United to End Contract with ExpressJet
1 United Airlines will be ending its contract with ExpressJet over the next several months, opting to consolidate United Express flying with CommutAir instead based on financial considerations. Sadly, this means there won’t be a CEO death match to choose the winner.
In an effort to cut its costs in the wake of the pandemic, United said it would cut down from two regional operators to just one for its 50-seat Embraer 145 United Express operation. United holds a minority stake in both airlines but ultimately decided to focus on smaller CommutAir going forward.
Flying on behalf of United Express is the sole flying that ExpressJet currently performs, and the eventual loss of the contract with United will — barring some miracle or successful CEO death match challenge — result in the airline ceasing operations. ExpressJet said it will explore all options for the company’s future in 2021, while it expects to continue normal operations — as normal as can be in the pandemic –through the rest of this year.
United to Resume 25 International Routes This September
2 In somewhat less depressing United news, the airline announced Friday it will be resuming 25 international routes this September from all seven of its domestic U.S. hubs.
Internationally, UA plans to fly 30% of its schedule from September 2019. Highlights of United’s international schedule in September include the launch of previously-announced new service from Chicago/O’Hare to Tel Aviv and Hong Kong along with Los Angeles to Sydney.
United will return 40 new flights to 48 destinations as a part of its domestic schedule upgrade for September including a resumption of flying to Hilo and Kauai in Hawai’i. That assumes, of course, that Hawai’i wants people to start visiting again.
This all sounds great, but overall it’s just a 4% increase in capacity over August which… isn’t much.
British Airways to Retire A318 Fleet
3 British Airways announced late Friday that it would be retiring its fleet of A318s, the smallest plane in the A320 family. This may sound like a big move, but it’s not. That “fleet” had just one airplane. It was used by BA to solely fly the unique route between New York/JFK and London/City airport.
The flights, which had inherited from Concorde flight numbers BA001 and BA002, flew in an exclusive business class configuration with 32 seats on-board in eight rows of four. BA001 & 002 had been suspended in March and were expected to return later in the summer, prior to the decision to retire the A318. BA does not have another aircraft that can complete the route due to City Airport’s short runway.
BA will be making other fleet updates to cut costs due to the pandemic as the airline will ground four A380s and six 777s indefinitely. BA’s parent company, IAG, reported its Q2 financials on Friday, showing a loss of €1.365 billion while maintaining just over €6 billion in cash on-hand.
Air Canada Q2 Financial Report Released
4 Financial reporting north of the border isn’t much better than it is on our side as Air Canada posted an operating loss of C$1.6 billion. The airline carried a staggering 96% fewer passengers than it did in Q2 2019.
Air Canada has raised C$5.5 billion in new liquidity since the pandemic hit, which has allowed it to actually increase its cash holdings to C$9.1 billion compared to C$7.3 billion on December 31. It also holds C$100.1 billion in maple syrup reserves.
The airline was able to cut expenses 64% compared to Q2 last year and is looking to cut further for the remainder of 2020. The closure of the US-Canadian border to non-essential traffic has ground Air Canada’s revenue production to a halt with the airline only bringing in C$527 million, an 89% drop from last year’s C$4.7 billion.
On the bright side, cargo revenue did increase 52% to C$269 million, Tim Horton’s coffee is still better than Starbucks, and the NHL returns to action tomorrow.
Chinese Airlines to Offer All You Can Eat Fly Buffet
5 With the pandemic affecting every facet of life, the idea of the all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet on a corner in every city in America may have passed us by, but the Chinese all-you-can-fly buffet is ready for takeoff.
Two Chinese airlines, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have introduced unlimited domestic flying passes to drum up revenue in the latter half of 2020.
China Southern Airlines’ “Fly Happily” deal will cost you about $529, but gives customers passes for as many flights as they wish for throughout China from August 26 through January 6.
China Eastern Airlines launched a “fly at will” discount package in June that lets passengers book unlimited weekend flights until December 31 this year for a princely sum of $474. Although it seems a more proper name would be “fly at will on the weekend,” the package has proved quite popular as the airline says over 150,000 people have purchased and used the package so far.
Flight passes were popular in the United States a generation or two ago — whether or not this test in China will prompt U.S. airlines to give it a try remains to be seen, but it will likely be worth watching during the final months of 2020.
Airline Potpourri
- airBaltic is launching a new route from its Riga hub to Rhodes, Greece (RHO).
- ANA posted a $1.04 billion dollar loss for the quarter ending June 30.
- Austrian will be launching 15 new routes as soon as today and tomorrow.
- British Airways will reinstate service to Pakistan, using actual licensed pilots, on August 14 with 3x weekly service to Islamabad.
- Delta is capping fares in and out of the Caribbean to destinations possibly affected by Tropical Storm Isaias.
- Hawaiian will be delaying its debut of the Boeing 787 until 2022 or 2023.
- Nok Air was granted bankruptcy protection in a Thai court.
- Pobeda is taking virus safety very seriously as it has outfitted one of its aircraft with a mask.
- Ryanair will launch 3x weekly service between Naples and Vienna in October.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
My friend’s son Luke is a huge Star Wars fan and thinks it’s awesome his parents named their kids after Star Wars characters. His younger sister Chewbacca — not so much.