jetliner1526

I concur Gloopy

Dragnet

I haven't checked on this for quite a while but B6's 'poison pill' was that the preferential treatment from the Port Authority goes away if they are bought by another company. Those benefits (ie JFK) were not transferable when B6 started operations and that was true for at least a few years after they started operations.

gloopy

Wasn't there also a "poison pill" regarding T5 being unable to accept widebody aircraft? Even if what you say is true, that would easily be considered on the front end. Its not like SW, AA and/or DL would walk in, plunk down the cash, be caught by suprise and watch helplessly as the almighty Port Authority sold things randomely and without reason out from under them.

The Port Authority is all about getting paid to play. DL knows this well, blowing 1.5 Billion on a small (9 or so) gate extention in JFK and 150+ million on a walkway in LGA. You know who else is really, really good at the arts and crafts of aviation politics? SW. They got 18 slots in EWR not even by squealing, but just by threatening to start the process of considering squealing about the UAL/CAL merger.

Whatever the "poison pill" is would be dealt with while the ink was drying on the NDA's signed long before any of us ever heard about what was imminently about to happen. Money is the antedote to poison pills like that, even if they exist, and DL, AA and especially SW have more than enough cash and political smash to grease the skids on anything involving T5, T5i or slots at JFK. It would barely be a lower VP level speedbump.

Dragnet

Gloopy, my apologies. I thought that it would be clearly understood that without the NY Port Authority preferential treatment, the value of B6 would be significantly diminished. To the point where it is not a desirable acquisition target.

Let me put it in plain language: B6 isn't worth feline feces without NY Port Authority preferential treatment.

gloopy

That may have been true initially to some extent, but the fact is they have the terminal(s) gates and slots now regardless. The point in question at this point is how much, if at all, the city/state/Port will "protect" them with any such "poison pill" policies. I say none whatsoever, as long as those involved are willing to pay to play, which they will be (they already are).

The only leverage the Port would have anyway, even if there was really some kind of iron clad poison pill, would be to threaten a post merger/acquisition/fragmentation open bidding free for all. Like airline A buys JB but the Port lets airlines B, C and D out bid airline A for the key assets. Chicken and egg though, as airline A wouldn't have written a blank check for JB in the first place without dealing with such "poison pill" going in to it, even if it exists, which it probably doesn't anyway.

NYC is one of, if not the, most crucial domestic markets in aviation history. AA and SW need to do better there. Way better. And DL/UA would probably like to round out their presence a bit too, although its not nearly as crucial for them now. Even if JB/PANYNJ has such a poison pill, there is really little they can do to stop the inevitable anyway, other than leach some more money off the big players. But that's just garden variety big city politics anyway, and I'm sure AA/DL/SW are 3 steps ahead of that chess move already.

Dragnet

Yes. And because they were given to JetBlue without going through the normal bidding process, those 75 slots cannot be sold, traded, given away, etc. That includes having the slots revoked in a merger.
If I remember the special exemption given to JetBlue, I'm sure every airline management team is aware that those slots will not transfer to a new entity. And after Barger's testimony (stunt) with respect to the AMR/LCC merger, do you really think that Parker's team isn't going to oppose everything that JetBlue does requiring approval from the government?

Flyby1206

Jetblue traded some JFK slots to AA in exchange for some DCA slots a few years ago. Why couldnt they trade/lease more?

txbusdriver

JetBlue owns their slots. Nobody wanted them and Neeleman jumped in and grabbed, probably Herb's biggest mistake. As far as preferential treatment you are smoking crack.

gloopy

So what do you think will be done with those slots? Complete free for all bidding, leaving the acquiring airline potentially slotless as those assets go to another airline?

That's about as likely as T5 being built to only physically be able to handle narrowbody airplanes as a "poison pill".

Whatever the fate of the slots post merger, that will be taken care of on the front end under the cover of NDA's. The PANYNJ will be present at those meetings, and their hands, pockets and backpacks will be stuffed with money but that issue will be easilly resolved prior to us reading about what just happened in the paper.