Spirit Airlines Opposes JetBlue and United Airlines Partnership Amid Antitrust Concerns, ET Infra
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Budget airline Spirit Airlines on Tuesday urged the Transportation Department to reject a proposed JetBlue Airways and United Airlines partnership, saying it was anticompetitive and will prompt large carriers to pursue similar deals.United and JetBlue said in May the "Blue Sky" tie-up would allow travelers to book flights on both carriers' websites, while interchangeably earning and using points in their frequent flyer programs. Spirit said the deal would mean the smaller JetBlue "will become a de facto vassal of United." Spirit added "this anti-competitive tie-up involving a dominant legacy carrier will neutralize the competitive benefit of an existing low-fare competitor ."
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Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Spirit Airlines Opposes JetBlue and United Airlines Partnership Amid Antitrust Concerns, ET Infra
Advt Budget airline Spirit Airlines on Tuesday urged the Transportation Department to reject a proposed JetBlue Airways and United Airlines partnership, saying it was anticompetitive and will prompt large carriers to pursue similar and JetBlue said in May the "Blue Sky" tie-up would allow travelers to book flights on both carriers' websites, while interchangeably earning and using points in their frequent flyer programs. Spirit said the deal would mean the smaller JetBlue "will become a de facto vassal of United." Spirit added "this anti-competitive tie-up involving a dominant legacy carrier will neutralize the competitive benefit of an existing low-fare competitor ."
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Time of India
Billionaire Mark Cuban faces backlash after he warned Bluesky users, saying they forcing posts to Elon Musk's Twitter; asked to 'wipe crocodile tears with ...'
Billionaire entrepreneur has publicly criticized Bluesky , the decentralized social media platform he once championed, for becoming 'ruder and more hateful,' according to a report by the New York Post. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Cuban, known for his tech ventures and former ownership of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, warned that the platform's lack of diverse perspectives is driving users back to 's X, formerly Twitter. Mark Cuban slams Bluesky for becoming hostile echo chamber Cuban, who joined Bluesky in late 2024 with an optimistic post -— 'Hello Less Hateful World' -- now says the platform has devolved into a hostile echo chamber. 'The lack of diversity of thought here is really hurting usage,' he wrote in a series of posts this week, as quoted by the Post. He noted that the platform's predominantly left-leaning user base often meets dissenting or nuanced opinions with outrage, stifling meaningful discussion. 'Engagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist,' Cuban added. The Post reports that Cuban, who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election but did not donate to her campaign, shared a Washington Post opinion piece by Megan McArdle, which argued that Bluesky's left-leaning user base fosters a political silo. Cuban endorsed the piece, urging users to use the platform's moderation tools to block rather than attack those they disagree with. 'The moderation and block tools on here are so advanced, if you see someone you don't want to see on here, just block them. Don't attack them,' he wrote. Mark Cuban faces users backlash, asked to ... However, Cuban's critiques sparked backlash from some Bluesky users , the Post noted. Responses included profane attacks, with one user writing, 'Go wipe your crocodile tears with a wad of hundreds you tw-t,' and another stating, 'F–kin leave then, p—y.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A third user, whose post Cuban reposted, called him a 'despicable bastard' and told him to 'just Go Away.' The report highlighted Bluesky's rapid growth, noting that its user base tripled from 10 million to over 30 million between November 2024 and May 2025, according to Pew Research Center. This surge followed Elon Musk's endorsement of Donald Trump's reelection campaign, which prompted many liberal-leaning users to leave X for Bluesky. Yet, Cuban's recent comments suggest the platform's ideological slant may now be pushing users back to Twitter. Cuban, whose net worth is approximately $8.35 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, lamented that even minor disagreements on Bluesky often escalate into hostility. 'Even if you agree with 95% of what a person is saying on a topic, if there is one point that you might call out as being more of a grey area, they will call you a fascist etc., ' he wrote, per the Post.
