A reader alerted me to an article in Tuesday’s online Wall Street Journal concerning JetBlue.
If you are a WSJ subscriber, you can access the entire column by clicking here.
The column was written by Heidi N. Moore, who writes under the moniker “Deal Yenta.”
Her topic for the day was “Should JetBlue Sell Itself?”
Predictably, Deal Yenta opened the column by jumping all over JetBlue’s announcement concerning how passengers will now be able to purchase nice clean sealed pillows and blankets for $7 on their longer haul flights, as an alternative to the free nasty germ-laden things that should never be used by anyone.
But, for some reason, this move then prompted the Deal Yenta to come to the conclusion that perhaps the airline should sell itself — to Southwest Airlines.
Needless to say, when our reader told me about the column, I thought he was kidding.
No, he wasn’t.
And I quote from this rather amusing-in-a-sad-sort-of-way piece,
“Many analysts have said the best way for airlines to cut capacity is to merge. JetBlue is far from desperate right now. Morgan Stanley analyst William Greene recently noted that the airline industry isn’t yet at the tipping point where carriers have to wrestle with consolidation or bankruptcy. That means that if JetBlue were to consider selling itself now, it wouldn’t be a desperation move. And that is the point. Wouldn’t it be better to do something while there is still plenty of time to maneuver and get the best deal possible?”
Lufthansa now owns a nice chunk of JetBlue, the airline did okay in the second quarter, and frankly, Dave Barger did not sound remotely desperate in the airline’s second quarter call. Or, at least he didn’t sound any more desperate than most other CEOs we’ve listened to of late. In fact, I’d say he almost has reason to be relatively calm, compared to some other CEOs.
Oh, and the $7 pillow and blanket package? I don’t have a problem with it at all — and my guess is that a lot of the JetBlue passenger base on the longer-haul flights will appreciate the opportunity to have a nice clean pillow and blanket. And hey, they can keep them and bring them back on the return flight!
So why in the world should this move indicate that JetBlue should consider selling itself? Much less to Southwest? Oh, and yes, while she did briefly acknowledge the obvious glaring incompatibility — the two have absolutely nothing in common in terms of fleet types — that problem was just as briefly — dismissed.
This, after the Deal Yenta also mentioned, “If JetBlue does decide to flip its script and consider a sale, the most obvious fit might be Southwest Airlines. Both Southwest and JetBlue are so-called point-to-point airlines.”
Is JetBlue a true point to point airline? What the heck is that huge operation at JFK? Ahhhh. Last time I looked I think it was a hub.
As we all know, there are a few true point-to-point airlines and then there are hub carriers, and then we have all the in-between hybrids. Both Southwest and JetBlue are hybrids to a certain extent. Just in very different ways.
Sheesh.
Columns like this just make me crazy.
