The Northeast Alliance is being challenged by the Department of Justice. There are some really interesting tidbits coming out of the hearing, such as American losing slots at JFK because it forgot about them. The CEO of American Airlines was in court yesterday. The topic of JetBlue Mint came up during the questioning. He doesn't know if JetBlue Mint is lie-flat. Mint is the domestic first class, but can't speak to all the amenities they have. He's now clarified that he's aware that Mint "has a domestic first class product, I can't speak to all the amenities they include." He clarified that he was trying to draw a distinction between domestic first class and international business class on premium domestic routes.Robert Isom knows very little about JetBlue
Most people would be surprised by this.
I don't expect the CEO of the world's largest airline to know everything about the product of their competitors, but they don't? That is... unexpected.
The Department of Justice brought up the idea that there would be less competition for premium products due to this alliance, but that is not the point.
It's not important for the CEO of a major airline to know what their competitors are doing because they have people who can keep tabs on that An airline CEO doesn't have to be an av Geek, they just have to run a business
This brings me to a bigger point that is worth mentioning. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to interact with quite a few senior airline executives, and I find their knowledge about competitors to be either extreme or neutral.
There aren't many executives who are in the middle. They either know everything about their competitors or they don't. There is a correlation between airlines that have a great passenger experience and airlines that keep a close eye on their competitors.
If you want to know how good seats, service, wi-fi, entertainment, food, and drinks are on a domestic flight, you should ask the CEO of a US airline.
Even though the product has been around for eight years, the CEO of American Airlines doesn't know if it's a flat bed product or not.
You would think an airline executive would keep an eye on this since it is a partner and a competitor. airline executives either seem to know very little or just about everything about what their competitors are doing, and I guess Isom falls in the latter category, so I can't say I'm surprised.
Is it surprising that American's CEO doesn't know much about the Mint?
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