Now Arriving: 300 Airplane Enthusiasts at an In-N-Out Burger Near LAX – The Wall Street Journal
For those who missed it, the Wall Street Journal put Cranky Dorkfest on the front page on Monday. I know I got a thrill out of seeing it, but a subscription is required to read, I’m afraid.
The U.S. Justice Department sues two major airlines for their recently formed alliance – KCBS Radio
My first appearance talking about the DOJ lawsuit. It wasn’t long after this that I changed my mind about what I think will happen. I don’t think DOJ is going to settle for anything. This could stretch on.
9 comments on “Cranky on the Web: Cranky Dorkfest Gets the Front Page, American and JetBlue Alliance”
Congrats and making the Wall Street Journal’s front page, Cranky!
The longer NEA goes on and shows consumer benefits, the more evidence they will have to prove that DOJ is wrong about this move being anti-competitive. They have added a whole bunch of markets out of these 4 airports. There should be a lot of data by next year to show that it is good for competition. I think they are going to end up settling at some point. Maybe AA/B6 will have to make some concessions to DOJ, but at a certain point the partnership will be too hard to unwind.
Congratulations on the Cranky Dorkfest’s Wall Street Journal story.
As for the NEA, I do ultimately think there’ll be some kind of settlement. Parties to a lawsuit have no idea how a judge will rule, and legal rulings can surprise even the “experts.” Then there’s the cost of extended litigation. I’ll reiterate the quote I’ve used often, “You’re better off with the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
Of course, the irony will be that the entities that will have to divest slots in New York will be jetBlue and American, the number three carriers in the market. But they’re the entities who have initiated the arrangement. As I wrote the other day, I do think there will be some real estate sales/trades in Boston. And I also tend to agree with Tim Dunn’s observation that there will be some tightening and restrictions imposed on the arrangement’s parameters.
It’s ironic that the government often has a way of doing exactly the opposite of what’s in the public interest. Of course, what’s in the “public interest” is often in the eye of those who are writing comments like this.
Consistency and logic have rarely been the long suit of government regulators. To that point, the Justice Department’s suit conveniently doesn’t mention comparable cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, etc. where a particular carrier has a fortress hub or close to 60% or greater market share. Again, I must make the disclaimer that logic and consistency are also in the eye of the person behind the keyboard.
Cranky: WSJ now allows subscribers to copy a free link with the left-side button on the article. Here’s what it gave me – hope it allows your readers to see it. Great article and awesome A380 pic – congrats!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/airlines-travel-cranky-dorkfest-in-n-out-burger-lax-11632082652?st=lkx5vitji4juv3f&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
It came through loud and clear. The reader can simply click to get rid of the ad. Thanks.
Tory – Great, thanks for sharing so everyone can see!
Happy to help. Glad it seems to be working for everyone. Feel free to replace your original link in the post for those who don’t dig all the way down into the comments ;-)
It’s a nice piece. Congratulations.
Thanks for sharing the link! I’d been thinking about how to read the entire piece since a teaser came across my Google news feed last week. I couldn’t make it to Dorkfest in person this year, but hope to make it next year.