexible planes that can accept the Idlewild climb, have a greater range of speed (fast or slow) on final, tighter turning radius, can depart/arrive much lower for a lot longer, etc. They are the least of JFK's newly found capacity problems.

There's also more to the cost you mentioned than that like mx, insurance, aircraft lease payments, landing fees, etc. And no matter how you slice it, whatever small delay per aircraft Delta puts JB through because of the DCI build up, they also put themselves, including their crown jewel Intl flying, through the same inconvienience.

And your numbers were for the cheapest plane within DCI to operate, on the shortest route in the system. Add significantly longer routes in 50 and 70 seat RJ's and you get an enormous increase in cost, yet the same delay factor per aircraft of just a couple minutes per departure/arrival.

Everyone likes esprit-de-corps, and its always fun to engage in a little "my airline can beat up your airline" ribbing, and it makes for GREAT recurrent ground school/jumpseat chatter when our respective fearless leaders try to rally the troops. But that doesn't make it true. There is no way Delta's build-up of DCI has anything whatsoever to do with intentionaly harming JetBlue. If some JB flights face a few extra minutes delay I'm sure Delta's leaders would say "great!" but that's not why those planes are there. For every minute they delay our 320 or 190, they delay their very own 767. Not a smart move if its for that purpose (which it isn't).

Look at JFK-BUF or BTV. We're still full, all day, every day. DCI's Dash's and RJ's aren't effecting us one bit. Delta is using those planes to bolster their Intl hub out of JFK and in doing so are poaching international pax from USAir at PHL, Northwest at DTW, United at IAD and American at JFK to name a few.

It costs us a minute here and there, so what. NYC is the dominant domestic market in the country and we all can't be number 80 in line for takeoff at LGA and EWR only appeals to so many, and comes with its challenges as well. For the longest time airlines looked down on Kenendy. Now that they see people really will fly out of there (by watching a top 10 major airline appear in JFK out of nowhere in just a couple years) everyone wants to get in on the action. Well, either that or they are all running unprofitable flights just to delay JetBlue. Yeah, that must be it. :laugh:

Delta has come a long way towards getting their act together. They will be a force to be reckoned with not only for JB but especially other legacies as they all focus on International at the same time; I think Delta is in the driver's seat with everything except the Pacific market. Their costs are much lower, their debt is down dramaticaly, their fleet is simplified and they're ready to rock and roll. With all that they're doing right lately, I very seriously doubt they are wasting money on tons of DCI flights in and out of JFK if those flights don't bring far more value to Delta's bottom line than they cost, just to "mess with JetBlue".