September 3, 2020

Southwest Gets a Tan: Adds Miami and Palm Springs

1 Southwest Airlines announced two new destinations for the airline late Thursday, declaring its intention to begin flying year-round to both Miami and Palm Springs (PSP). The airline has not yet said what cities it will serve from the two airports, but rest assured snowbirds all over the country are rejoicing at this new option for flying to both southern California and south Florida.

Southwest has traditionally served other, nearby airports, flying to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) instead of Miami and to Ontario (ONT) instead of Palm Springs, in addition to its presence at several other LA-area airports. The airline did not announce when the new service would begin, but said details would be announced later.

Palm Springs will be Southwest’s 11th destination in California while Miami will be the eighth in Florida.


Australia’s International Travel Ban Likely to Last Until 2021

2 The English High Court approved Virgin Atlantic’s $1.6 billion restructuring plan, a final key step for the airline to emerge from voluntary administration. With the plan approved by the court, the airline expects to move ahead with its plan as soon as tomorrow.

Virgin Atlantic shareholders, creditors, and aircraft lessors voted in favor of the plan last week, leaving court approval as the final step in the UK portion of the process. There will be one more hearing in US Bankruptcy Court to approve the plan which is not considered a major obstacle in the process.

With the approval of the court, Virgin Atlantic will begin to receive cash injections to help it return to break-even and then, hopefully, profitability. That money alone should be enough to pay for Sir Richard Branson’s hair care products until the end of the year and keep a couple planes in the air.


Southwest Acquires All of JetBlue’s Long Beach Slots

3 Southwest Airlines has claimed all 17 permanent flight slots relinquished by JetBlue in Long Beach. JetBlue’s final day of service at the airport is October 6. Prior to announcing its intention to leave LGB, JetBlue was tied with Southwest for the most slots at the airport with 17 apiece. With the acquisition of all 17 B6 slots, Southwest becomes the airport’s dominant carrier by a large margin with 34. Delta is second with 12.

The airport reached out to other airlines to gauge interest on claiming JetBlue’s slots, but they all just laughed and laughed. Delta and Hawaiian — the other two airlines on the waiting list — said while they were interested, the timing was not right. You can say that again.

Southwest began service in Long Beach in 2016 with four daily flights and has steadily increased service as JetBlue has relinquished slots over the last several years. Airport officials expected greater competition for the slots considering the airport’s traffic pattern flies in such close proximity to Cranky World Headquarters.


Australia’s International Travel Ban Likely to Last Until 2021

4 Australia’s federal government extended an emergency period permitting it to ban non-essential international travel to and from the country through December 17. The decision all but guarantees Australia’s international ban will last into 2021.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last week that it was unlikely that international travel would return by Christmas and this is another step towards that likely conclusion.

In Australia, the losses for the tourism industry are still mounting to the tune of A$10 billion monthly, including A$6 billion in domestic Australian travel and A$4 billion in foreign visitors. 

The international travel restrictions apply to all Australian citizens including koalas and kangaroos. When asked to comment, the family of Roger the Muscular Kangaroo declined comment, choosing instead to continue enjoying their carrots slathered with Vegemite.


Wizz Air Accused of Charging Fee When Using Ad Blockers

5 Reports out of the UK say that Wizz Air is charging an additional €2 fee when booking on the airline’s website with ad blocker software installed and operating on your web browser.

When confronted with questions about the charge, the airline apparently did not specifically deny it exists, saying that it recommends customers turn off ad blockers when using Wizz Air’s site. We tried to replicate the fee but were unsuccessful, seeing the same price regardless of whether or not our ad blocker was turned on. This could be because of our location in the United States and not the UK or EU, or it could be that we haven’t figured out how to actually use a computer properly yet.

Theoretically, the airline could justify a fee or surcharge to recoup the cost of preventing fraud, which it claims is more likely to occur with the ad blocker present. But the lack of transparency is what struck most as unjust, not the €2 fee. When asked to comment, Ryanair and Spirit declined. Both were too busy standing and applauding.


Airline Potpourri

  • Ecuatoriana Airlines has filed paperwork to enter the Ecuadorian domestic market, replacing the recently failed airline TAME.
  • Emirates is returning service to both Accra (ACC) and Abidjan, Ivory Coast (ABJ) on September 6.
  • Hawaiian joined the anti-change fee club today, saying aloha to change fees on all domestic and international tickets, with the lone exception being those on Main Cabin Basic fares – HA’s version of Basic Economy. Hawaiian tickets will not retain any residual value when changed to a lower fare ticket, keeping in line with the airline’s current policy.
  • Iberia is expanding its codeshare with American on eight new U.S. domestic routes.
  • LEVEL plans to resume operations next Friday, September 11 on its Barcelona to New York/JFK route. It will launch as once-weekly service, increasing to 2x-weekly on September 30 and 3x-weekly on October 7.
  • Pakistan International Airlines, the official airline of aspiring pilots everywhere has decided to withdraw the appeal of its suspension from operating with the EU.
  • Pobeda actually saw a YoY increase in traffic in July, flying 2% more passengers than it did in 2019. One employee said that the airline did not show an increase in July — his email address now comes back with an error and he has a forwarded address located in Siberia.
  • Prime Air, Amazon’s air cargo operation registered its first 767-300 freighter, N503AZ, this week. The plane started with Qantas in 1991 and spent the last five years in service with WestJet.
  • SAS plans to operate its entire network this fall.
  • United Airlines launched a snazzy, interactive map that details state-by-state travel restrictions.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

What did Yoda say when is 4k TV finally arrived from Amazon?

HDMI.