American and JetBlue Come Together in New York & Boston
1 American and JetBlue will begin codesharing on flights into and out of the three main New York airports and the one airport that hates New York more than anything… Boston. This will increase feed and local relevance for both airlines as they look to remain competitive in a shifting environment.
The codeshare will have the B6 code put on over 60 American domestic routes, while AA will put its code on more than 130 JetBlue routes. The codeshare agreement will notably be in place on premium transcon routes — among others — potentially allowing JetBlue customers to fly on American’s three-class offerings while giving AA passengers access to JetBlue Mint.
With the announcement, AA also shared the launch of two new international routes and the restart of a third. American will begin flying a seasonal route from New York/JFK to Athens, Greece (ATH) next summer as well as a new route to Tel Aviv (TLV) in September of 2021. American will also resume its winter seasonal service to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) in the winter of 2021.
The two airlines also plan to have loyAAlty program reciprocity with plans to be announced at a later date when they actually figure out what they’re going to do.
You can learn more from our in-depth post on crankyflier.com this morning.
Alaska Builds up LAX With 7 New Routes
2 Alaska Airlines announced today that it will be building up its operation in Los Angeles in an effort to assert itself in the battle for world domination mere West Coast relevance. The airline will be adding new service from Los Angeles to seven new destinations that stretch from sea to shining sea. Oh yeah, and Montana.
- Bozeman, MT (BZN)
- Eugene, OR (EGE)
- Fort Myers, FL (RSW)
- Kona, HI (KOA)
- Lihue, HI (LIH)
- Medford, OR (MFR)
- Tampa (TPA)
Service to Eugene and Medford will commence on October 1, with the other five destinations starting later in the Fall and Winter.
Alaska will launch three other new routes connecting South Florida and the West Coast as it inaugurates service between Seattle and Fort Myers as well as both Portland and San Diego to Fort Lauderdale.
We were busy this morning, so you can also read more about this story on crankyflier.com.
British Airways to Retire 747 Fleet After 50 Years
3 British Airways announced late Thursday in an email to employees that it is retiring its fleet of 28 Boeing 747s immediately. BA stated that with several years between now and the recovery of the industry, the 747 was no longer economically viable. It is reported that Queen Elizabeth II reacted by saying, “man, I could have sworn that thing would outlive me.”
The fleet of 747s was scheduled to be phased out by 2024, but the timeline is being accelerated since it’s an easy way to reduce capacity. All 28 planes were taken out of service when the virus outbreak shuttered demand.
British Airways’s predecessor BOAC was one of the first 747 customers. It took delivery of its first in 1970, just over 50 years ago. It has been a constant presence in the BA fleet ever since. With Virgin Atlantic retiring its fleet of 747s recently as well, the Queen of the Skies will become a rare occurrence in the United Kingdom in the years to come.
DOT Exemption Requests: American Wins, Sun Country Loses, and Hawaiian is Back
4 Two airlines filed exemption requests from service requirements recently, and the DOT is ready to rule. American Airlines had its request granted as the airline will not be required to fly to Kahului, Kona, or Lihu’e in Hawai’i until September 30. AA had previously planned to resume flying to the three airports next month, but with Hawaii’s decision to hold off on reopening to tourists beyond August 1, it was easy to get approval to hold off on all non-Honolulu service to the islands.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the DOT told Sun Country to pound sand on its request to reduce service to Austin and San Antonio from 3x weekly to 1x weekly. Sun Country had already had the request denied, and the airline offered to restore service to other previously exempted destinations, to which the DOT chuckled and said “may you burn in the depths of hell.” Maybe it wasn’t quite the harsh, but you get the point.
Lastly, Hawaiian is back asking to extend its suspension of service to Pago Pago in American Samoa after the governor of American Samoa asked Hawaiian to refrain from resuming flying to the island. The DOT has granted each request from Hawaiian to American Samoa, and there is no reason to think this will be any different unless DOT decides it needs a little more fun in its life.
Real Life: Second Quebecois Airline of the Week Announces Launch
5 It was strange enough earlier this week when OWG announced it was planning to launch a new Quebec-based airline offering service to leisure destinations in the Caribbean. Things have now gotten positively goofy with a second announcement of the week for an even stranger planned launch in Quebec.
Treq (Coopérative de Transport Régional du Québec) stated its mission is to offer an airline that “serves the regions of Quebec and allows their development.” That’s the good news. The bad news: The new airline doesn’t have a name, it doesn’t have airplanes, and it doesn’t have financing for airplanes or a source to acquire them. It can be argued that it also lacks a remotely-viable business plan. It’s distinctly possible that some spunky French Canadians received an advanced copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, fired it up on their PC and confused that with actually starting a new airline.
This mythical airline does already have prices for its flights. A theoretical flight from Montreal to Îles-de-la-Madeleine (YGR) — a journey of 600 miles — will allegedly set you back 350 Schrutebucks CAD. That seems steep for an airline that doesn’t have planes yet or any way to acquire them, but if you can get it, good for you.
The new airline would serve 14 Quebec cities and partner with other airlines to provide connections to Toronto, the United States, and international destinations. Perhaps best of all, it plans to launch in September. September 2020. In six weeks. Ok then.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Canada plans to release the details on its revamped Aeroplan Program on July 28.
- Cathay Pacific shareholders approved their $5 billion bailout with an overwhelming 99% of the vote.
- El Al extended its currently flight suspension through August and is preparing for possible layoffs.
- KLM will begin service to Southampton (SOU) from its Amsterdam hub.
- Qatar became the first international service to resume flying to Maldives earlier today.
- WestJet will not be returning its fleet of four 767s to the air.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I’m thinking about starting a new line of ice cream and calling it “Revenge.” Because it is sweet and it’s best served cold.