United's CEO says he won't buy JetBlue. I think he'll buy the best parts of it anyway. Scott Kirby's words: "The last thing I'm going to do is buy a route network that loses money." To make it work, he said, United would have to improve JetBlue's margin by 25 points, which "seems mathematically close to impossible." Asked again on last week's earnings call, he said he'd done enough talking this year about the "c word." But JetBlue is now worth $990 million, its loyalty bonds trade under 50 cents on the dollar, and United already has a foot in the door. Their Blue Sky partnership lets members earn miles on both, and United gets up to 7 daily round trips from JetBlue's new JFK terminal as early as 2027. What United would really want is JFK. It left in 2022 after failing to get enough slots. JetBlue holds 337 of JFK's 1,497. Together they'd have 26%, still behind Delta's 29%. The problem is everywhere else. Together they'd be #1 in Boston with 34% of seats and have 35% of Fort Lauderdale. Judges blocked JetBlue's alliance with American in 2023 and its Spirit deal in 2024. So the more likely path is a bankruptcy sale, airline by the piece. American bought TWA's assets out of bankruptcy in 2001 for about $742 million, and regulators let it through. This year Spirit's slots, gates, and planes went to different buyers. The catch is TrueBlue. The loyalty program and its credit card deals are pledged to $2.7 billion of debt, and those lenders just hired advisers. Whoever wants TrueBlue deals with them first. So United never buys all of JetBlue. If JetBlue files, United goes after the JFK slots, maybe Boston, and the newer A321neos, maybe even the A220s. Blue Sky gives it the inside track, though Delta or American could get in the mix. The TrueBlue lenders end up owning what's left.