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What Happens Now in Fort Lauderdale?

73 comments on What Happens Now in Fort Lauderdale?
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With Spirit having shut down, the focus now shifts to what will happen to fill the void. Of course, Spirit had more capacity than the industry needs right now, so not all of it will be backfilled. But there is absolutely going to be movement in the airline’s three biggest markets: Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, and New York. Today, I want to look at Fort Lauderdale more closely.

Fort Lauderdale was Spirit’s home and its largest station with May planned to have nearly 50 percent more departures than the airline’s second largest city. This was Spirit’s one true hub in that it was able to connect people through Fort Lauderdale into Latin America.

Spirit planned May 2026 Fort Lauderdale route map via Cirium

Airlines had already been jockeying for position in Fort Lauderdale, as I wrote about last year when JetBlue made one of several moves to grow at the airport. For JetBlue, that had to be one of the big (only?) benefits of a Spirit merger. Yes, that was shot down by the government, but nobody in government is going to challenge JetBlue if it tries to take over the gates now.

For JetBlue this is a life or death move. It will never be the most important airline in New York, and its previous management team made the huge mistake of giving up the crown in Boston. JetBlue has rebuilt there, but it is not going to beat Delta at this point. That means Fort Lauderdale is its one true chance to have a dominant position at a valuable hub. The current management team is not going to squander this opportunity.

Since late 2024, JetBlue has been adding service like crazy, putting new dots on the map from FLL to:

  • New: Dallas/Fort Worth, Guatemala City, Islip, Liberia, Manchester (NH), Norfolk, Orlando, San Pedro Sula, Tampa
  • Returned: Aruba, Atlanta, Austin, Cartagena, Cleveland, Grand Cayman, Guayaquil, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Santiago (DR), St Maarten, Syracuse

But now that Spirit is gone, JetBlue didn’t wait one second to put even more service into the market, announcing 22 new daily flights to new destinations:

  • From Jul 9: Baltimore (3x daily), Charlotte (3x daily), Chicago/O’Hare (2x daily), Detroit (2x daily), Houston/IAH (3x daily), Nashville (3x daily), Ponce (1x daily)
  • From Oct 1: Baranquilla (1x daily)
  • From Oct 15: Cali (1x daily)
  • From Nov 2: Columbus OH (1x daily), Indianapolis (1x daily)

As if that’s not enough, it is also adding frequencies on existing routes to Aguadilla, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Raleigh/Durham, Santiago (DR), and Santo Domingo.

The goal has to be for JetBlue to take over Spirit’s entire FLL operation. Including the 5 new gates being built in a new Terminal 5 that are earmarked for JetBlue already, this would give JetBlue a dominant presence covering the southern half of the airport:

By my count last year, JetBlue had 15 gates with 5 more coming online in the new Terminal 5. And Spirit had 12 gates. Put those together and you have a powerhouse. Of course, JetBlue isn’t the only one that might want these gates, so who are the competitors?

  • Allegiant has grown its Fort Lauderdale base to have more than 30 destinations in summer. The thing is… it still only has 15 daily flights using two gates regularly (a little more if you include Sun Country). It has grown and would like to grow more, but I can’t imagine it having designs on more than a gate or two. If Allegiant is smart, it’ll focus its efforts on trying to replicate the Sun Country model in Detroit now that it is the proud owner of that airline.
  • Breeze didn’t even enter FLL until Nov of 2025, but it has grown there quickly, now operating to 14 destinations as of the coming summer schedule. It still only has 8 daily departures. It will grow more, but how much can it justify dedicating to this airport alone?
  • Frontier has been interested in anything Spirit has done, dreaming of this day when it would be the lone big ULCC flying. But even with its growth, it only has 12 destinations from FLL and 8x daily flights. Frontier will have interest here, but if I were Frontier, I’d be looking more at taking over Spirit’s ops in Orlando as well as New York and smaller markets like DFW and Chicago. That’s the better play.
  • United has long dreamed of a Latin hub in South Florida. It has no hub in the Southeast at all, having to rely on Houston as its best opportunity to connect into the region. Spirit’s 12 gates are not enough for a hub, but let’s not forget the Blue Sky partnership with JetBlue. It could be interested in acquiring more real estate in preparation for an eventual ability to take over JetBlue’s position in a merger. That’s all speculation, but it is something that has undoubtedly been pondered.

