#jetBlue and #Spirit: JUST SAYIN'

Here on LinkedIn in Sept. 2021 I wrote: Call me crazy, but the catalyst [for consolidation] this time might very well be a stable of skilled human capital. The airline with the most pilots and mechanics wins.

THIS MORNING'S WALL STREET JOURNAL, Jon Sindreu:

Headline: How the Pilot Shortage Made JetBlue Overpay for Spirit

Subhead: JetBlue’s logical choice for a merger would have been Alaska Airlines, but a lack of skilled pilots makes executives unwilling to mix Boeing and Airbus fleets

I am not going to say I told you so, but I told you so. What I find interesting about the WSJ subhead is the unwillingness to combine fleets. Mixing fleets may well prove less difficult than combining workforces - or should I say cultures.

The fact that the two airlines play to very different segments of air travel consumers would suggest that the cultures are quite different as well. Not once since this lust for Spirit (NK) began to play out, have I read the word culture mentioned in any story or statement.

To make this combination work, each jetBlue (B6) and NK need to be better at retaining the skilled workers they have today in addition to creating a culture where future airmen/women want a career. Getting the paint shop ready to paint NK blue has never made sense to me.

Rather, in a number of forums I mentioned that a model like IAG has in place should be considered before any outright integration begins. Multiple airlines that appeal to different consumer segments under one holding company umbrella should be considered.

I kinda like this combination because of the differences. Each airline's products today are designed to play to their strengths. Remember the book "In Search of Excellence" and "stick to your knitting"?

Do what you do best. B6s product is not what NKs customer seeks in making a purchase decision. And NKs single class product is not what the B6 customer seeks. But together under one umbrella, the combination can appeal to a much broader array of customers than either carrier alone can today.

That bigger customer base may begin to choose the other carrier depending on the nature of the trip. By keeping the carriers separate, a patient approach to combining technology, cultures, and facilities to name a few will have a much better chance of staying out of the headlines regarding integration mishaps.

It may also play out that tomorrow's air travel consumer would rather have more NK product to choose from than today's B6 product. Making a choice as to exactly what Gens Y, Z, and C will want tomorrow is a big bet today.

Should one segment naturally grow faster than the other will likely be met with organized labor's pushback, particularly ALPA. But it is high time that labor begin to think about ways it can provide a longer runway to facilitate growth. The #ALPAtross around innovative ways to create growth needs to be removed.

This only matters if B6 + NK passes DOJ muster.

#swelbar