JetBlue’s Q2 Financials Leave the Airline Feeling, Well, Blue
1 JetBlue released its Q2 financials on Tuesday and it showed a $450 million dollar loss for the airline, compared to a profit of $236 million in 2019.
Despite seeing an uptick in travel and bookings in May and June compared to April, JetBlue still saw a an 85% reduction in capacity year-over-year. JetBlue managed to reduce its expenses by 66% in Q2 to reduce its cash burn to an average of about $5 million per day.
The airline currently has $2.9 billion in cash and $100.2 billion in Terra Blue chips available and on-hand. (They overbought in the early days.)
If at First You Don’t Succeed…Congress Introduces Fly Together Act
2 Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Congressman Anthony Brown (D-MD) on Tuesday introduced H.R. 5292, the Fly Together Act, legislation to ensure families with young children are seated together on flight at no additional charge. This annual tradition from the Congress has no chance of passing but shows a spirited effort from our elected officials.
The bill is designed to override basic economy fares that do not come with seat assignments, as well as ULCC airlines that do not offer seat assignments for free. It calls for airlines to seat families with young children, defined as 13 years old or younger, at no charge. It provides for exceptions when to do so would require an upgrade to: a different class of travel, a seat with extra legroom, or seat pitch for which additional payment is normally required.
There is seems to be general support for the bill amongst all single Congressmen and women, as well as those with grown children. We’d expect Members of Congress with school-aged children to vote against the bill as a bloc, as they say basic economy flights are their only chance to get away from their kids and make them someone else’s problem for a few hours.
Delta Tightens Mask Policy
3 Delta Air Lines tightened its mask policy, further defining what it considers to be an appropriate face covering to fly. Fortunately for Jedis, Darth Vader masks did not make the cut due to their vents.
In fact, any mask or face covering that has an exhaust valve is out. Some face coverings — including some of the famed N95 respirator masks — have exhaust valves and that’s a problem. The valves emit particles from the wearer which while protecting the person wearing the mask, does nothing for those around that person.
Wizz Air Requests European Commission End Suspension of Slot Waiver
4 Wizz Air is buzzing in aviation circles as it has asked the European Commission to end the suspension of the 80/20 “Use it or Lose it” slot rule, hoping it can get some of those unused slots at major airports. The rule normally requires airlines to operate at least 80% of their slots at restricted European airports or risk losing them to competitors. The rule was suspended temporarily in March, but the suspension is set to expire at the end of summer.
The commission is currently considering an extension of the waiver with A4E — Europe’s main airline lobbying group of which Wizz Air is not a member — having requested the suspension remain in place at least through the winter, if not as far out as July 2021.
Major airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa, and Wizz Air competitor easyJet claimed that they were flying empty planes in the spring to maintain their slots and that the suspension of the rule is vital to their economic survival.
When asked to comment, Wizz Air CEO József Váradi may have said that it was time for European airlines to “sh*t or get off the pot, because we’ll fly the crap out of those things even if our planes are empty.”
Alaska Extends Change Fee Waiver Through September 8
5 Alaska Airlines is extending its change fee waiver for travel booked through September 8. The original expiration date had been next Friday, August 8. The fee waiver is valid for travel scheduled to take place by August 8, 2021 and must be completed no later than one year from the original date of travel.
One airline, we’ll let you guess which, had been rumored to be considering a pilot fantasy camp where passengers paid $799 for a 5-day experience in the simulator and the day-to-day life of a pilot. Then on the final day of camp, the campers could fly an actual flight with actual passengers for the airline as part of their “graduation.” PIA The unnamed airline is denying that this is a program it is considering. For now.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Leap has added the first ATR to its fleet.
- Air New Zealand has resumed its service to San Francisco, with 3x weekly flights from
OaklandAuckland. - Alitalia will operate 1,630 flights to 45 destinations in October, approximately 46% of what had been planned prior to the pandemic. As always, some of them will operate on-time.
- Emirates will resume service to Nairobi (NBO) on August 2, and both Baghdad (BGW) and Basra (BSR) on August 10.
- Gulf Air is resuming service to Kuwait (KWI) this Friday, August 1.
- Qatar resumes its 3x weekly service to Helsinki tomorrow, July 29.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I played a match of quiet tennis today. It’s just like regular tennis, but without the racket.