So how does this all play out? That lies at the feet of the Broward County Aviation Department which runs the airport. It has some very valuable and desirable real estate right now, and it has to figure out how to divvy it up. We can speculate about what makes the most sense, but in the end, the airport is going to certainly try to accommodate all the airlines that want to grow. JetBlue is first out of the gate, and maybe that will deter others from making a big move. After all, nobody has more to lose than JetBlue here.

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Brett Avatar
Brett

73 responses to “What Happens Now in Fort Lauderdale?”

  1. Mike (dontflymuch) Avatar
    Mike (dontflymuch)

    Probably relevant here is Dave Neeleman telling MeidisTouch that JetBlues situation is more precarious than people think and they too may not last the year with these fuel prices. How much of that is posturing and how reliable Neeleman is to make that message given his other roles ill defer to those more knowledgeable on the chat here and Brett, but it surely must be relevant for B6 and maybe Breezes next moves in FLL anyways

    Reply
    1. Noah Avatar
      Noah

      Neeleman has always had a bit of a negative view towards Jetblue since he left. But he isn’t wrong — Jetblue hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2019. They have more liquidity and should make it through the year, but a FLL buildup costs money. Hard to grow while raising margin. I like all the moves the Jetblue leadership team is doing, but the question remains if they have enough moves that generate enough profits to really change the trajectory of the airline. And if Breeze and others pick off some of the more opportunistic routes, Jetblue isn’t driving yield with more flights to competitive cities like DFW and ORD.

      Reply
      1. JT8D Avatar
        JT8D

        He might not be wrong, but he needs to look to his own airline first. Breeze’s financials are beyond precarious, and while the airline has achieved a trailing 12 months revenue of around $900 million, it has yet to produce a full-year operating profit (let alone net profit).

        Operating margin on a 12-month basis was approaching breakeven from below, quarter by quarter, but high oil prices will presumably end any hope Breeze had of making profits in the near term.

        Its balance sheet is dog-do. The airline’s accumulated losses are around $600 million, which is a heck of a lot to spend to *not* create a profitable airline after five years of trying (this month is Breeze’s fifth anniversary of operations – last month was Avelo’s). Presumably Breeze’s plan was to hit breakeven and then try to clean things up with an IPO – you would think that’s less likely now.

        I’m far more convinced there’s something within JetBlue worth preserving than there is at Breeze. Breeze has something like 60 brand new A220-300s; so far it has yet to prove that what it’s doing with them is worthwhile. It has a nice product, but if they’re not making money, who cares?

        Breeze’s network planning has been a lot more thoughtful than that of Avelo (Avelo has set a very low bar in that regard), but after five years, we’re very much within our rights to question whether the Breeze network model (and business model generally) is well conceived. They’ve done a bunch of cool things, but spent an ungodly amount of money doing it and still failed to produce a full year operating profit.

        Reply
      2. Jason Avatar
        Jason

        JetBlue gonna grow FLL at the expense of JFK. You’re gonna see JetBlue give up additional slots to UA. I wouldn’t be shocked or surprised to see UA take over most of B6 transatlantic flights from JFK while they shift most of their A321 transatlantic routes from BOS that are more economical to operate. JetBlue also been at great Odds with its property taxes or headquarters facilities in New York. Floridas political leaders are already talking about wooing JetBlue to take over NK brand new HDQ facilities with HUGE taxes breaks and cash incentives they marry quite easily with the JetFoward plan.
        Today it’s already being discussed about United and AA doing a complete terminal swap to allow for seamless passenger connections between the two Blue sky airlines.

        Reply
        1. Anthony Avatar
          Anthony

          JetBlue signed a long-term lease on LSC within the last 5 years. The landlord gave them additional space and dumped millions into renovations. Not sure what the opt-out options are.

