Allegiant Asks to Reduce Flying to Eleven Cities
1 Allegiant is back with another request to the DOT today, this time asking for an exemption of service to 11 cities that it traditionally suspends or dramatically reduces service to during a six-week period in late August and September. The airline is making the request on the basis that this is what is usually does and provides its 2019 service levels as proof. The cities have nothing in common other than they are completely random and are on this list:
- Clarksburg, WV (CKB)
- Cleveland (CLE)
- Elmira, NY (ELM)
- Little Rock (LIT)
- Omaha (OMA)
- Owensboro, KY (OWB)
- Plattsburgh, NY (PBG)
- Raleigh/Durham (RDU)
- Rochester, NY (ROC)
- St. Cloud, MIN (STC)
- Traverse City, MI (TVC)
If nothing else, Allegiant has helped out some terrible, aging rock band by listing out the cities for its Summer 2020 tour across America.
Icelandair Fires its Flight Attendants
2 So here’s a new one: Icelandair fired all of its flight attendants due to an impasse in labor negotiations and will have its pilots fill the role for the time being.
If this feels like a giant bluff, it’s because it probably is. In the interim, the airline plans to look elsewhere to hire a new batch of flight attendants to handle the on-board management of its flights. The airline says that its pilots will take over the role as soon as this Monday, July 20 until the new batch is found. And, in an amazing coincidence, this is my last day writing the Daily, because I’m moving to Iceland for a new career opportunity.
Icelandair will operate 16 routes as of July 20, most of which are flown less than daily. To the U.S., the airline and its pilots will fly to: Boston (2x weekly), and Seattle (1x weekly).
Brazil is Launching a New Airline in 2021
3 Apprently the curious decision of launching a new airline in the depths of the greatest downturn in demand for air travel ever is not just limited to Canada. Nella Linhas Aéreas plans to launch as a new regional airline as soon as 2021.
Founded by a Brazilian group formed by a holding company in Panama, the airline says it has already secured four ATR-42 planes to begin flying next year. The plan is to fly into underserved markets in Brazil out of a hub in the capital of Brasilia (BSB). The thing about underserved markets, however, is that they are usually underserved for a reason — the demand just isn’t there.
We can only hope this airline plans a JV agreement with one of the two new startups in Quebec that have been announced this year. At the very least, it’s a codeshare opportunity to provide seamless connections between Montréal and the Brazilian rainforest.
Norwegian May Start Flying the Atlantic Earlier Than Expected
4 Norwegian Air’s UK airline updated its schedule for service from London/Gatwick this winter and it appears to be planning to launch service to the U.S. in December, earlier than the airline predicted previously.
The airline has taken three cities off the schedule from previous years: Boston, San Francisco, and Tampa, but it will operate reduced frequencies from Gatwick to four others with flights beginning as early as December 9. Those cities are Los Angeles operating 5x weekly, Miami 3x weekly, New York/JFK once daily, and Orlando four weekly.
Norwegian had previously said if it hadn’t run out of money entirely, it would resume long-haul flying in March of next year.
FAA Downgrades Pakistan to Category Two
5 Welcome back to the show that never ends. The FAA has downgraded Pakistan and its Civil Aviation Authority to a Category Two designation, presumably because there is no Category Eight.
As you certainly know by now, Pakistan International Airlines, the flag carrier of Pakistan has had fake pilots with fake licenses operating its aircraft. The FAA took a look at that and said that it had a similar policy as the DOT and EU, which is fully anti-fake pilot.
By making the Category Two designation, Pakistani airlines cannot operate to or from the United States or codeshare with U.S. airlines. Pakistan is not currently on the list of countries accepting Americans due to the pandemic, but when it does, you’ll need to find a non-Pakistani airline on which to book that vacation.
Airline Potpourri
- airBaltic‘s shareholders approved the airlines $285 million bailout from the Latvian government.
- Alaska will reopen four of its lounges on August 1 that have been closed since the virus outbreak. The lounges reopening are located at Anchorage, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle (North Satellite).
- China Airlines is resuming service to New York/JFK with once weekly service from its Taipei (TPE) hub on July 28.
- Delta will require passengers who cannot travel with a mask to complete a pre-flight virtual health screening with a physician before being allowed to board. So, make sure you have an actual medical condition before you decide not to wear that mask.
- Emirates will resume service to four destinations: Tehran (IKA), Guangzhou (CAN), Addis Ababa (ADD), and Oslo (OSL) in the coming weeks.
- LOT will begin flying to Dublin from its Warsaw hub on August 23.
- Singapore flew with a load factor of just 12.4% in June which makes sense since visitors are not allowed to go to or — for the most part — through Singapore.
- Spirit has requested a DOT exemption of service for Latrobe, PA (LBE) from September 8-September 30 because the airport’s runway will be closed for repairs. If the petition is denied, Spirit will add a non-option $11.99 fee onto each ticket into or out of Latrobe — a non-runway landing fee — that the airline charges whenever it lands at an airport without a working runway.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I was fired from my job at the pasta factory last night after a fusilli mistakes.