Mint
30-05-2025
- Mint
United Airlines CEO says low-cost model is dead and he may be right
United Airlines and JetBlue announced an agreement on May 29 to link loyalty programs. The broader understanding helps United return to New York one more time, while it mainly focuses on customer loyalty programs, cross-earning and sharing benefits. Speaking to WSJ, Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, called the low-cost model 'dead', adding that its aim was to 'screw the customer'. Interestingly, JetBlue had started as a low-cost carrier (LCC), though it quickly added amenities like live inflight TV and subsequently a business class cabin. Scott Kirby's remarks may resonate closer home in India, with IndiGo's CEO Pieter Elbers saying 'We have left the station of a typical LCC, if there is such a thing' last year. IndiGo is the largest carrier in India by both fleet and market share. As Indian LCCs scaled the heights of market share, passengers often complained of either no fare difference or very limited fare differential between LCCs and Full-Service Carriers (FSC) in India. IndiGo, like many of its peers in India, started as a pure-play low-cost carrier. When Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways were struggling in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, it went to town explaining the benefits of a single fleet type, its positive impact on costs and operations. The first change for IndiGo was adding a row of seats in the A320neo to make it 186 seats instead of the standard 180 it had with the A320ceo. In 2017, IndiGo added a new fleet type to its fleet with the induction of the ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft. The LCC station was left in the true sense back then. Today, the IndiGo fleet comprises a multitude of aircraft configurations within its over 400 aircraft, apart from the damp-leased ones the airline operates. If various aircraft types was not enough, IndiGo added a Business class equivalent cabin, calling it IndiGoStretch, which started operations in November last year. The airline also launched a frequent-flyer programme. Go FIRST was possibly the last true LCC that operated in Indian skies, having a single fleet type. Akasa Air has taken that place eventually, though it has different configurations for planes and will continue to have a mix of MAX 8 and MAX 8-200 in its fleet. Akasa Air has not been able to grow as per its initial announcements after indicating planes in quick succession in its first year of operations. Air India Express, which had a fleet of 26 B737s at the time of privatisation, is now more times its size but with a mix of A320ceo, A320neo, A321neo, B737NG and 737 MAX 8. SpiceJet, on the other hand, joined the multi-fleet bandwagon much earlier than IndiGo. However, its focus has been on sustenance amid multiple financial headwinds rather than growth. India today has only one FSC in the form of Air India. As it shifts to a three-class configuration, akin to Vistara which merged with Air India, the economy class is competing with the LCCs with features like 'pay for seat selection', shorting up ancillary revenues and the difference being only in the meals being served complimentary on the FSC. While the LCCs moved up the pedestal, the FSCs climbed down in a double whammy for the customers. This often points up to the question of how FSCs are different in India and the answer to that lies only in the cabins upfront with Premium Economy now offering the service levels and options which were common to Economy class two decades ago and Business class focusing on more and more frills, especially with modern seats. In essence, is Economy then a downgrade in an FSC? All indicators point to a resounding yes and this helps the traditional FSC compete with LCCs, with the bulk of the passengers comprising economy class. Pre-pandemic, when there existed three FSCs in India — Jet Airways, TATA-SIA-owned Vistara and government-owned Air India — the LCCs led by IndiGo were pushing the envelope up with every month and the LCC concentration in the Indian domestic market was over 80 per cent at its peak. On the other side of the pandemic, there is no Vistara or Jet Airways and IndiGo with a 60 per cent-plus market share is a different airline than what it was while SpiceJet has shrunk. The Indian market effectively is undergoing a transition like never before and while the first part of Scott Kirby's statement may be right, the second part definitely does not fit well in Indian context. In fact, the Indian LCCs helped the average Indian consumer fly and more than doubled the market with each passing decade. The rate of growth for Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, Vistara or Air India was much slower than what the trioka of SpiceJet, IndiGo and Go Air achieved in its early years. If anything, the impact was felt on FSCs and not consumers.