          Reply
    2. JRS Avatar
      JRS

      David is just jealous he didn’t get the chance to bankrupt JetBlue like he did TAP and Azul. When David speaks…no one listens. He’s been out of JetBlue for 20 years. That he would know anything is laughable.

      Reply
  2. NSS Avatar
    NSS

    Delta doesn’t want more? That terminal is always jampacked and the SkyClub is too, even with the expansion.

    Reply
    1. CraigTPA Avatar
      CraigTPA

      FLL isn’t going to be anything more than a spoke for DL – they might want a little more real estate to alleviate overcrowding, but I don’t see them adding any new service to FLL other than perhaps a frequency or two here and there.

      Reply
    2. Noah Avatar
      Noah

      I don’t think they want to move terminals after the investment and the fight it would take to get more, and the “low hanging fruit” of added cities probably isn’t worth a split operation across multiple terminals. Delta already has cities they need to fight to win (i.e. AUS), not sure FLL is one of those. The terminal is busy, but that is also because of the seasonality of FLL, more gates doesn’t really fix that.

      Reply
    3. dp[ Avatar
      dp[

      Delta has been in that terminal forever. I remember flying from NY to FLL in the 80’s to visit my grandparents-and Delta has been in that terminal. In South Florida things change constantly-but Delta being in Terminal 2 is like comfort food.

      Reply
    4. southbay flier Avatar
      southbay flier

      Maybe they’ll add Austin someday. Otherwise, they fly to their hubs along with CVG and RDU.

      Reply
    5. 1990 Avatar
      1990

      Good observation. When DL opened that new SkyClub, then immediately had to expand it, they really should have just taken the entire upper floor atrium. On days when the cruises dump everyone at FLL, it’s super packed.

      Reply
  3. Kilroy Avatar
    Kilroy

    If an FLL expansion truly is a “must win” for B6, could other airlines (with deeper pockets) bid up the price to the point that “winning” FLL would hamstring B6 going forward?

    Reply
    1. See_Bee Avatar
      See_Bee

      It would most likely be the LCCs that Brett mentioned, which don’t have deep pockets, not the legacies. AA has a hub down the road, DL has a pseudo partner hub with LATAM in MIA, UA would just buy B6 if they want FLL

      Reply
    2. Brett Avatar
      Brett

      Kilroy – There’s not really a bid here. You aren’t buying gates or slots. If other airlines want to commit to growing an operation then sure, they can do that. But the airlines should be less worried about JetBlue in FLL and more worried about what territory of Spirit’s would be the best fit in their own network. If that’s FLL, then great, go for it.

      Reply
    3. 1990 Avatar
      1990

      Or, hear me out… American could scoop up some open real estate, and finally open an actual Admirals Club at FLL… *cough*

      Reply
  4. See_Bee Avatar
    See_Bee

    B6 management should have been planning for this day for years. After everything they have squandered over the last 5+ years, at the very least a “what do we do in FLL if NK folds” playbook better exist. Heck they know which routes were most profitable from the failed merger

    The stars certainly seem to be aligning for Scott to come in and grab a FLL hub and JFK slots via a B6 merger

    Reply
  5. Noah Avatar
    Noah

    anyone know what will happen at LGA to the Marine Air Terminal?

    Reply
    1. See_Bee Avatar
      See_Bee

      My guess is F9 will take them. The BOSLGA shuttle isn’t what it used to be as far as demand, and the new terminals and roadways are less of a headache than the old ones. DL specifically gave up their MAT spots to enable more connecting traffic on their BOSLGA flights

      Reply
    2. SandyCreek Avatar
      SandyCreek

      Given the billions that have gone on to terminals B and C, I imagine the primary tenants (DL, AA) aren’t too interested. If LGA loosens up the perimeter, I can see it handling international arrivals, ORD T5 style. The bigger question, in my opinion, is what is to happen to the slots.

      Reply
      1. Anthony Avatar
        Anthony

        LGA isn’t an international airport. There’s no FIS.

        Reply
        1. 1990 Avatar
          1990

          Woah, did we/USA officially ‘annex’ Canada? Because I recall flying LGA-YUL/YYZ/YTZ… (Yes, immigration handled elsewhere, ‘preclearance’ for Canada-US flights, but… technically, it has ‘international’ flights originating from it and arriving to it.)

