Originally Posted by SmitteyB

What makes you think it is a female? Did they specifically say that?

Originally Posted by DontCallMeCindy

First of all, airlines are truly just government-sanctioned real estate cartels: at the end of the day there’s only a tiny marginal financial benefit to differentiating on product and experience (which might not justify the investment in providing it). The bulk of demand is truly driven by price & network (availability on a specific date/time/route).

Second of all, today’s consumer has been trained (by multiple industries) to expect a much more granular unbundling of pricing for goods and services—aka they want to pick and choose exactly what they pay and do not pay for.

The ULCCs (and especially the legacies—adapting to the threat of ULCCs) now essentially let the consumer pick and choose from myriad options for everything ranging from WiFi, food, multiple tiers of seat-pitch, etc.. We offer a scattershot, random selection of Mint seats on certain boutiquey routes, “EMS” seats (on some but not all planes/routes), various entertainment quality depending on the config, and a confusing and ever-changing hodge-podge of food for purchase and free snacks (I still can’t wrap my head around what determines what is catered where). Our product and experience and customer service are quite literally all over the freaking place.

We have essentially lost our former competitive advantages on product and experience, by failing to adapt to the consumer’s expectation of control over what they are paying for, and also by failing to provide a consistent set of options/a consistent experience across all fleets, routes, hubs, etc.. There is more commonality of brand identity connecting from a UAL 777 to a United Express RJ than there is buying a ticket on the same route at the same time on JB on different weeks/months! Imagine if every time you walked into a Starbucks, even the same Starbucks, half the menu from the day before wasn’t available!

Our market segmentation is more inefficient than any airline I am aware of, because we effectively force everyone to pay for WiFi (by calling it free), a TV screen (even if they have their own device), and snacks (even if they are on a keto diet), while simultaneously only randomly offering premium seats/fresh food for sale/connecting flights/etc..

Lastly, at the very end of the day, none of the above matters if the customer doesn’t make it within x amount of their arrival time y% of the time they fly on us.

Originally Posted by VDemerest

Fellas, I'm a fella. An old one, but, I have not transitioned yet and don't plan on it.

Also, if any of you have ever watched "Airport" -- the stowaway on the flight, Ada Quonset, references her "late husband" and how he was a "teacher of geometry" --

There's a bit of sarcasm and tonuge-in-cheek in my statements there. Maybe I'm out of date, but, no one on airliners seems to understand the humor. I've received DEATH THREATS in my personal message folder from some real JetBlue fans.

Anyway, someone directed me here. I did not know this forum existed. I guess I've made a mark over here as well. Happy to answer questions.

Originally Posted by VDemerest

Fellas, I'm a fella. An old one, but, I have not transitioned yet and don't plan on it.

Also, if any of you have ever watched "Airport" -- the stowaway on the flight, Ada Quonset, references her "late husband" and how he was a "teacher of geometry" --

There's a bit of sarcasm and tonuge-in-cheek in my statements there. Maybe I'm out of date, but, no one on airliners seems to understand the humor. I've received DEATH THREATS in my personal message folder from some real JetBlue fans.

Anyway, someone directed me here. I did not know this forum existed. I guess I've made a mark over here as well. Happy to answer questions.

Originally Posted by MainlineFlyer

He certainly has very intricate knowledge of our management. Some of his info I can vouch for. He is certainly biased, but I cannot refute anything he has said. Can You explain why jet blue needs 3 different flavors of flight attendants when literally no one else in the airline world does this? Do you believe we have fewer managers than we need?

On a side note can anyone with an accounting background verify his statements about us being $1.5B in the hole this year with a further $6B coming due?

Originally Posted by palmettopilot

I'd be very curious about that. Most of that stuff is public knowledge though. I feel like we would know if that was true.

Originally Posted by VDemerest

Also, if any of you have ever watched "Airport" -- the stowaway on the flight, Ada Quonset, references her "late husband" and how he was a "teacher of geometry" --

Originally Posted by DontCallMeCindy

First of all, airlines are truly just government-sanctioned real estate cartels: at the end of the day there’s only a tiny marginal financial benefit to differentiating on product and experience (which might not justify the investment in providing it). The bulk of demand is truly driven by price & network (availability on a specific date/time/route).

Second of all, today’s consumer has been trained (by multiple industries) to expect a much more granular unbundling of pricing for goods and services—aka they want to pick and choose exactly what they pay and do not pay for.

The ULCCs (and especially the legacies—adapting to the threat of ULCCs) now essentially let the consumer pick and choose from myriad options for everything ranging from WiFi, food, multiple tiers of seat-pitch, etc.. We offer a scattershot, random selection of Mint seats on certain boutiquey routes, “EMS” seats (on some but not all planes/routes), various entertainment quality depending on the config, and a confusing and ever-changing hodge-podge of food for purchase and free snacks (I still can’t wrap my head around what determines what is catered where). Our product and experience and customer service are quite literally all over the freaking place.

We have essentially lost our former competitive advantages on product and experience, by failing to adapt to the consumer’s expectation of control over what they are paying for, and also by failing to provide a consistent set of options/a consistent experience across all fleets, routes, hubs, etc.. There is more commonality of brand identity connecting from a UAL 777 to a United Express RJ than there is buying a ticket on the same route at the same time on JB on different weeks/months! Imagine if every time you walked into a Starbucks, even the same Starbucks, half the menu from the day before wasn’t available!

Our market segmentation is more inefficient than any airline I am aware of, because we effectively force everyone to pay for WiFi (by calling it free), a TV screen (even if they have their own device), and snacks (even if they are on a keto diet), while simultaneously only randomly offering premium seats/fresh food for sale/connecting flights/etc..

Lastly, at the very end of the day, none of the above matters if the customer doesn’t make it within x amount of their arrival time y% of the time they fly on us.

Originally Posted by MainlineFlyer

I agree with about half of this. Does real estate and network matter? Of course. If it was the only thing though, no one would ever fly us again, and the legacies would place people in standing only pods on their flights with no food. The fact is when two airlines offer the same route you need to give people a reason to pick you over the competition. In the legacies case it's a consistent experience, and a network that make the points valuable. At jet blue we offer a better product for around the same price or cheaper. Product matters, espeseially to frequent flyers (the ones you want).

Originally Posted by MainlineFlyer

At jet blue we offer a better product for around the same price or cheaper. Product matters, espeseially to frequent flyers (the ones you want).