Battle Looms for Trendy-Friendly US Airlines- Virgin America vs JetBlue

Today, the battle between Virgin America and JetBlue trendy-friendly airlines intensifies.

Virgin America (not Virgin Atlantic, VS ) celebrates its IPO on the NASDAQ this morning with the symbol VA. As of the first morning trading, VA, backed by Richard Branson, has raised about $307m in its initial public offering priced at $23 a share. As of 10:30 am EST price has risen 27% to around $29.

After many years of recession and now invigorated US economy, air travel is increasing and so is the battle for meeting millenial and boomer business between Virgin America and JetBlue.

As a comparison, in April 2002, the JetBlue IPO opened and soared. According to CNN “it jumped 67% in its first day of trading making is the hottest public offering in nearly a year (2001-2002)” . JetBlue's shares flew past their opening price of $27, rising 67% to $45.00 in one day back in 2002.

A lot has happened since then and the trendy-friendly airlines are very popular with fliers in 2014.In informal airport interviews, both Virgins (America and Atlantic,VS, and Jetblue have outstanding customer satisfaction ratings.

Now Virgin America is in a better financial position to challenge JetBlue which has just expanded its terminal at JFK Terminal 5 to accommodate both domestic and international travelers. Virgin America and its cousin Virgin Atlantic ( which partners with Delta Londons flights) operate out of Terminal 4.

Both enjoy growing customer loyalty, travel from JFK Airport, younger staff, amenities and perceived customer value. The slight edge of amenities goes to JetBlue with its new “Mint” service to the Coasts with excellent meals, Direct TV and almost fully reclining seats for a price less than half of legacy airlines.

So, with a larger war chest, and strong customer appeal how will this battle between a fledgling public company versus and established public company develop?

Good luck to both!

More on today’s opening and analysis

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/virgin-america-prices-shares-public-trading-141324066--finance.html

Richard Branson, through VX Holdings, will own a 24.8% stake in the airline post the offering. Hedge fund Cyrus Capital Partners is the biggest shareholder with a 32.8% stake.

Twitter  @jfknewsandviews

"This is my Legs"

#FridayFortitude
I happened to meet Moran Samuel at JFK airport as she waited on the Alitalia line to board enroute to Israel. We began to talk to pass the time and eventually the topic of her disability came up. I asked her why her wheelchair was so battered. She explained that " this is my legs" and goes everywhere with her. "Like where" I asked. Well her response overwhelmed me.
Moran  is a world class para-rowing champion. Para rowing is like sculling for those without the full use of their body. Short for paraplegic they are usually confined to a wheelchair for life.  She had just returned from an event in Boston where she was one of the Israeli team out to compete at the Charles River Regatta.

Unfortunately she was disqualified because she was too-paralyzed! This was a big blow to here, but she explained that it was worth the entry to raise the awareness of how people can overcome adversity. She also spoke at the event and introduced a film titled "Endless Possibilities", www.endlessabilities.org
Social Media is chocked full of inspirational quotes, recipes and suggestions for ways to get more out of life.
Unfortunately I think many people just continue to read these rather than really put words into action.
Does it take a sea change event to really make those changes that will lead to a more satisfying and fulfilling life? Even without such a change, many will succumb to depression, lack of initiative and pessimism.
Well, not in this case. Ms.Samuels is motivated,a believer and dedicated woman using whatever skills and strength she has to compete and win.
Having met her, heard her story and subsequently looked her up on the web, I thought to myself, let me share this story. Hopefully those of you who read this will not be so challenged as she, but let this serve as a little bit of motivation that all of can use whenever we feel things are a bit overwhelming.
Go Moran!
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/10/19/israelis-appearance-head-charles-historic-moment/P3csGjCCzwSKPkL6gYQ8sL/story.html
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Artist Rocks

Love #jfkairport! It is a city with 7 "suburbs" or terminals.
Working there, one never knows who will be seen or interacted with.

My latest interesting encounter--Met ‪#‎RichardNonas‬, known sculptor from NY enroute to London via ‪#‎virginatlantic‬ ‪#‎richardbranson‬. I met him while he patiently was online ( literally) at Virgin Atlantic. Dressed casually with a green denim vest with a couple of mechanical pencils showing in his vest pocket whilst a backpack carried the rest of his belongings.
According to Richard  he is doing a rock sculpture arrangement at Regent Park. He hasn't seen the boulders, does not know now what will be. He has not bee there yet and will see his "canvas" in the next day or so. The most interesting part is his thought process. Right now he has had 18 large boulders placed in the park. They are waiting for him to arrive and then he will place in an artistic manner for the public viewing. . He is going to see the layout then ponder the site and layout. I was fascinated by this approach. So cool to discuss the artistic process while in the formative stages. I could hear the creativity pulse in his head as we spoke. Good luck. Oh, and by the way the Queen of England is scheduled to appear and view the creations.
If you are heading to London, drop by. More Info:http://www.artlyst.com/articles/frieze-sculpture-park-announced-for-2014-london-fair

Is it the Man or the Machine?

Thursday thought..