          Reply
    3. Jason Avatar
      Jason

      Sounds like WN is interested in NK LGA slots and may end up being the Huckleberry for Terminal A at LGA. As for the Post NK land grab WN staked in flag on defending its positions in LAS and MCO.

      For FLL WN knows it’s gonna be a Blood Bath with JetBlue staking its claim on the ground NK left behind. I think WN will add some service back to FLL or at least increase frequencies on Markets we’re WN hold the ground above B6 in the Midwest.
      B6 adding FLL-BWI will be met with much resistance from WN and probably end up shot lived for B6.

      At LAS the airport Allegiant will be taking over Both A gates Banjos giving them 14 gates total. Southwest will now Control all of the B Banjo gates in addition to gates A3 and A5. For a Total 34 gates. Gates C24/25 are going to Razed to build ramp level personnel and TSA office facilities. The upper 2 floors will house WN planned new customer Lounge facilities.

      At MCO sounds like WN will be taking over gates 111/112 giving them complete control of Airside 2 in addition WN will temporarily use 5 additional gates on Airside 4 to accommodate growth ambitions while still giving customers the ability to connect between the two Airside facilities post security. Again this will all be temporary until MCO finishes building out 8 more gate a new Customer Lounge facilities at Airside 2.

      Reply
    4. 1990 Avatar
      1990

      Probably should just let it be a museum at this point. Or knock it down.

      Reply
  6. JT8D Avatar
    JT8D

    What about Southwest?

    Reply
    1. CraigTPA Avatar
      CraigTPA

      Perhaps some marginal growth here and there at FLL, but it’s not a connection point for them so I don’t see them putting a lot of new service here – more likely they’ll look to take some of Spirit’s share at MCO and pad their lead there.

      Also, isn’t WN hamstrung by a plane shortage right now, especially with the ongoing delays on certification of the MAX 7?

      Reply
      1. NedsKid Avatar
        NedsKid

        I think Southwest is going to have to make a couple of real strategic guesses here in short order. A good bit of its network planning leadership got walked out in the last week too so who knows…

        WN both is and is not hamstrung by a plane shortage. They are still retiring B737-700s which they could slow down. If the MAX 7 does happen, then combined with the slow down of retirements they have a lot to work with. They have also kept training flight crews at a good pace which is very wise. When they have opportunity and planes they can jump very quickly.

        Reply
      2. Jason Avatar
        Jason

        BJ has already said WN post ELR assigned seat transformation now has Ample Flex flexibility should any opportunities arise they could easily push back 30 plus retirements to 28/29 if needed. But mind you this was all before the War in Iran started and gas prices skyrocketed.
        WN has always managed its business in good times and bad to weather any crisis. So now that energy prices have risen I don’t see them doing anything drastic until 2028/29.
        The MAX7 should be in service by Spring 2027. If energy prices remain high into next year I definitely don’t think you’re going to see anything fancy like Iceland service but I definitely see the MAX7 opening more LH ETOPS flights from Hawaii at the expense of AS/HA.
        I don’t see AS/HA fighting that hard for Hawaii when they have to Fight DL battling for international supremacy in SEA. Like WN buying AirTran get ATL was just a fringe benefit. Same with AS buying HA HNL wasn’t the grown jewel it was the quick access to the 787s while killing off a key competitor that was offering rock bottom fares battle WN. With HA out of the picture expecting for
        peacocks brand present AS slowed the blood bath battle with WN simultaneously allowing everyone in the Hawaii market to raise base fares.

        Reply
    2. SandyCreek Avatar
      SandyCreek

      My impression is that the majority of their hub esque operation in Florida is over MCO and TPA, in which case a third seems overkill.

      Reply
    3. emac Avatar
      emac

      Southwest gets braver with bag fees and assigned seats, but sits on the sidelines when a big, growing market like FLL becomes a jump ball. Someone should ask Andrew Waterson about this.

