July 23, 2020

Southwest, American, and United to Require Masks to Board — Without Exception

1 Southwest Airlines announced that it would require all passengers over two years old to wear masks with no exceptions. Southwest’s new policy was the strictest amongst U.S. carriers and came after United announced earlier this week it would require masks throughout the airport as well as onboard the plane but would still allow medical exemptions. Now, American has banned medical exemptions, and United has followed as well.

Southwest stated simply, “If a Customer is unable to wear a face covering or mask for any reason, Southwest regrets that we will be unable to transport the individual. In those cases, we hope the Customer will allow us to welcome them onboard in the future, if public health guidance, or other safety-related circumstances, regarding face coverings changes.” That leaves Delta as the best option for those who can’t wear masks, but even that will require an in-depth evaluation at the airport.

In an effort to further stop spread of the COVID-19 virus, Southwest also shared that it would be launching a pilot program at Dallas Love Field to screen passengers for elevated temperatures using thermal screening cameras. Despite its name, the airline’s pilots have nothing do with the program. It is believed that those purchasing Early Bird and A-list preferred will have their temperature taken with a thermal scanner from a distance. Passengers in the B boarding group will have a thermometer placed under their tongue, while passengers in the C boarding group will have their temperature taken…the old-fashioned way. That $15 for Early Bird doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?


Americans (Lack of) Earnings Report + DFW Terminal Update

2 American Airlines posted its Q2 earnings today with a better than expected loss of $3.4 billion thanks to revenues being down only 86%. There’s a phrase you probably never thought you’d hear.

AA was able to slow its cash burn to just $30 million per day in June compared to a high of $100 million per day earlier in the Spring. AA ended the quarter with $10.2 billion cash on-hand — and another ~$5 billion on the way — which it is choosing not to spend on its new terminal at DFW. Construction has been halted indefinitely on the new $3 billion terminal that was supposed to open in 2025.

In an attempt to raise much-needed funds, the airport is considering mandating a $17.50 minimum price on tuna sandwiches in all gift shops, a slight increase over whatever insane price is currently charged.


Alaska is Officially Invited to Join Oneworld, Posts Q2 Loss

3 Alaska was formally invited to become the 14th member of the Oneworld Alliance on Thursday, speeding up a process that was first expected to take well into 2021. The airline is now a member-elect of the alliance with full membership expected to occur before the end of the calendar year.

Alaska will become the second member to join Oneworld in 2020, after Royal Air Maroc got the secret password to the Oneworld treehouse in April. Alaska will add 34 new destinations to the Oneworld footprint throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The airline will now receive sweet jackets and other oneworld gear that will allow them sit at a cool table at the next meeting of the world’s airlines and not off at the weird “not in an alliance” table.

Alaska also announced its Q2 financials, something it smartly did AFTER getting the official invite from oneworld. Alaska officials were heard saying “No backsies!” after the announcement, to which American just laughed and said “don’t worry, wait til you see ours.”

Alaska posted a net Q2 loss of $214 million, on revenue of $309 million. This compares to a $262 profit in Q2 2019 on just over $2 billion in revenue. Alaska heads into the second half of the year with $2.8 billion in cash on-hand and has reduced its daily cash burn to just $4 million per day.


Southwest Posts a Rare But Expected Q2 Loss

4 As part of the Airline Industry Torture Program (AITP) targeting media and analysts, Southwest ALSO announced its Q2 financials on Thursday. It continued the theme of the week — not great, Bob.

The airline posted a staggering Q2 loss of $915 million dollars on revenues of $1 billion. On the bright side, the airline does have $15.5 billion cash on hand, easily enough to take everyone in Texas out to Whataburger a few times.

Southwest remains the only investment-grade credit rating in the U.S. airline industry by all three agencies; it has unencumbered assets of $12 billion, including $10 billion in aircraft and $1.4 billion in packets of honey roasted peanuts it never distributed.


Taiwan Passes Proposal to Rebrand China Airlines

5 The parliament of the Republic of China — Taiwan — has passed a proposal to rebrand the flag carrier of the island which is currently flying as China Airlines.

The name often causes confusion with Air China and other mainland Chinese airlines, something the Taiwanese government seeks to avoid. Since the pandemic, repatriation and aid flights operated by China Airlines were confused as to being flown on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. A U.S. political ad that ran in recent weeks showed a China Airlines plane when referencing a travel ban to mainland China.

Expect Taiwan to move slowly on the rebrand, as any name that explicitly has Taiwan in it is bound to upset the PRC government. The first option the airline might consider is “Not That China Airlines,” or “China Airlines, You Know, the Good One.” We would like to suggest Joon which is available after Air France scrapped its hip alternative airline less than two years after launch. If they’d like to kick the political football, and ramp up the confusion factor, “Air China II” with callsign “The Deuce” will need to be considered.


Airline Potpourri

  • Air France and United have resumed service to Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, from Paris and Newark & San Francisco, respectively.
  • American expects its Q3 capacity to be down 60% YoY as demand weakens.
  • British Airways will double the number of cities its serves in Jamaica, launching service to Montego Bay (MBJ) from London/Gatwick beginning Oct 13. (Kingston is the other one.)
  • Emirates is returning service to the Seychelles (SEZ) with 5x weekly service beginning August 1.
  • Qatar is introducing new service to the very tropical Cebu (CEB) in the Philippines with 3x weekly service beginning tomorrow, July 24.
  • TAP Air Portugal started 3x weekly service earlier this week from Boston to Ponta Delgada (PDL) in the Azores.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I have a weird OCD where I always place my plates in the cabinet in the order of the year they were bought. It’s an extremely rare dish order.