FlyingCricket
Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2004
- Posts
- 21
JetBlue likely to challenge ATA-AirTran deal
Dateline: Monday December 06, 2004
JetBlue Airways is interested in operating into Chicago Midway from its New York JFK base as well as acquiring slot exemptions at New York LaGuardia that ATA Airlines has agreed to sell to AirTran Airways, CEO David Neeleman said Friday.
Speaking in Washington at a meeting hosted by the Aviation Safety Alliance, Neeleman challenged the terms of the $87.6 million agreement between ATA and AirTran. "I'm still confused about the whole Chicago thing," he said. "The way we read the gate rules--and we've been over to Midway a couple of times and talked to [airport officials]--these aren't gates that can be sold. They are not the property of AirTran or ATA."
He also said that the slot exemptions granted ATA by the US Dept. of Transportation do not belong to the airline but need to be returned to DOT if ATA is not using them. "We are standing in line for [ATA's] LGA slots," he stated. At the same time, he stressed, "We don’t want to grow Chicago in a big way…We don't think that is a smart thing for us." In a wide-ranging discussion, Neeleman repeated earlier guidance that the carrier expects to show a net loss for the fourth quarter, which would represent its first quarterly loss since 2001. But he added that "JetBlue was built for the bad times…for very difficult times, times like 9/11, times like now…We have a strong balance sheet, we have access to capital, we have enough cash to see us through very difficult times and we have the best product in the industry." He joked, "Half of me wants the [price of oil] to go to $25 per barrel and half of me wants it to go to $60 a barrel."--Perry Flint
Dateline: Monday December 06, 2004
JetBlue Airways is interested in operating into Chicago Midway from its New York JFK base as well as acquiring slot exemptions at New York LaGuardia that ATA Airlines has agreed to sell to AirTran Airways, CEO David Neeleman said Friday.
Speaking in Washington at a meeting hosted by the Aviation Safety Alliance, Neeleman challenged the terms of the $87.6 million agreement between ATA and AirTran. "I'm still confused about the whole Chicago thing," he said. "The way we read the gate rules--and we've been over to Midway a couple of times and talked to [airport officials]--these aren't gates that can be sold. They are not the property of AirTran or ATA."
He also said that the slot exemptions granted ATA by the US Dept. of Transportation do not belong to the airline but need to be returned to DOT if ATA is not using them. "We are standing in line for [ATA's] LGA slots," he stated. At the same time, he stressed, "We don’t want to grow Chicago in a big way…We don't think that is a smart thing for us." In a wide-ranging discussion, Neeleman repeated earlier guidance that the carrier expects to show a net loss for the fourth quarter, which would represent its first quarterly loss since 2001. But he added that "JetBlue was built for the bad times…for very difficult times, times like 9/11, times like now…We have a strong balance sheet, we have access to capital, we have enough cash to see us through very difficult times and we have the best product in the industry." He joked, "Half of me wants the [price of oil] to go to $25 per barrel and half of me wants it to go to $60 a barrel."--Perry Flint