      Reply
    4. Brett Avatar
      Brett

      JT8D – FLL is not Southwest’s market. They left it to build up Orlando up the road, and the announcement yesterday that they are growing Orlando even further shows that strategy remains in place. FLL was a losing effort before, and it’s not worth fighting for if you’re Southwest now either.

      Reply
    5. Hk Avatar
      Hk

      WN has just announced a bunch from MCO and LAS but nothing from FLL. As if telling JetBlue let’s split the market – you can have FLL but don’t touch MCO.

      Reply
  7. Tim Dunn Avatar
    Tim Dunn

    FLL could be exactly what B6 needs to become financially viable – a large enough market that they dominate; they built their entire model around the NE and thinking that their product would be enough to overcome the size that they lacked. DL copied B6′ onboard product and spread it nearly fleetwide, outgrew B6 at JFK, used the advantage of having LGA which is the preferred NYC airport for short domestic flights, grew international to be the largest at JFK, and then duplicated the same thing at BOS.

    FLL has been low yield because it is a secondary airport w/ a large ULCC presence but that is changing as S. Florida grows rapidly. Let’s not forget that EWR was once a secondary market and CO managed to grow it enough to compete with more established hubs.

    B6 just might shift enough share and grow revenue at FLL to be a viable competitor to S. Florida; they have to grow quickly – which also means they will have to pull resources from elswhere. MCO and EWR have been suggested but the latter will raise eyebrows at the DOJ as long as UA and B6 are in any kind of coordinated marketing agreement.

    Too many people look at potential mergers as a means to fix company strategic failures; AA pushed for the NEA and lost because the DOJ accurately noted that B6 serves to discipline price in the NE. None of that changes if any of the big 3 try to merge w/ or acquire B6. add in that UA loves to talk about being the largest airline in NYC as well as in the world and a whole lot of people will push back at the notion of letting any of the big 3 grow larger in NYC through mergers.

    AS and WN both could acquire B6 down the road and result in virtually no competitive issues -and could also torpedo UA’s efforts to get back into JFK. AS and WN just don’t negotiate in public as UA does. B6 has very little unsecured debt so any acquirer is going to have to either reject alot of leases to get debt levels down or take on lots of debt.

    AA would simply not be allowed to acquire B6 or its FLL operation. DL started to build a larger domestic operation and decided against it likely because Latam doesn’t need lots of feed to make their MIA operation work; DL connects the upper “half” of Florida to Latin America successfully over ATL so southern Florida is really the missing part of DL’s Latin America operation. It is far more likely that DL will add a few flights to Central America and markets in northern S. America that are outside of the Latam JV.

    Let’s give B6 the benefit of the doubt to make FLL work and be a part of turning the company around.

    Reply
    1. SEAN Avatar
      SEAN

      “Let’s give B6 the benefit of the doubt to make FLL work and be a part of turning the company around.”

      Exactly. The end of JetBlue has been predicted since their inception & it’s gettin old. Are there real problems… yes& some of them like fuel prices are beyond the companies control, but let’s give management an opportunity to fix things before righting them off.

      Reply
      1. Kevin Avatar
        Kevin

        I’m a fan of Marty St. George and think B6 is in good hands w/him at the wheel.

        Reply
      2. Tim Dunn Avatar
        Tim Dunn

        this is also a good time for a reminder that AA’s debt profile and financial situation is perhaps the worse among US carriers; they manage to pull out very low profits some years but have mountains of debt that, in ratios, is comparable to B6. B6 is very likely to turn it around far faster than it has taken AA.

        The US airline industry has been very good for banks that loan to the industry – but much less beneficial for stockholders. Even airline employees benefit far more than the actual owners of airlines. There is a lot of incentive to keep poor performing airlines afloat and very little incentive to shut them down.

        As for the comment about the current administration being favorable to consolidation in the airline industry, I’d love to see evidence that there has been a change in policy that would allow consolidation that further erodes competitiveness. The recent attempts to prop up NK show that they don’t want airlines to fail, esp. lower cost carriers.
        US antitrust policy for the airline industry has been pretty consistent for decades. As we saw with the NEA, state attorneys general play as much of a role in fighting perceived antitrust issues as the DOJ. The notion that any of the big 3 are going to be allowed to consolidate their power in major markets is just not based on reality.

