Logan Airport Flights and Airlines Discussion

[Brattle Loop]

I agree with JD Powers who gives Jet Blue top ratings!

Different methodologies will produce different results. Anything that weighs on-time performance and cancellations heavily is probably going to drag JetBlue way down, even if satisfaction with the overall product remains high.

 

[737900er]

That may be but in reality their hard product is nothing special and there are charter operators like Omni and National that could pick up the slack. Maybe they could even work out a deal with Aer Lingus which currently has all its A330-200s parked. I would think it’s more important to their customers to get where they’re going than be hugely inconvenienced just to have a certain experience for the short amount of time they’re in the air. We’re talking about Boston to London here after all, not Newark to Singapore. JetBlue’s MO has earned them the distinction of being America’s worst airline so they should probably start doing the opposite of what they’ve been doing.

Wasn't it Aer Lingus who contracted with Omni for a summer a few years ago? I feel like people were less than impressed with that, and Aer Lingus is an established carrier, had no competition at the time (IIRC), and wasn't trying to establish themselves in a critical new market.

 

[Lrfox]

That may be but in reality their hard product is nothing special and there are charter operators like Omni and National that could pick up the slack. Maybe they could even work out a deal with Aer Lingus which currently has all its A330-200s parked. I would think it’s more important to their customers to get where they’re going than be hugely inconvenienced just to have a certain experience for the short amount of time they’re in the air. We’re talking about Boston to London here after all, not Newark to Singapore. JetBlue’s MO has earned them the distinction of being America’s worst airline so they should probably start doing the opposite of what they’ve been doing.

Realistically, it's probably a combination of several factors. Demand might still be softer than they want for their launch. Chartering is hardly ideal if your marketing centers on the hard product at competitive prices. It's even less ideal if you're flying an A330-200 on the route with surging fuel prices and soft demand. And finally, the airline has had to cull flights this summer just to keep from melting down. Leasing an aircraft to launch a new transatlantic route seems counterintuitive. Especially if initial demand is soft.

MINT (the hard product, anyway), may be "nothing special" compared to AA, BA, DL, VS, etc. but JetBlue's not really marketing it as being better than any of those. Their pitch is that their MINT fares will be significantly lower and open up a premium experience to passengers who normally wouldn't be able to touch it on another airline. I bailed on JetBlue a while ago and now only reluctantly fly them when there aren't other options, but it's hard to argue that they haven't been successful with the MINT strategy so far. It really doesn't matter to many potential customers that VS Upper Class is comparable to or better than MINT if it costs 2-3x as much for a seat.

 

[mass88]

Delta is adding non-stop service to Phoenix starting in December at once daily using a 739.

Boston to Phoenix leaves at 8:00 am and arrive at 12:14 pm
Phoenix to Boston leaves at 11:45 pm and arrives at 6:54 am

No official press release, a user in the Delta network thread over on Airliners.net posted it. Flights are bookable.

Between Denver, Baltimore/Washington, San Diego, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Kansas City either recently starting, or due to start, Houston is the only hole in what has become a solid domestic network for Delta.