Don;t Be Blue At A Failed Relationship

Most breakups are lets face it less than amicable. People don't just wake up one morning and say "Rationalizing our relationship is not working let's just be friends"

I understand that breakups can now be handled by a wide variety of media. Text (there is even a lame website called TextBreakup), Tweets, and of course the true sign you have been ditched is when your paramour changes her/his status on facebook back to SINGLE AND LOOKING.

In business some of the best laid plans of a business relationship can just fall afoul of the realities of the business environment.


Germany's biggest airline, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, in December 2007 paid $300 million for a 19 percent stake in JetBlue Airways Corp. There were big plans for feeding via JFK and the other points where the 2 airlines intersect. For the smaller airline it was a precursor to a number of deals that have seen them also tie up with some time rival American Airlines who also is in a rival Alliance. 

But to be frank there has been little execution of the grand vision and Lufthansa seems to be pulling in its horns across the board. The German airline's plans for world domination included at the time expansion into the German speaking market and a bold run at different markets like USA (JetBlue), UK (British Midland) and the oft rumoured but never consummated take over of SAS.  With a few bad quarters under their belts - and a general softening of traffic in the markets where its most heavily vested - LH seems to be pulling back. Its put the for sale sign out at Castle Donnington (the English Chateau that doubles as the HQ for BD), now the The Wall Street Journal  is reporting that LH is looking to exit out of its relationship with JetBlue. 

JetBlue and Alaska are the largest unaligned airlines (Southwest should be excluded from this list). Both of them have resisted combining with other larger airlines. AS has a slew of partnerships and has a strong feed as a result while shoring up a fortress on the North South Routes. Effectively AS has conquered the West Coast markets and solved that perennial problem of Mexico vs Hawaii by straddling both effectively.  JutBlue has built a series of very nice hubs in Boston and JFK as well as a number of smaller ones across the country. 

Perhaps what we are seeing is the precursor to a merger between these two feisty and mostly profitable strong regional airlines.

Now there's a thought.

Cheers