American, JetBlue Join Pre-Departure Virus Testing Club
1 American and JetBlue are joining Hawaiian and United in having a pre-flight testing option for customers who are in need of a negative test to fly to their destination.
The JetBlue option is a saliva test conducted at home via a video chat with a test supervisor on the other end overseeing the sample collection. Now there’s a job — sitting at a computer all day watching people take saliva tests from their living room.
The sample is then overnighted to the lab and a result is returned within 72 hours. It’s improtant to note that saliva tests are not accepted by all jurisdictions — many places like Hawai’i require nasal swabs — and the onus is on the traveler to ensure that the test offered by JetBlue is valid for their destination. So that’s fun.
American’s option is much more limited for now. It begins with a trial for Jamaican residents heading back home from Miami. The Bahamas is expected to launch a similar program with American next month, and other Caribbean nations will follow. If it goes well, this will be expanded to US citizens. American has also set something up for passengers traveling from DFW to Hawai’i.
The tests presumably come at a cost, but neither airline disclosed the price in their releases. United’s Hawai’i test is $250 and is conducted at the airport, while Hawaiian’s test ranges from $90 to $150 and is conducted a drive-thru testing centers located near LAX and SFO.
Hawaii’s Pre-Departure Virus Testing Will Not be Available for Children
2 Hawai’i Governor David Ige clarified that the state’s current plan for pre-departure testing to allow visitors to the state to be exempt from the mandatory 14-day quarantine will not apply to children younger than 12.
The state’s testing partners will not offer the tests to children younger than 12, making them ineligible to be exempt from the quarantine. Because of this, families who travel together to the islands could see a situation where the parents can break quarantine but their children, aged 11 or below cannot.
For many parents, this is likely seen as a feature, and not a bug, of the new testing system in Hawai’i. However, the governor is working to expand the program and find a partner that would be willing to test children, but he does not expect to have one when the program goes live on October 15.
Honey, I’m Home! United to Return to JFK
3 After a five year hiatus, United Airlines is planning to return to New York/JFK early in 2021, according to CNBC.
United, which has a major hub across the river at Newark along with a limited presence at LaGuardia has not served JFK since 2015. CEO Scott Kirby, who joined the airline in 2017, has often said that leaving JFK was a bad idea.
Proponents of United returning to JFK after its hiatus have summed their argument up into the simple point: “JFK may be bad, but at least it’s not Newark.”
Brussels Confirmed as Next U.S. Preclearance Facility
4 Brussels Airport will host the next U.S. preclearance facility, it was confirmed on Monday. The airport was rumored to be receiving the facility earlier in the summer, but it became official when representatives from both nations signed an agreement to move forward.
Belgium will become the seventh nation to receive a U.S. preclearance facility and the first on the European continent. Canada leads the way with nine facilities, and is the only nation with more than two.
Transatlantic travel from Brussels is down 31% this year, mostly due to the pandemic. The addition of the preclearance facility could be crucial for the airport as it looks to rebound. So few airports can offer an authentic American experience before you leave the country, consisting of a terse discussion with a grumpy CBP officer and a potential secondary search of your belongings for contraband.
Singapore to Convert A380 Into a Restaurant
5 We’ve seen many airlines get creative in their attempts to find revenue during the dramatic downturn in demand, and now Singapore Airlines is turning a parked A380 into a restaurant for two nights — October 24 & 25.
While Singapore hasn’t yet released pricing for the dining experience, it seems a safe bet that Singapore Slings will be involved in one way or another. Each diner will receive will receive two complimentary alcoholic drinks plus unlimited non-alcoholic drinks as a part of their dining experience.
In addition, Singapore is offering two more unique experiences — a behind-the-scenes tour of the airline’s training center which includes time in a simulator. Singapore also is launching its SIA@Home program, giving customers the chance to experience the airline at home. Options include premium class dining delivered to your home, including the option to Book the Cook. The @Home packages will be available beginning October 5.
Airline Potpourri
- American is launching service from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Dayton Beach (DAB) from December 17 to April 5.
- Delta is retiring its final eight Boeing 737-700s.
- Emirates is adding to new cities back into service with Entebbe (EBB) resuming on Thursday and Muscat (MCT) on Friday.
- Fiji is suspending its operation to Honolulu, Los Angeles & San Francisco for December 2020 through January 11, 2021.
- Lufthansa is halting all service into India, for October and beyond.
- JetBlue will not resume service to Baltimore, Burbank, Ontario, CA (ONT), or San Jose (SJC) until at least April.
- Royal Brunei is laying off its expat pilots in an effort to save costs.
- Wizz Air is adding two new routes from Birmingham, UK to Romania. It will serve Iasi (IAS) 2x-weekly and Craiova (CRA) 4x-weekly.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I have a fear of speed bumps. But I’m getting over it.