Southwest, Virgin America to buy LaGuardia slots

[MetalMover]

he worst time for that to happen.

whether DL buys VX or not, two Virgin franchises have DL as their strongest US partner. You can hope that VX will come after DL but the evidence is that in their first how many years of operation, AA and UA have been VX's target.

Should DL buy VX...then it might be that SW will be the one to clean DL's clock at LGA.

 

[WorldTraveler]

I don't honestly think DL will buy VX. They have lots of debt that is far in excess of the value of the business.

The only reason why Branson was pushing the deal was because he was willing to transfer slots at LHR to DL... but that isn't really necessary since DL has a joint venture for LHR-US flying plus a 49% ownership which means they will benefit from VS' profits when they come.

And more than that, the chances of any mergers involving the big 4 are very low based on the huge divestiture that the DOJ is requiring of AA/US. Even in the west, gates are scarce enough that divestitures are not worth it.
If a network carrier has to divest away large parts of the network in order to gain merger approval, the chances are high that there are other ways to achieve the benefit in another way.

Specific to the original comment about VX starting ATL service, it is doubtful that VX would start ATL service if their goal is to connect to the west coast. Since WN already competes with DL to ATL, VX would become the 2nd low cost carrier while there are no LCCs in LGA-ORD or LGA-DFW. VX already serves DFW and ORD to LAX and SFO.

VX does have a significant cost advantage to AA and UA which is why they are growing in their markets.

VX' fares in the markets where they compete with AA and UA are considerably higher than what other low fare carriers such as B6 get on transcon markets and much closer to AA and UA levels.

 

[700UW]

Its a done deal:
 
http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_talk/

 

[Force Majeure]

Delete

 

[WorldTraveler]

so it is a net 6 new flights for each carrier.

good to see Virgin America moving into LGA... the notable absence in the process is B6.

This might be the last chance they have to grow at LGA and they didn't seem to bite.

 

[IORFA]

Too bad Westjet didn't get any. They would have been better than the DOJ's carrier of choice.

 

[MAH4546]

I have heard Virgin America has inquired about moving into MIA's Concourse J (from FLL). 
 
I wouldn't be shocked if all six slots are used on service to South Florida. 

 

[expressedndepressed]

Westjet? Who are they?

 

[700UW]

http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/home.shtml;jsessionid=MpGsSh1RlKXJpkSCw0nxnQCT40ypSygnkp2p8vs1Yn5hWRdWHRnL!-634911591

 

[xUT]

Well, it's good to see that the industry is deregulated...

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

perhaps they haven't done the research that would show the impact that the amendments to the WA that included STL and MCI among other cities have done to AA's share of the market.

 
???
 
MCI and STL were huge markets for Southwest long before they were allowed to fly there from DAL under the amended WA. In fact,  WN has been the #1 carrier in both of those cities for years, and it was always a boneheaded move for AA to even bother competing in those markets, and I have even said that before on this bulletin board. You need to come up with a better example… You're basically suggesting that WN stole a market that they already owned.

 

[lpbrian]

Another case of this administration rewarding companies for sending mx jobs overseas...

 

[WorldTraveler]

???
 
MCI and STL were huge markets for Southwest long before they were allowed to fly there from DAL under the amended WA. In fact,  WN has been the #1 carrier in both of those cities for years, and it was always a boneheaded move for AA to even bother competing in those markets, and I have even said that before on this bulletin board. You need to come up with a better example… You're basically suggesting that WN stole a market that they already owned.

I'm talking about DAL/DFW to MCI and STL. WN was not permitted to fly from N. Texas to MCI and STL and yet now that they are there, they have almost identical share and revenue as AA has from DFW.

And WN also wasn't "always" as big in STL as they are now. AA bought a STL based airline and dismantled it. There are dozens of empty gates there today that are representative of the market which AA walked away from and which WN stepped in to fill.

Whether we are talking about DAL/DFW to MCI and STL or STL as a city, the notion that AA has a track record of defending its network against low fare carriers is simply not there.

 

[WNMECH]

Another case of this administration rewarding companies for sending mx jobs overseas...

Swa is allowed only 4 lines of 737 maintenance to a foreign location.
Which airlines have no overseas maintenance? And which ones have less than 4 lines?

 

[MetalMover]

I'm talking about DAL/DFW to MCI and STL. WN was not permitted to fly from N. Texas to MCI and STL and yet now that they are there, they have almost identical share and revenue as AA has from DFW.

And WN also wasn't "always" as big in STL as they are now. AA bought a STL based airline and dismantled it. There are dozens of empty gates there today that are representative of the market which AA walked away from and which WN stepped in to fill.

Whether we are talking about DAL/DFW to MCI and STL or STL as a city, the notion that AA has a track record of defending its network against low fare carriers is simply not there.

What has happened in the past is not necessarily an indication of what's ahead.