Spirit & Pilots Union Avoid Furloughs
1 Spirit Airlines came to an agreement with its pilots to avoid furlough of up to 600 pilots when CARES Act funding expires next month.
About half of Spirit’s 2,500 pilots have agreed to work reduced hours, creating enough savings to allow the 600 jobs to be kept. Spirit had previously said that it planned to furlough up to 2,500 workers throughout its operation but now expects the number of furloughed staff to be “a small fraction of that.” The airline has posted the actual number it expects to furlough on an internal website and staff can pay $4.99 to see the expected number.
Spirit offered one, three, six, and eight-month leaves for pilots starting in October plus an additional three-month stint for Q1 2021 to help reduce pressure on staffing needs. With enough pilots taking the offers, the airline is celebrating with a small reception at corporate headquarters. A cash bar will be available.
Qantas Plans to Cut 2,500 Jobs by Outsourcing Ground Ops
2 Qantas announced its plan to cut an additional 2,500 jobs as it looks to outsource its ground operations in Australia. This comes as the airline braces for a $7 billion loss this year. These 2,500 jobs come in addition to the 6,000 the airline to cut back in June.
The airline said that outsourcing can save up to 40% each time they turn an aircraft, equaling a A$100 million savings per year. This old refrain will sound familiar to plenty of former airline employees in the US who saw the same thing play out at their airline.
As part of its agreement with its unions, Qantas will have to offer its more than 2,000 ground staff the opportunity to bid for the new, outsourced work. Most of its ground staff have been on furlough for months as is due to the pandemic. The expectation is that those that are at home are currently enjoying footy on television (Go Magpies!) waiting to be recalled to work.
El Al to Fly First Commerical Flight from Israel to UAE
3 El Al, the national flag carrier of Israel is planning to operate the first commercial flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates next week, an important symbol as the two nations look to normalize relations.
An American delegation on Monday’s flight will be led by President Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
The flight will be the first known direct flight by El Al to a Gulf Arab Country in history. Royal Jordanian has operated between Tel Aviv and Amman since the countries agreed to a peace accord in 1994. The mysterious Air Sinai — owned by Egyptair — flies between Egypt and Israel.
Mileage-runners the world over are salivating at the thought of cheap premium class fares on Emirates or Etihad on flights originating in Israel. Some have been rumored to be looking into Israeli citizenship to get a first-crack at dirt-cheap business and first class fares on the two premium, UAE-based airlines.
Korean Outsources In-Flight Business
4 In an effort to raise cash, Korean Air has sold its in-flight business, including in-flight catering and its very lucrative duty free operation to Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Company for a cool $836 million plus two bottles of whisky and a carton of cigarettes.
The hedge fund will transfer the Korean Air operation to a new company that it will establish in the coming weeks, selling a 20% cut of the new company back to Korean Air.
In addition to the sale of its in-flight business, the airline is also looking to sell other assets, including a plot of land in Songhyeon-dong, in central Seoul, and the Wangsan Leisure Development, which operates the Wangsan Marina close to Seoul’s Incheon airport. At one point the airline had considered turning the marina into a first-class lounge, shuttling passengers back to the airport, but the fish complained that they didn’t want the first class passengers having loud phone calls with shoes off in their presence, so the airline backed off.
Swoop Shifts Strategy, Goes to Toronto
5 Canadian ULCC Swoop plans to begin service from Canada’s busiest airport on October 25 as the airline swoops in to begin operating at Toronto/Pearson. Swoop plans to operate both domestic and international routes from the airport, unveiling its schedule in the coming weeks.
The airline, which is owned by Air Canada’s main domestic competitor, WestJet, is based in Hamilton, Ontario (YHM). Hamilton is a secondary airport an hour southwest of Toronto, so the airline’s move into Toronto itself is notable.
Swoop’s current focus is domestic travel as well as taking Canadians to well-deserved vacations in warm locations. Internationally, Swoop flies to four beach locations in Mexico, Montego Bay in Jamaica and five U.S. destinations: Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa.
Swoop often promotes that its fleet is equipped with AC power and USB ports at every seat on each of their aircraft. Not only is that true, but they also have seat belts and restroom on every aircraft and most of their planes connect to jet bridges or stairs. The airline should not be confused with Swoop, the beloved Philadelphia Eagles mascot, as that Swoop is not Canadian and definitely does not have a passport.
Airline Potpourri
- Delta will resume flying to Grand Cayman (GCM) from New York/JFK in December, the first flights for Delta between the two cities since 2016.
- Samoa Airlines will launch with its first domestic flight this Friday, August 28.
- Singapore will resume its service to New York/JFK via Frankfurt with 3x weekly service beginning November 1.
- United will now permit Basic Economy customers to purchase an Economy Plus more-legroom seat at check-in, when available.
- Vistara is joining Aeroplan as its 37th worldwide partner.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
My neighbor got a brand-new shrub trimmer this weekend. He told me how expensive it was and I was shocked. I asked how he could spend that much and he said “it was worth it…it’s cutting hedge technology.”