United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby’s messaging has been clear for years: United must return to New York JFK. But as the path to that return looks increasingly via JetBlue, Kirby is heaping a lot of praise on the carrier he is now seeking a closer partnership with.

With The Goal Of Returning To JFK, United CEO Scott Kirby Has A Lot Of “Respect” For JetBlue, Claims Common Core DNA

Kirby was promptly ushered away at the Polaris 2.0 launch in Brooklyn this week, but Aviation Week caught up with him (thanks to One Mile A Time for flagging this) and, unsurprisingly, he was asked about a potential tie-up with JetBlue and a return to JFK.

He began by reiterating how important it is for United to return to JFK:

“JFK is important to us. One way or another, we need to be back in JFK. I wish United had not pulled out of JFK back in the day.”

United tried to return to JFK during the pandemic, but with only four slots, it failed to offer a meaningful alternative and suspended flights after first downsizing its service from a 767-300 to a 757-200.

One way or another, United will return to JFK. JetBlue, however, marks the easiest path and Kirby had a lot of praise for JetBlue:

“I have a lot of respect for JetBlue, because they have the same core customer DNA that we have. We want lifelong customers who believe in United, who love the brand. JetBlue comes from a similar culture and DNA.”

I agree with Kirby, to an extent. Every customer has lifelong customers who believe in the airline. I also believe United is moving in JetBlue’s direction in terms of offering a competitive product that stands out among its peers.

Even so, JetBlue is all about (or at least was) humanizing the economy class experience. More legroom, free wi-fi, and genuinely delicious snacks and meals mark a unique approach and one that I still love. Sadly, though, the business model has not proven successful and JetBlue finds itself in search of a winning strategy after the merger with Spirit Airlines fell through.

While Kirby said he was not ready to comment on a potential partnership “yet,” he did praise JetBlue’s “Live TV” as a turning point for him:

“I originally thought that’s a gimmick. And then I went and flew it, and I watched people, that was a transformational moment for me. They got it right. I was wrong. They got it right. Part of my journey to being the airline CEO really started with watching how successful JetBlue was for customers.”

Kirby did not stop American Airlines from removing seatback screens while he was President there, but has moved to retrofit the entire mainline narrowbody fleet at United to offer personal screens at each seat, not just streaming content.

What Does Kirby Want?

I’ve discussed my thoughts on a JetBlue – United partnership before, but I still see United as having a lot more to gain than JetBlue. United, of course, wants to return to JFK with a sizeable presence to operate transcontinental flights (and maybe some hub-to-hub flights.

But JetBlue has a dilemma: its bread-and-butter routes are these transcontinental flights. Why would it want to add competition to routes that are already saturated with service?

As I see it,  the only way for this to make sense for JetBlue would be if this deal with United is ultimately aimed at acquisition (I think that’s likely) and in the meantime, United will fastrack Star Alliance membership for JetBlue and help it link up with all the Star Alliance carriers that service JFK and Boston (BOS) to fill its other flights.

Otherwise, a frequent flyer partnership for JetBlue is not worth giving up slots and market share at JFK.

CONCLUSION

Kirby continues to court JetBlue, a nudge and a wink to what is to come, even as an official announcement has not been made. As far as I am concerned, the only question is how bold Kirby will be in trying to accelerate an acquisition of JetBlue in the current regulatory environment. Kriby strikes me as the sort of leader who believes that he has a narrow window of opportunity to make what many deem impossible possible. He will certainly try.