Tag Archives for jetblue.
According to a form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, JetBlue has served notice that it may opt to terminate its agreement to buy Spirit Airlines. This termination could happen as early as Sunday.
When JetBlue lost, their stock soared. This is a bad deal for JetBlue shareholders, with the airline overpaying ($3.8 billion) for access to planes and pilots, and taking on the distractions, costs, and capital expenses of a merger and retrofit of Spirit Airlines aircraft. The federal government was doing them a favor by suing to block the deal.
It’ll be interesting to see how this proceeds, since JetBlue really doesn’t have another game plan. They face tremendous uncertainty, but certainly could succeed with a time-consuming appeal. Their costs grow each and every month that the merger isn’t called off, however.
Better, perhaps, would be to revisit a deal with American Airlines akin to the one American has with Alaska Airlines, involving frequent flyer program reciprocity and codeshares – something the judge in that trial expressly suggested would be legal. They’d continue to return money-losing slots in New York to American. That won’t solve all of their problems but is likely a better path – having a partner in strong financial centers that allows them to double down on their co-brand credit card – than pursuing an acquisition of Spirit that wasn’t great for the airline or investors to begin with.
With the departure of JetBlue’s CEO I noted just how badly this airline does compared to competitors. Enilria (airline, backwards) thinks it’s time for them to declare bankruptcy,
JetBlue announced on Monday that CEO Robin Hayes would step down effective February 12, 2024, and will also leave the board at that time. If this were a voluntary transition it would likely be longer. However if misconduct were involved it would likely be immediate.
Hayes, clearly, was a failed CEO – having failed both shareholders and customers.
Thursday’s JetBlue flight 170 from Fort Lauderdale to Boston had to divert to Orlando, and passengers didn’t reach their destination until after 4:30 in the morning, when a man on board revealed himself to be the devil and punched the woman he was traveling with.
For travel January through March, JetBlue is offering roundtrip business class trips between New York and London Gatwick airport for $1835 total, all-in.
Last year Mike Tyson beat up a passenger on a JetBlue flight.
Tyson flew JetBlue from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale. The man sitting behind him in business class wouldn’t stop talking with him. Their interaction began with Tyson agreeing to take a selfie, but when passengers wouldn’t leave him alone Tyson let them know he’d had enough. Finally Tyson got up and began giving the man behind him a beat down. Going full-on Joe Lewis, he drew blood.
JetBlue’s consideration of a merger with Alaska Airlines before proceeding with Spirit Airlines, as revealed in an anti-trust trial, raises questions about strategic fits and anti-trust issues, given their respective strongholds on the East and West coasts. The complexities of airline mergers, such as fleet commonality and culture integration, along with the current administration’s stance against mergers, make the JetBlue-Spirit deal contentious, despite potential benefits to competition and market growth.
JetBlue’s award travel has been restricted, offering low value for their points and making transfers from credit card programs unattractive. However, the partnership with Qatar Airways now allows for point redemption for JetBlue flights, with a distance-based award chart and wide availability for transatlantic business class bookings.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
