Norwegian May Drop Orders, While JetBlue Mulls Transatlantic Move

摘要

Robin Hayes, the CEO of JetBlue Airways, is conscious of company history. "I feel like we have been talking about it forever," he said at the London Aviation Festival when asked about plans to launch long-haul flights. But so far, Hayes and his colleagues are only talking. It is others who are taking the big risk of introducing new operating models in a potentially lucrative market. The examples of WOW Air and Norwegian, among others, show how painful the exercise can be.The approaches taken by the new entrants could not be more different. WOW Air is partly following the connecting model incumbent Icelandair has been pursuing for decades, but with much faster growth and as a low-fare carrier. Primera Air is taking the huge risk of flying narrowbodies across the Atlantic from major joint venture-dominated hubs. And Norwegian has been the pioneer in low-fare long-haul travel. JetBlue has been carefully testing the waters with U.S. transcontinental flying, also targeting the premium segment and, importantly, protecting its profit margin. Now it appears to be nearing a decision on slowly entering the transatlantic arena. Can both approaches succeed?