Alaska, JetBlue, and United Tighten Mask Restrictions
1 Alaska, JetBlue, and United became the latest U.S. airlines to close the vents loopholes in their mask policies. These airlines are — like Delta previously — banning masks with vents or holes in them, and are requiring masks on all passengers older than two — with no exceptions. If a passenger cannot or will not wear a mask, we suggest the airlines give the phone number of the nearest private jet provider and tell the travelers to get their own ride.
In addition to updating their mask policy, both Alaska and JetBlue also updated their social-distanced seating policies. JetBlue will continue to guarantee that passengers will not be seated directly next to someone not in their traveling party though at least October 15. JetBlue is blocking middle seats on its Airbus aircraft with three-seat rows, and is blocking aisle seats on its two-seat row Embraers. Alaska is doing the same, with a guarantee of blocked middle seats aboard its aircraft through at least October 31.
United has not updated its policy, which today consists of “yeah someone might be in the middle seat — sucks for you.”
American and its Pilots Come to Agreement on Early Leave
2 American Airlines and its pilots union have come to an agreement to provide more unpaid leave and early retirement packages in an attempt to avoid furloughs when the CARES Act expires on October 1.
The airline will let its pilots with greater than 10 years tenure take a buyout and will offer others the option to take nearly a year of unpaid leave or alternate months without flying. In addition, AA will extend the deadline for other employees to decide about voluntary leave or early retirement to August 12.
This buyout offer isn’t as generous as the deal made for pilots 62 years old and over, so AA isn’t expecting as many pilots to take them up on the offer. This offer gives pilots about six months pay in addition to $100,000 to $150,000 in a medical spending account. This compares to the deal for the 62 & over group which was 60% of annual pay for three years.
As opposed to the offer made to the older pilots, the union will be sending this proposal via a video Doug Parker and Robert Isom recorded on AA’s Tik Tok account, and responses are required via the app.
Virgin Australia 2.0 is Here
3 Virgin Australia and its new owner Bain Capital have released their plan to restructure the airline following its bankruptcy procedures earlier this spring.
First up will be a dramatic cutting of costs to reshape the airline to be leaner and meaner. Approximately 3,000 jobs will be lost out of the 9,000 currently employed at the airline. Virgin Australia will also be retiring its 777, A330, TigerAir A320, and ATR fleets to consolidate the number and types of aircraft it operates, leaving it with just the 737 for mainline operations.
When travel returns to pre-virus levels, the airline expects to maintain between 60 and 80 aircraft in its fleet with the number to be less than half that when it relaunches this year. It will focus on long-haul flying when demand recovers, but it’s unclear what planes it will use to do so — Melbourne to Los Angeles on a 737 sounds like torture in the worst way.
Creditors will vote up or down on the restructuring plan on August 25. The vote will take place on national television with Simon Cowell hosting. The creditors will one-by-one enter a grand hall where they will present Sir Richard Branson with a rose if their vote is yes, and will arrive empty handed if they are voting no.
DOT Approves AA’s Shanghai Flight Shifting to Seattle
4 The DOT has approved American Airlines’ request to move its once-daily frequency to Shanghai/Pudong (PVG) from Los Angeles to Seattle. American makes the request as it shifts focus to Seattle as a part of its growing partnership with oneworld member-elect Alaska Airlines.
After pulling much of its long-haul strategy away from Los Angeles, the move of the Shanghai flight to Seattle will allow AA to use the extensive feed from Alaska, the dominant carrier at the airport. At the same time, American hopes it will help the airline stop losing insane amounts of money flying to China and instead lose only “a lot” of money.
The ruling from the DOT also granted AA an extension through March to keep its flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Beijing grounded without losing the route authority.
Condor & TUI fly Deutschland Considering Merger
5 Two German airlines, Condor & TUI fly Deutschland, are considering merging in order to emerge from the pandemic as a combined entity that is stronger than the two are on their own.
LOT had an agreement in place to purchase Condor back in January, but the deal ended when the pandemic hit and air travel demand fell off a cliff.
Both airlines are currently considering dramatic reductions of their fleet with TUI planning to reduce its fleet from 39 to 17 aircraft. Condor is expected to slash its fleet of 53 aircraft by as much as 25%.
Neither airline was willing to comment on the potential tie-up except to possibly say that if there was a merger between the two German companies, it would be done quickly, efficiently, and on-time.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Transat released its Winter 2021 schedule with service to 40 destinations.
- Cathay Pacific has extended its flexible booking policy with unlimited free changes for all tickets purchased through the end of August 31.
- Emirates is resuming service to Kuwait City (KWI) today and to Lisbon on August 16.
- LATAM is hopeful it can receive another $250 million investment from Chilean shareholders.
- LATAM Brasil will be laying off 2,700 cabin crew, which represents approximately 28% of that workforce.
- Royal Jordanian has postponed its previously planned resumption of international service for August 2020.
- Samoa Airlines has been granted an extension by the DOT to operate a cabotage route between two points in American Samoa from Pago Pago to Fitiuta (FTI).
- Virgin Australia is closing three lounges — Alice Springs (ASP), Perth T2, and Wellington, NZ (WLG).
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? Don’t worry, he’s all right now.