I disagree. The 787 was the next stage of evolution for the company and would have been a winner. However, the company decided to start swoop instead of staying focused on, and continuing to build on, the success of WJ. They added costs, complexity and flushed their employee culture for the sake of a temper tantrum by the worst of the 4 founding members of the airline. Trying to be everything to everyone is the issue.
I do agree that trying to build a hub and spoke system when everyone else is dismantling their hubs is a mismanaged attempt to enter the widebody market. The focus on swoop prevented a true growth of a widebody fleet to destinations the aircraft was built to service in a point to point manner.
WJ's biggest problem right now is that they don't know what they are. They are not a premium airline because they don't want to spend the money to be one. They aren't a LCC because they moved away from the one class, one type business model. They are not a ULCC because you don't need a shoehorn to get into a seat yet. They aren't... well... they anything that is defined.
Last edited by Mostly Harmless; 26th Jun 2022 at 14:32.