Is it the man or the machine? For many companies a single man has been the icon of success. Welch, Gates, Jobs and Zuckerberg are just a few. Many admirers of these men credit the growth and brilliance of these companies to these men. Jobs, in particular, was given almost God like status as he nurtured Apple into a giant international company with vision and supremacy in the computing and related consumer world. It seemed that Apple would go on forever with brilliant cutting edge products. But, Jobs is gone, and Apple is not shining so brightly at this point.

Another company, Google has become the new star in the tech universe. Moon shots were once the exclusive domain of Apple are now being regularly rocketing into orbit by Google.

But who is Google. Do we associate this company with an off the tongue name?

Who is the human controlling the machine?

In the age of drones perhaps the effect is more important than who caused it.

Do we no longer need a man, or person to identify with corporate success or will the machine of its own accord, sustain discovery, development and public adulation?

What is Wrong with the AirTrain?

The JFK AirTrain has once again gone out of full service.
This time is has happened during one of the worst arctic blasts of the season leaving tens of thousands of travelers cold and frustrated.

 According to an AirTrain spokesperson, a fire destroyed the fiber optic network that connects the whole system. 
As a result, the entire AirTrain network has been compromised with on and off again partial service between the Federal Circle Station and both lines to Howard Beach and Jamaica Station. This is the case today, Saturday Jan. 25^th.

Shuttle buses have been deployed to handle the human traffic from the terminals to Federal Circle. Unfortunately the whole operation is not running well from my point of view. I speak English and have an understanding of the AirTrain service. But even I had a lot of difficulty navigating where the buses were at each terminal, where they were going and when. I saw so many frustrated travelers from around the world standing in the freezing cold at bus stops wondering how to get to their connection, Jamaica Station or long term parking. For example women in wheelchairs and sandals were shivering at a bus stop waiting for a bus. They had no idea they would be out in the cold or cold shelter waiting for 15 minutes at times for the right transport.

The drivers of the buses have little knowledge and can’t, in many cases, even give proper destination information to the passengers. People poke their heads in and ask without any good response. The buses are so full that the drivers can’t see in the rear. They tell would be passengers that the bus is full yet the rear in emptying and room is available for many people.

Some of the dispatchers I saw at the terminals had no idea when the next bus was coming; some gave me the wrong side of the building and some buses just pulled in somewhere and travelers had to run to just ask where the bus was heading.
 I have to say it is a difficult situation but this is nothing new. The logistics of this should be in place for a smooth, orderly informative transit to all who need to get to, move around and leave JFK Airport.

On another note, given the frequent maintenance of the AirTrain and inconvenience to so many travelers, have we been given the best possible repair and maintenance by the manufacturer? We were promised a smooth winter service earlier when the system was shut down for ongoing maintenance geared to minimize winter issues.
We have major terminal modernization in the wings for LGA and T4. Maybe some of this money should be used to beef up the reliability of the AirTrain?

This information will not doubt change as the repairs continue. 

Go to this website for whatever information is current http://www.panynj.gov/

 Or subscribe to the Port Authority mobile alert-JFK Airport Info-Alert

 PS-Have to thank the workers fixing these problems with the frigid temps.

Useful #JFKAirport Links for Information

Here are a few links that I use and are excellent sources of information:

-Flightaware- http://flightaware.com/  Most accurate details of flight status for all airlines. Better than the airlines themselves. Nice visual route map as well

-Flightstats- http://www.flightstats.com/go/Home/home.do   Best source of overall picture of airports, airlines and general information. You can select by airport or specific airline by time range. Gives flight status, and gate. Note: Pay attention to Delta. Their domestic flight arrivals gates can change within a couple of hours.

-Port Authority NYNJ – http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk.html

Guide to JFK Airport and services nearby

-Want mobile alerts to Port Authority services?  Sign up for alerts@paalerts.com

Many airlines have their own apps for Apple and Android. These are much like regular websites with lots of unique individual airline info. You can usually sign up for flight delay alerts as well.
 
Feel free to add those that you have found helpful and share.

Twitter @jfknewsandviews

Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah and Seasons' Greetings. I don't know what is politically correct but I like to greet someone with a phrase I believe relates to them-not what I believe it. Maybe because I grew up in a JudiacChristian household. I had the blessing of celebrating both holidays; lighting Hanukkah candles one day and putting tinsel on an evergreen the next. What fun that was. The best part was that I did not have to go to Temple or Church and recite the beliefs of each., That would have been too much. So, instead growing up was simple about being with families, being sensitive to each side's cultural roots and enjoying the presents.

I personally believe in a sense of spirituality rather than a religion. But I respect whatever makes you believe and hope that we all can be part of a peaceful and good-will-toward-others world.
Today however is Christmas Day. I am too old to believe in Santa although I love the innocence of youth in their belief of this happy man. It is a day I look forward to being with my immediate family and my siblings and parents.It is a day to get past all the stupid stuff we have been holding onto and just appreciate the miracle of life and our bonds to each other, both familial and with the rest of the world.
And a special thanks to the men and women who work our airports and facilities today making our air travel safer.
Happy One to however you celebrate today. I hope Santa is good to you. Oops. I guess I do believe just a little!