Progress On Jfk Terminal?

[MiAAmi]

Was wondering how far along they are with the new terminal at JFK? Is there a target date for opening yet?

 

[L1011Ret]

I passed the new terminal 9 on the air train this a.m. It appears to be moving along well. I cannot say that as a steel structure is has much appeal. Perhaps inside will be more appealing than outside.

 

[FWAAA]

Last I heard, the central terminal (remote) is to open mid-to-late 2005, and the whole thing is to be finished late 2007. The sooner, the better. With it, AA will rule NYC.

 

[L1011Ret]

I don't know about ruling NYC because AA's presence at EWR is rather minimal compared to CAL. Recently Jet Blue surpassed AA in terms of pax out of JFK. All that aside, when AA finishes the terminal it would appear they have the potential to have more gates than anyone else by far.

 

[kirkpatrick]

I cannot say that as a steel structure is has much appeal. Perhaps inside will be more appealing than outside.

It won't be appealing until it has ME in it!

MK

 

[FWAAA]

I don't know about ruling NYC because AA's presence at EWR is rather minimal compared to CAL. Recently Jet Blue surpassed AA in terms of pax out of JFK. All that aside, when AA finishes the terminal it would appear they have the potential to have more gates than anyone else by far.

I wasn't talking about ruling Jersey, I was talking about NYC. 😛

And about your B6 comment; it's not how many pax you carry, it's about carrying those who are profitable, and AA's yield shows it still knows that game better than Neeleman. After all, AA's yield is rising, while B6's yield is falling. B)

 

[L1011Ret]

Yes, I hope MK and others will soon be in terminal 9. As to NJ being in New Jersey, I recognize that many New Yorkers think that anything on the west side of the Hudson is somewhere west of the Mississippi.

 

[L1011Ret]

I returned yesterday from RSW (Fort Myers) on B6 after flying down to RSW last Sunday. They are now in the old TWA domestic terminal 6. It was my first time on the AirTrain from long term parking. The TWA signs are still up at Terminal five but the jetways have been removed from the circular terminals attached by the "tubes." At any rate Terminal 6 looks just the same as it did when TWA was there. Only difference, everything is now blue instead of red.

I was impressed with several things. When we stepped inside T-6 there were very long lines at the ticket counters. But they moved incredibly fast. It was the fastest check in and baggage tag I've ever encountered. Your boarding time is printed on your ticket, 6:20 for a 6:50 departure. They boarded and left on time down to the minute. But then lost time - half an hour - on taxiway Zulu waiting for International takeoffs on runway 31L. The Airbi 320 appeared to perform very well. Pilots made brief informative comments about three times.
In flight the F/As divide the cabin into four parts of about 7 rows each and took drink orders bringing the drinks on a tray and from the large pockets on the smocks. Moves fast. Then each of the four brings a wicker basket by with snacks like a single cookie, etc. Lots of kids and very noisy. F/A service done in about 20 to 30 minutes. They come by later with Hefty or Glad bags for trash. Every seat taken both ways. Twenty six rows times 6 = 156 pax. Little to no conversation between F/As and pax. Mostly you did not see them unless they were passing drinks or picking up. They stayed in the galleys.
One thing is surely a hit. The individual TVs at every seat. Entertains the kids or you can watch MSNBC or CNN or a movie. I enjoyed a documentary about woodworking. About 25 channels of TV.
One comment about yield. I purchased our tickets on the JetBlue website. When I entered the site I looked for Fort Myers. Above the Fort Myers select button was the sign "Fort Myers $79.00" So I pushed Fort Myers button and selected two seats with dates and times. By now of course you know that the "Fort Myers $79.00" sign is like a seduction. The price was 272.50 each leg for each person for a total over $1000.00 I felt resentful for their deceit. In reality I had expected a bit more than $79.00 but not nearly 4 times as much.
Later I spoke with a friend who works for the TSA in Fort Myers. Over dinner he revealed he had never seen two JetBlue tickets with the same price. It appears they have some sort of computerized demand marketing that regulates fares on total demand, remaining seats, days before departure, etc. It also seems you might buy tickets today and get them cheaper tomorrow.
Overall differences: Fast check in's, on time departures, inflight TV. There is very definite brand differentiation with these differences. Otherwise We would not have known the difference between B6, AA or UAL or DAL. In reality I have no reason to go back to JetBlue. The only reason we took them this time was to avoid connections in ORD, DFW, STL, PHL, or CLT on a spring break weekend when kids were out of school and all flights to Florida were extremely heavy. I wonder how long they can continue to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with these differences in fares on different days?

 

[Farley]

The lowest advertised fares are available consistently if you make your reservations early. Also, if you are making plans late, traveling on weekends makes those lower fares harder to get. But our highest one way fare is $299. Many people who make last minute plans find our fares to be very reasonable. Sorry we didn't work for you. BTW, I just flew AA to Mexico from IAD for vacation and found the fare to be very reasonable. The flights were enjoyable and on time. Thanks!

 

[audio-nut]

Later I spoke with a friend who works for the TSA in Fort Myers. Over dinner he revealed he had never seen two JetBlue tickets with the same price. It appears they have some sort of computerized demand marketing that regulates fares on total demand, remaining seats, days before departure, etc. It also seems you might buy tickets today and get them cheaper tomorrow.


I wonder how long they can continue to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with these differences in fares on different days?

re "computerized demand model"

B6 uses buckets are fares just like everyone else. Also, every airline may have cheaper tickets closer to departure. AA sents me an email of "cheap" tickets every wednesday. I think your TSA friend should spend more time searching for terrorists than determining fare models....


re Pricing

B6's full Y JFK-RSW is $249 OW. AA's is $1187.

 

[L1011Ret]

Searching for fares may be harder than searching for terrorists! My friend was simply pointing out that B6 appeared to have a much greater diversity or differences among fares than other carriers.

 

[Dizel8]

I am sorry, that you do not feel jetBlue was honest.

Having said that though, all airlines operate on different fares, 14 days, 7 days, etc, you know the drill. In addition to that, depending on what time of year it is, there is fluctuation in prices. If you were willing to travel on say wednesday, it would probably be cheaper than friday afternoon.

AA runs a great commercial, how a pax flew for $129, and that is certainly feasible, but that is not the everyday everywhere every time fare.

While I wish you could get the $79 every day, obviously, that is not economically feasible. jetBlue does however cap the top fare at $299, not sure if many other airlines do this, I think SWA and AWA does.

I hope you will come back and fly with us again.

 

[L1011Ret]

I will. I was a bit peeved at pushing the $79.00 button only to have 272.50 come up as a result. Seduction is a wonderful thing...depending on who is being seduced and the outcome of the seduction.

Just a bit more info, I tried AA, CAL, UA, US Air NW and some others. One fare was $2500 with a connection in PHL. However several other fares were lower but involved connections in DTW, ORD, DFW. One of the cheapest, that is $10 to 20 less than B6 had a long layover in ATL I think. About 12 hours to get from NYC to RSW. I think having point to point flying is going to be an advantage the more the Hubs get crowded and delays increase.