Start-Ups
SouthWestJetBluezil just doesn't sound right, so David Neeleman is going to have to come up a more creative brand to fly his newly ordered 36 Embraer E-195s. The yet unnamed Brazilian start-up will go head to head with GOL, TAM and Varig in a rapidly growing market. The Sao Paolo-Rio De Janeiro Route is one of the busiest air corridors in the world, which fits Neeleman's MO to a tee. JetBlue started out flying between New York destinations and Fort Lauderdale, one of the busiest US air corridors. Interestingly enough, this order makes Neeleman's start-up the Brazilian launch customer for the homegrown E-Jet.
Launch Customers
This blog reported just days ago that ANA would be an order to become the launch customer of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet. At the time, I speculated that the order would be announced prior to the Farnborough Air Show this July. Well, the information was sound, it just happened even sooner than first thought. ANA ordered 15 MRJs, plus an additional 10 options today. Not only us ANA a launch customer for the MRJ, which is expected to enter service in Japan in late 2013, they will also be launching the fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbo Fan engine which will power the 70-90 seat regional jet.
JetBlue started up with flights from JFK to Upstate New York, and to Ft. Lauderdale. They were much more focused on the point-to-point business than on the connections for snowbirds. Only later on in the airline's history did they really start fleshing out the connection options.
One interesting bit is that they are putting 112 seats on the plane initially, according to some reports. I don't know about the Brazilian rules, but that would require a 3rd flight attendant in the USA, and I think it might in Brazil as well. I wonder how long until he pulls 12 seats out, adds paid increased legroom in the front, drops one FA and sells it as improved service. You'd think he'd actually leverage some of his experience and start off with all the fixes in place ;)