Nor is Chicago the only market in the Midwest the airline is considering, Neeleman said, declining to name the cities on his short list. The airline has planes on order, and the size of its fleet, now at 88, is scheduled to reach 313 planes by 2011. While United and Southwest, for example, both have 440-plus planes, more than 300 would solidify JetBlue's place among the nation's largest carriers.

This part of the article grabbed me, I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on the possibility or chance of attracting JetBlue for Lambert? It seems like perfect timing due to the new runway opening up and the extra capacity that Lambert has. The only detriment would be Southwests enormous presence at the East Concourse which was sighted in the article as being a con for JetBlue setting up shop at Midway. Perhaps some of the superficial improvements to the main concourse will also lend a persuasive sway to having them setup a significant presence in STL.



Here is the article:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... &cset=true

Well I think the idea could atleast be floated. Southwest's presence at Midway is much much higher than the Southwest presence at Lambert, therefore it could be possible that JetBluecome in and offer a similar product to what Southwest offers, except different destinations. Maybe with some work the D concourse could be the JetBlue home.





JetBlues main hub is in Denver right?

JMedwick wrote:
JetBlues main hub is in Denver right?

I thought their main hub was JFK?

I always thought it was Long Beach, CA

buckethead wrote:


I thought their main hub was JFK?

hemanrulez wrote:


I always thought it was Long Beach, CA

Their main hub is JFK, and if they have a west coast hub it's Long Beach, although that's only 6 non-stop flights. They also have a pretty good sized presense at Logan in Boston (11 non-stop flights) Dulles in Washington, DC (6 non-stop flights) and Fort Lauderdale (5 non-stop flights).

JMedwick wrote:


JetBlues main hub is in Denver right?

Jet Blue only has 2 flights to Denver. You are probably thinking of Frontier. Their main hub is in Denver.



The most interesting thin is that if you look at the cities Jetblue servesOur CitiesThey have almost no flights anywhere in the midwest, and if they really plan to have 313 planes in service by 2011 they are going to have to add a central hub somewhere. Chicago - O"Hare is already over capacity and Midway is Southwest territory. Minneapolis - already a NWA hub. Detroit - NWA hub. Cincinnati - Delta hub and may be to far east. Dallas - American and SWA. Houston - Continential Hub. Cleveland - Continental Hub and maybe to far east. Memphis - NWA and FedEx Hub. As it looks if JetBlue wants to establish a Hub in a Central city that is not currently a Hub, they really have 4 choices: St. Louis, Indianapolis, San Antonio, or Kansas City. Hopefully something can be done to encourage them to consider Lambert. Increased traffic will definately help the airport.

JetBlue has weathered a lot of the economic troubles that have plagued the legacy carriers so it certainly would be a good addition to Lambert. Their business model is much different than Southwest seeing that JetBlue has more amenities and still acts like a discount airliner. Having DirecTV as inflight entertainment is much better than watching a crummy movie. I've wanted to fly JetBlue for that reason alone.



I'm sure they'll work out a deal with Chicago, it's just to big of a market to pass up. However, the fact the two airports there are nearly full makes one wonder when they'll start on the third airport in Peotone. With the addition of 100 seat regional jets to JetBlue's fleet, St Louis makes more economic sense to add to their network. I'm just surprised in six years of business JetBlue has yet to add a midwestern city.

Central city that is not currently a Hub, they really have 4 choices: St. Louis

Yes, But STL is still American's 2nd largest hub city - still a HUB city! (over 300 flights a day on AA) and Southwest has nearly 100 flights a day from STL too - only Chicago has more Southwest flights than STL...

yet, Jetblue has been looking at STL according to news articles I have read in the past years.

matguy70 wrote:
Yes, But STL is still American's 2nd largest hub city - still a HUB city! (over 300 flights a day on AA) and Southwest has nearly 100 flights a day from STL too - only Chicago has more Southwest flights than STL...

I don't know that this is exactly true:

from Southwest's Website:

Southwest Airlines' Top Ten Airports: (Daily Departures as of November 12, 2005)

Las Vegas - 209, Chicago Midway - 196, Phoenix - 196, Baltomore/Washington - 168, Houston Hobby - 135, Oakland - 133 Los Angeles (LAX) - 120, Dallas (Love Field) - 112, Orlando - 89,

San Diego - 88.



Granted this before the Missouri was exempted from the Wright Amendment so I'm guessing St. Louis has added flights since this list published, but I doubt St. Louis has gone from outside the top 10 to number 2.



