Basic Business Class Has Arrived
1 Japanese LCC ZIPAIR is launching its inaugural passenger flights next week between Tokyo/Narita and Seoul/Incheon and the airline is offering four levels of service both in its economy and fully-flat business class. One option of the four is a “Simple” tier that is just that. It does not include anything other than the airfare and a seat — but no advance seat assignment.
ZIP’s “Simple” fare will be offered in both business and economy, but neither will include a checked or carry-on bag, nor does it include a meal or any sort of on-board service. All will be available for a fee at ticketing and again at check-in.
The idea of a basic business class fare has been around for several years, including Emirates president Sir Tim Clark saying that his airline had considered the idea as early as 2017 and even experimented with a more limited business class offering.
U.S. and European airlines — both legacy and LCC — will undoubtedly be watching to see if the ZIP experiment is successful. If it works, it’s very likely that we will see the concept of a basic premium seat cross the ocean in the coming years. Spirit should have released a statement saying that it was unimpressed with this development and that its Big Front Seat has been a basic premium seat for years.
Mesa Dips its Toes in the Cargo World
2 Mesa Air operated its first revenue cargo flight on behalf of DHL Express on Monday, marking a new partnership for the regional carrier.
Mesa is currently using one 737-400F aircraft on behalf of DHL for five years with a second scheduled to enter service next month. That first aircraft — N306GT — was formerly operated by Southern Air. It had a busy day Thursday flying roundtrip from its Cincinnati base to Memphis twice and then on to St Louis before going back to Memphis. The aircraft then operated what, as a passenger flight, would be the worst redeye of your nightmares — a post 1am departure from Memphis to Cincinnati on a cargo aircraft… operated by Mesa.
The airline shifted into the cargo business to diversify its revenue generating opportunities amidst the pandemic. DHL was looking for a partner who was comfortable flying with overstuffed airplanes packed to the gills. With its history as a regional carrier, the airline has a proud history of jamming as many items into a confined space as possible while transporting them through the air. This is expected to be the beginning of a beautiful partnership.
Alaska Offers to Turn Future Credit into Miles
3 Alaska Airlines is offering an incentive to its Mileage Plan members holding credits from cancelled or postponed travel due to the pandemic to turn their stored value into miles.
The offer from the airline is 10,000 miles for every $100 in credit on file. Members can convert their current credit in increments of 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of their current balance into Mileage Plus miles. The offer is valid through Monday night.
This is a chance for Alaska to get much of the credit it has outstanding on its books converted to miles, and allows customers to convert their credits into a longer-lasting currency.
Alaska’s chief rival in its hometown of Seattle is considering a similar promotion to match its competitor. Wanting to keep the offer in-line with the street value of SkyPesos SkyMiles, Delta is considering an offer of 100 SkyMiles for every $10,000 dollars in credit on file.
Delta Schedules Farewell 777 Flights
4 After announcing back in May that it planned to retire its Boeing 777 aircraft this fall, Delta Air Lines has set the schedule for the aircraft’s final flights.
Two flights will send the aircraft off to the big parking lot in the sky, with Delta 8787 operating from Atlanta to Los Angeles on October 30 and Delta 8807 operating from New York/JFK to Los Angeles on October 31.
It is important to note that both flights will deplane all passengers in Los Angeles before being removed from service. No one who chooses fly on these farewell flights will be forced to go to the desert with the aircraft. Delta may disagree, but similar to a final game in a stadium before it closes, passengers should feel free to grab any souvenirs they can from the aircraft. Boarding with a toolkit is advised, as some of those trickier items, like seats, tray tables, and wings are bolted in.
Delta has operated the 777 since 1999, but has recently opted to turn to Airbus for much of its long-haul fleet. With the airline phasing out the 777 and other aircraft such as the Boeing 737-700, it is using the lack of demand during the pandemic as an opportunity to simplify its fleet more quickly that was previously expected.
Israel & Jordan Sign Airspace Agreement
5 Israel and Jordan signed an agreement allowing flights from one of the countries to fly through the other’s airspace en route to their destinations, a move which will shorten flight times and possibly open the door to new routes in the region.
Commercial airlines’ ability to fly through the airspace of both nations will dramatically increase efficiency on flights within the region and to Asia, Europe, and North America. The agreement will also “lead to significant fuel savings, reduce pollutant emissions, and contribute to the environment,” according to Israel’s transport ministry.
The news brought elation from Jewish mothers all over the world when they found out they this would shorten travel time to and from Israel, bringing their loved ones home sooner, and possibly even in time for dinner.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Canada completed the sale and leaseback of nine Boeing 737 MAX 8, earning $365 million from the sale. That’s way better than what a 757 is going for.
- Air Seychelles plans to resume operations on November 1, flying to three cities: Mauritius, Johannesburg and Tel Aviv.
- American plans to move its Beijing operation from PEK to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) when it resumes flying from Dallas/Ft. Worth on March 27.
- Korean will operate to Guangzhou (CAN) once weekly from Seoul/Incheon using an A380 through the end of the winter season in March.
- Volotea is adding 10 new routes and 33% increased capacity for the 2020 holiday season, compared to its 2019 offering.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I knew a guy who was a fisherman by day, but he enjoyed being a magician. He often forgot which job he was working, and he would start a trick by saying “pick a cod, any cod.”