        Reply
        1. MNG Avatar
          MNG

          The Secretary of Transportation has essentially invited a UA-B6 merger application. DOJ, for its part, will require a tribute of some sort — say, divestiture of some JFK and/or EWR slots/facilities — but will go along with a merger if that’s what the White House wants. And the White House will want it because UA/B6 will do what’s necessary to gain the support of the most corrupt administration in history. As for the so-called attempt to prop up NK, that was all about Trump trying to ingratiate himself to a portion of the public ahead of the midterm elections. Trump couldn’t care less about lower cost carriers’ prospects or consumers in general.

          Reply
          1. Tim Dunn Avatar
            Tim Dunn

            no, he didn’t.
            Alot of people that want to see UA acquire B6 interpreted his statement to mean that.
            He did say that it is possible for the current big 4 to grow their national market share about the current amounts – potentially up to 30% but he also specifically said that they would continue to focus on maximizing competition.

            It is mind-numbing that people think that the current administration is corrupt but UA will succeed because it will play that game – as if other competitors can’t play just as well and have fewer antitrust issues.

            If one of the big 4 “get dibs” on B6, WN gets first choice, AA gets second choice, and neither DL or UA really get a chance to play unless B6 significantly downsizes its NYC operation – and where do you think B6 will get rid of those slots but DL or UA (DL is using slots that AA and B6 aren’t fully using right now)

            The public does not want to see further consolidation in the airline industry; only a handful of fans of a particular airline want it even though UA’s CEO said they aren’t interested in a full merger because 1. UA can’t afford adding $10 billion more in debt on top of their massive order book and 2. Kirby knows that UA will never succeed in taking over all of B6

            UA might succeed at gaining some limited slots at JFK but it still is a mystery how B6 thinks it makes sense to lease slots to an airline that will use those slots to directly compete in B6′ top markets. They might as well sign their death certificate.

            B6 could theoretically sell off its FLL operation and B6 (or DL) could buy it but that just leaves them in a far worse position in the NE where they are struggling.

            B6′ best strategy is to make FLL work as part of a refocused airline. They have to compete against all of the big 4 from FLL instead of almost entirely DL with a side of AA from NYC and BOS

            Reply
            1. See_Bee Avatar
              See_Bee

              Hush it Tim !

          2. David C Avatar
            David C

            MNG: Can you be more specific?

            Reply
          3. Enrique Yellow Avatar
            Enrique Yellow

            Your Trump Derangement Syndrome is getting tired and old. Touch grass and move on.

            Reply
    2. MNG Avatar
      MNG

      The Trump Administration has almost three years to run. Plenty of time for UA to get away with a B6 acquisition if that’s what they want.

      Reply
      1. 1990 Avatar
        1990

        As long as they pay their bribes, get on their knees, etc., for better and worse, you’re probably correct.

        Reply
    3. Bevvy Avatar
      Bevvy

      Delta doesn’t connect anyone successfully through Atlanta. It’s always been a train wreck. Worn out and dirty. Unfriendly gate agents. Ed’s fault

      Reply
      1. Southside Emil Avatar
        Southside Emil

        Don’t forget that they’re taking away drinks and snacks. What a “premium “ airline

        Reply
        1. 1990 Avatar
          1990

          (Don’t) let them eat (Biscoff)!

          Reply
    4. Jason Avatar
      Jason

      If the energy prices remain high and JetBlue Debt keeps rising among its ongoing quarterly Losses. I don’t Think WN gonna bet the Farm making a Play for JetBlue ever.
      I think WN will eventually adding 787s and starting its own organic WB LH international ambitions by 29/30 from BNA,DEN and AUS.
      But if energy prices return to normal by 2027 I definitely see BWI testing the transatlantic waters with the MAX7.

      Reply
  8. JHS Avatar
    JHS

    Good FLL analysis, but your map needs updating. Just as an example, Spirit dropped BDL last year.

