korg128

Change of topic but any rumors about Jetblue opening a new crew base somplace? Chicago, Denver, Seattle.

Also and I guess I heard that now there is talk of the JB / American merger.

Thanks.

Descendto450

No talk of base opening and no credible talk of mergers other then speculation from us really smart pilots😎

Ted Striker

No new bases and no merger.

seekingblue

this post is what dreams are made of.

-if you come here, expect our current bases to stag the same. if we did open new bases, they would not be the bases you suggested.

-a merger, while exciting to say in public, really really scares me. Would be WWIII, and everyone would lose. I don’t think this is happening.

-also on the merger front, I’ve heard United, AA, etc the entire time I’ve been here. I don’t think it’s happening.

seekingblue

I’ve heard rumors of SFO, LAS, RDU and TPA being considered for bases, however, those rumors have been around for a long time and likely don’t hold much merit. We so infrequently open bases, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

nuball5

Yeah….can we open EWR first before we think about opening that DEN base that Jetblue very much needs to support a handful of flights per day at best.

seekingblue

correct. I forgot about EWR. I think they would want to try and make it a co-base (I don’t think any pilots want that). But I’m sure the company will try….

MainlineFlyer

Shouldn't we build out LAX and MCO before adding more bases?

AA has no money to buy anyone, and I doubt our company would like to be saddled with a bunch more debt.

Post AA BK? Maybe.

TransWorld

That is slightly more than the $15/hour the Democrats are proposing as minimum wage. Hmmmmm....

BeatNavy

There was talk by Scott L (network/revenue/planning guy) pre-pandemic of possibly opening a new focus city in 3-5 years, but none of those cities. I’m sure covid has affected that though and haven’t heard anything else about it in a long time. Nothing I see points to a new focus city or crew base, at least in the short term. Focus seems to be on growing existing cities (NYC/BOS first for the NEA, then likely LAX, with some south Florida mixed in, then lastly MCO).

EWR possibly could be a crew base—but they will likely bargain for it to be included as a JFK co-base in the next section 6 first…or, if they renegotiate LOA13 based on the arbitration results, maybe try then too. I just don’t see them opening it right now as a separate base without a fight to get it included in JFK. LAS and RDU may have enough flights/overnights to justify a base in the next 5 years, but I’m not holding my breath for either. I’ve heard SFO tossed around, but I think if that ever happens it’d be a long way off (5-10 years?). Then there’s the rumor of AUS or BNA I’ve heard a few times, but I don’t see either happening anytime soon. So my answer: I’m not planning on any new crew bases in the next 5 years, outside of EWR being added as a co-base if the pilot group gives it away, or possibly as a new base altogether.

Regarding an AA merger rumor: there is always a B6 merger rumor. AA is the rumor du jour because of the NEA. I just don’t see the DOJ allowing a AA+B6 merger, unless possibly AA shrank significantly and went thru a bankruptcy first. Not impossible, but also not likely imo. I think AA/B6 each kind of has the best of both worlds for themselves as it stands with the NEA. A merger would cause more divestiture and large cost for integration, with a decade+ of merger related issues (look no further than current AA with their HP/L-US/L-AA integration). AA & B6 are already getting a lot of the benefit of a merger (network integration and FF base) without incurring the associated costs and having to streamline / convert / integrate products. The only B6 merger I see as possible is with Alaska…but even that doesn’t seem likely, at least not presently. I guess a merger with NK/F9 (or even breeze down the road) could be possible as well…but I see those as even less likely.