Dan Webb

Remember how a long time ago (Sunday) I wondered if Continental’s intent to join the Star Alliance would affect Lufthansa’s plans with JetBlue because of its Newark hub? Apparently not, according to this ATW article:

To the north, LH is looking at its investment in JetBlue Airways as a way to enhance its US profile, especially at JetBlue’s New York JFK hub, Boston and Orlando International. “Now we have to combine an LCC with a premium carrier, which of course works with different IT and sales systems than a network carrier. We will create something new that the industry had not seen before,” he [Jens Bischof, VP of the Americas] said.

I find part of this a bit funny, because when compared to other American carriers, JetBlue is essentially a premium carrier. But I do see what Bischof is saying from the IT side of things.

Anyways, in terms of market, JFK and Boston make perfect sense. Lufthansa has established service in both of these markets, and passengers can access the majority of JetBlue’s network from either market. Orlando surprised me though. Orlando is primarily a leisure market while both Boston and New York have solid demand for business travel. Lufthansa doesn’t have daily service there. Obviously that can change, but it doesn’t seem to be a very important market for them. There are only a couple of markets that JetBlue serves from Orlando that it doesn’t serve from Boston or New York. But we’ll have to see what happens.

There are certainly a few things to consider about Lufthansa’s move. I’m sure the American Star Alliance carriers (United, US Airways, and soon Continental) aren’t the happiest. Could JetBlue join the Star Alliance in the future? Finally, it has been constantly rumored the past few months that Southwest is looking for an international partner. This developing partnership between JetBlue and Lufthansa is probably accelerating that process.