    Reply
    1. JB14-Hrbek Avatar
      JB14-Hrbek

      Spirit also served LIM, which is also missing from the map.

      Reply
  9. NedsKid Avatar
    NedsKid

    BCAD’s gate use formula is something like 6 departures AND 600 departing seats per day (annualized) per gate or 800 departing seats a day per gate in order to hold a preferential lease gate. Gates can obviously be forfeited if an airline doesn’t meet it on a rolling 12 months (or of course goes out of business and forfeits its lease).

    So jetBlue has to grow in a big way to grab much land. FLL also more-so than most airports will schedule non-leased airlines onto leased gates during down times.

    All of the Spirit gates (even leased) as well as jetBlue are common use equipment.

    (Brett, you missed the Great Maple Leaf Airline in T2 up there, they have 2 preferential gates I believe and then there’s a common use in there “technically”)

    Reply
    1. CraigTPA Avatar
      CraigTPA

      The word “Great” should never be used when talking about Mapleflot.

      Reply
      1. NedsKid Avatar
        NedsKid

        And these days at FLL it’s more “Rouge” said in as strong a Quebecois accent as possible.

        Reply
    2. Brett Avatar
      Brett

      NedsKid – I wouldn’t say I “missed” it… ;) I was just trying to make this as simple as possible to demonstrate the competitive set. I see AC as kind of a random unimportant airline there. Seems to me that the right way to handle this is to give JetBlue all of Terminal 4 (with international airlines) and the eventual Terminal 5. Then if other airlines do gain gets, they should use the E concourse the flex JetBlue down. At least it keeps JetBlue contiguous as it builds a connecting hub. But I guess we’ll see what the other airlines all decide to do in terms of adding capacity.

      Reply
      1. NedsKid Avatar
        NedsKid

        Haha, fair enough.

        I agree that would be the best way to go about it. The fact that jetBlue and Spirit both kept gates on common use versus proprietary equipment made it so they could flex off one another in IROPs (which believe me, those two local Station Directors spoke daily) makes it easy to scoot around. Terminal 4/G is a much more pleasant experience than F despite the various improvements – which I’d say they’ve pretty much maxed out what they can improve short of tearing something down and replacing.

        BCAD has in its signatory lease a lot of wiggle room on how to lease gates (a big frustration in the past as both B6 and NK were growing and trying to lease more and the airport kind of said – wellllll what if we don’t want to!) so in a situation like this there is flexibility. There is a minimum square footage lease to be had too in order to keep that level of real estate but there’s plenty now in T4. The big issue would be if B6 moves the ticket counter over since they did invest a lot in building out a custom operation at T3.

        Reply
  10. Miles Avatar
    Miles

    I think that by next year we will see United move to Terminal 4 to be better acquainted with JetBlue. But now that Spirit is gone, and Terminal 4 is practically vacant, is there really any need for Terminal 5 with jetBlue’s financial situation?

    Reply
    1. 1990 Avatar
      1990

      I highly doubt that; United already has its UnitedClub at T1, and it’s not like they’re gonna start flying anywhere but their hubs from FLL. Would be wild if they started to compete with American at MIA for routes across Latin America/Caribbean. As for the new T5; I mean, T3 is ancient, so generally it’s nice to have the newer terminal (and to eventually open T3 up to be completely redone).

      Reply
  11. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    Which aircraft will B6 use to fund all of this FLL growth?

    If they draw down JFK and EWR, even a bit, that would open slots in JFK and “timings” in EWR.

    Do those go up for a bid? How many airlines would want the EWR capacity, especially when combined with the space left by NK, when even WN already shut down EWR?

    Reply
    1. Brett Avatar
      Brett

      Mark – This is the $64,000 question. I would think that the best idea would be to pull down from Orlando first and then maybe Newark second. But we’ll have to see what they do

      I imagine Frontier would be interested in Newark, but those are just runway timings. I don’t know how they get handled, different from slots.

      Reply
  12. Vahan Avatar
    Vahan

    Serious question; who is going to backfill Atlantic City?