As for being the number 2 Hub for American, the distinction unfortunately belongs to Chicago O'Hare, with DFW being their number one. Miami International is number 3 and St Louis looks to be roughly on par with JFK in New York for number 4 and 5. (It's kind of hard to tell from their timetable online AA Timetable - large pdf)



Anyway that being said, I think the important thing here is that the environment here very attractive for JetBlue for not just a few flights, but for hopefully a large hub. It would be great to see JetBlue take over the D Concourse. 14 of the 15 gates are currently unused. Hopefully we'll see something in the near future that will help Lambert grow back to where it was in the TWA days. (and even better!)

Actually, AA reports STL International as their 3rd largest hub after Chicago - you were close.

Hubs:

Dallas-Fort Worth Int'l Airport

O'Hare International Airport

Lambert Saint Louis Int'l Airport

Miami International Airport

John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport

LaGuardia Airport

Logan International Airport



As for Southwest,



They offer over 100 flights a day in STL - but I am not sure of their hub status in STL - as Southwest truly doesn't support the airline on "hub" airports.

Isn't Jet Blue run by businessman Dave Checketts?



Well, he is is one the front runners in the bid to buy the Blues. Maybe if he gets the team, we will see the Savvis Center renamed to the Jet Blue Center (has a nice ring to it) and flights at Lambert.....

I am new to the forum, but a long-time lurker...



I currently live in Manhattan, but I am a native St. Louisan. I travel home 3 or 4 times a year, but I can never get the flight that I want because airfare is usually so much higher than I am willing to pay.



So, today I was searching for flights for an upcoming trip. I checked to see if Jet Blue flies to STL... nope, not yet. But, it got me wondering if they had any plans... I found two bits of hearsay, but they are interesting.



The first bit was a comment I found on a blog on usatoday.com... it reads:

"I bet jb does very well going west in the 190 to CA, even against swa. Look for 320s to move in and take a few seasonal routes.



STL -- that will be our midwest hub. All points west in a 190. Whether STL is a good decision will remain to be seen.



Posted by: bc | Jul 21, 2006 9:42:52 AM"

source: http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2006/07/r ... blue_.html



Then there was this bit:

"Norfolk, VA: Is STL a focus city for American Airlines since it acquired TWA. It seems like it would be an ideal hub for JetBlue to be located in the MidWest.....any thoughts



Ben Mutzabaugh: St. Louis is a focus city -- or small hub -- for American. There has been some speculation that St. Louis could not only see new JetBlue service, but that the carrier could develop STL into something of a small regional hub. Even with the presence of Southwest, St. Louis is one of the more overpriced U.S. airline markets (with a few exceptions, like the routes to Chicago or Dallas). Still, given JetBlue's announcement today that it would further slow growth, it wouldn't surprise me if they came to St. Louis ... but I'd expect them to start only with flights to JFK and maybe Dulles or Boston. And buildup beyond that -- if it happened at all -- would likely be a gradual effort."



source: http://transcripts.usatoday.com/Chats/t ... aspx?c=896



*****

I take it with a grain of salt, but given their recent expansion to BNA (Nashville), I would imagine that STL is not far behind.



I have been unable to locate any other information to substantiate this, but I am hopeful that Jet Blue can do for the JFK to STL route, what it's done for JFK to BNA. Whether or not STL is a hub, I feel confident that Jet Blue is on its way to STL... sometime in 2007, perhaps?

this would be incredible. I am also currently displaced from STL in NYC. unless you get the last minute $200 AA.com fare, the flights are $400+ usually (same with ATL-STL routes in college).

There has been some recnt "buzz" if you will on Jet Blue making St. Louis a regional hub west/north and south. Let's watch.

STLMO314 wrote:just found this...

http://jetblue.com/email/citysuggest.as ... re_we_fly1



you can sugguest cities where jetblue should fly next. post st louis!

I posted "St. Louis - as a hub"

I posted St. Louis as hub, too.



It was easy to do. Everyone should do it.

Chicago to St. Louis

Expat wrote:I posted St. Louis as hub, too.



It was easy to do. Everyone should do it.

I also posted this on their website, hopefully, it comes true!

10-intuition wrote:

Expat wrote:I posted St. Louis as hub, too.



It was easy to do. Everyone should do it.

I also posted this on their website, hopefully, it comes true!

DITTO