    Reply
    1. NedsKid Avatar
      NedsKid

      ACY worked for Spirit (I would say look at the markets/routes that lasted through each iteration of the business model). Breeze is backfilling already. I think it’s sufficient. They start service to ACY tomorrow for the first time (from CHS). They have announced since NK’s passing some Florida stuff as day-of-week operation.

      Spirit should not have gotten rid of the A319s. The A321 was just too much airplane for a lot of markets.

      Reply
      1. Long Island George Avatar
        Long Island George

        How did Spirit make Atlantic City work. It’s a dump

        Reply
        1. devyanks90 Avatar
          devyanks90

          Spirit was more getting people out of AC (and stealing traffic from parts of the PHL and EWR catchments) than using AC as a destination. Before Frontier took a big push in PHL there were multiple trips where it made sense for me to drive through Philly from the NE suburbs to head down the AC Expressway for quick weekend trips south.

          That said, I am surprised that neither Allegiant or Spirit ever tried summer only PBG/BTV-ACY service to capture some of the Canada -> Jersey Shore traffic before that dried up last year.

          Reply
    2. CraigTPA Avatar
      CraigTPA

      Allegiant had moved into ACY even before Spirit closed down, and I can see them adding a few more routes.

      ACY also has the AA Landline bus service to PHL, which is a good fit for a trip of this distance.

      Reply
  13. O'Hare Is My Second Home Avatar
    O’Hare Is My Second Home

    Since my ultimate goal is the eradication of B6 by any means necessary, the only course of action I’m in favor of is UA buying them and having Chicago’s Hometown Airline destroying Noo Yawk’s Hometown Airline including destroying the ruins. If that means that UA now has a hub or demi-hub at FLL, all good. Better the gates land up with an airline that I actually fly rather than one that I don’t.

    Reply
    1. Jetblue Lover Avatar
      Jetblue Lover

      Is this Scott Kirby?

      Reply
    2. southbay flier Avatar
      southbay flier

      Why do you hate JetBlue so much? They seem fine to me.

      Reply
      1. O'Hare Is My Second Home Avatar
        O’Hare Is My Second Home

        Because I hate anyone, anything, and everything dealing with Noo Yawk. That includes their “hometown airline”. I want ut to die so I can drink the sweet, sweet tears of those subhuman crying over their lost hometown airline.

        Reply
  14. Paper Boarding Pass Avatar
    Paper Boarding Pass

    If JetBlue wants to fortify its position at FLL, now is the time to think hard about a B6 lounge.
    If memory serves me well, there is an existing pay to enter lounge in Terminal 3. Either B6 buys it out or gives coupons to its top tier customers to visit. There may be room in Terminal 4, but not sure about logistics of adding one in that terminal.

    Reply
  15. Eastern 727 Whisperjet Avatar
    Eastern 727 Whisperjet

    I just have to say that the terminal area layout at FLL always makes me think of a baby version of the LAX “horseshoe”. So cute.

    Reply
    1. 1990 Avatar
      1990

      That’s funny because I always thought of MIA as having a similar ‘horseshoe’ layout, too.

      Reply
    2. A321-271NX Avatar
      A321-271NX

      Yep, and just like LAX it can take over 45 minutes to get to the entrance to Terminal 4!

      Reply
  16. Tim Dunn Avatar
    Tim Dunn

    looks like UA doesn’t look B6′ decision to start FLL-ORD and IAH so UA is starting LAX-FLL.

    Increasing the number of overlapping routes does not seem like the blossoming love fest that is supposed to set up B6 to be acquired by UA

    of course there are other airlines besides B6 and UA that fly each of those routes so will be interesting to see if this “love fest” draws in other airlines.

    Reply
  17. lars Avatar
    lars

    This is B6’s big break. And it’s “make or break.” They simply have to pounce and convert on this opportunity. It’s custom built for them.

    Thing is, it still doesn’t necessarily put them on a secure path to profitability. The So Fla market is highly competitive and there’s always downward pressure on fares, even after a competitor dies. There’s no shot at a “fortress hub” down there.

    But the fact remains there’s no other openings to be exploited by B6 right now, and they need to make something happen. This is as good as it gets until they can negotiate a merger.

    Reply

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