United’s Multi-Billion Dollar Loss is… Good?
1 The spin machine is in full effect. There’s not much good to say about a Q3 loss of $1.8 billion — or $2.4 billion excluding special charges — but United has found a way. “United expects that third-quarter revenue performance will be the best, even in a historically difficult environment, among our large network competitors”
That may be the case, but the results lagged Wall St expectations thanks to weaker revenues. Total revenues were down 78 percent versus last year, and operating costs dropped 59 percent — 48 percent excluding special items. United burned $25 million in cash per day in Q3, down from $40 million in Q2. At the end of the quarter, United had $19.4 billion in liquidity with half in stroopwafel futures and the rest in stuffed Polaris bears.
Looking for a bright spot? You are not alone. But hey, good news… cargo revenue was up 50%.
American AAnounces AAdvantage Changes for 2021
2 American Airlines announced several customer-friendly changes for its 2021 AAdvantage program, making it easier to earn elite status next year.
For starters, American will allow its members a three-month head start on earning their 2021 status, with all activity in Q4 of 2020 (which… checks calendar… is already underway) to count toward earning 2021 status. American is also reducing the elite qualifying thresholds by approximately 20% for each level from Gold through Executive Platinum.
The airline is also waiving the elite qualifying dollar (EQD) spend requirement for all but Executive Platinum if members have $30,000 in spend on an AAdvantage credit card.
Lastly, American’s analytics team has finally completed work on the mythical, proprietary Passenger Annoyance Quotient (PAQ) rating system. Consequently, in 2021 it will guarantee any Executive Platinum advance notice and the right to swap seats with a non-elite passenger on the same flight when seated next to someone with a PAQ of six or higher.
Allegiant Furloughs 100 Pilots
3 Allegiant Air furloughed 100 pilots this week despite the airline improving its liquidity. The airline recently completed a $150 million bond sale and has seen a steady improvement in future bookings, but it was not enough to save the jobs for 10% of its pilot workforce.
Allegiant had a daily cash burn of $1.3 million during Q3, an improvement from earlier in the year but still an untenable figure for the airline. Capacity was down 6.5% for Allegiant in Q3 compared to Q3 2019 with a load factor just under 50%. September was slightly improved at 57%.
Allegiant’s pilot union says it had a handshake agreement with the airline to delay furloughs but the airline went ahead with the job losses anyway. The union said that Allegiant reneged on their handshake deal at the 11th hour, choosing to furlough the pilots rather than continue to seek alternatives.
For Silver, Charleston is Gold
4 Silver Airlines is expanding its U.S. route network out of Florida and into South Carolina. The airline is moving into Charleston, providing service from the coastal town to its three Florida hubs.
From Charleston, Silver will operate to Orlando, Tampa, and its Fort Lauderdale base. Passengers on Silver will be able to connect on to five destinations through both Tampa and Orlando with nine connecting options through Fort Lauderdale. Silver operates an all-propeller fleet, featuring the Saab 340 and both the ATR 42 & 72.
Silver’s Charleston service will begin on November 23, just in time for the holidays. The airline expects to garner the business of thousands of families begrudgingly making their way to Florida to visit Gammy and Gampy who moved south because they enjoy the heat and humidity year-round. In addition to the new flights, Silver is working with ground transportation companies to offer complimentary shuttle service to Del Boca Vista from Fort Lauderdale during the holiday season.
JetBlue Continues its Winter Ski Trip
5 JetBlue is adding another ski town to its route map, introducing seasonal service to the newly-popular Montrose, Colorado (MTJ) this winter. JetBlue enters the fray at MTJ just a week after Southwest announced it would fly to the Colorado ski town this winter as well.
JetBlue will serve Montrose from three cities, Boston and New York/JFK in the east and Los Angeles in the west. All three routes will begin service on December 19, with JFK and LAX flying the route through February 20 and Boston through March 27.
Service from Boston will be between once and twice weekly, with service in both directions on Saturdays and select Wednesdays, while JFK and LAX will see the flight operated on select Saturdays during the winter. In commemoration of the new service, Telluride, the famed ski town nearest to MTJ airport has agreed to paint the caps of its snow-covered mountains blue during the duration of JetBlue’s service to the town. Its a good thing Spirit didn’t announce service with its bright yellow airplanes…
Airline Potpourri
- ANA signed a five-year agreement with De Havilland Canada to manage maintenance on the airline’s fleet of 24 Dash 8-400.
- Pakistan International Airlines is extending its service from Islamabad to Manchester using leased aircraft and real pilots employed by someone else through its current October 25 end date. The flights will continue once-weekly through December 15 and then twice-weekly beyond that.
- Royal Air Maroc is “pondering” the idea of starting a LCC subsidiary. In other news, I’m already pondering what to have for lunch on Thursday.
- SWISS has added one extra Zurich-Lisbon flight, operated by a Boeing 777 on December 19. Try and contain your excitement.
- WestJet is reducing its operation in Atlantic Canada, politely suspending service to four cities Moncton (YQM), Fredericton (YFC), Sydney (YQY) and Charlottetown (YYG). It’s also reducing service to Halifax (YHZ) and St. John’s (YYT). Outside of that futuristic time zone, it’s also suspending service to Quebec City (YQB). All the suspensions and service reductions are effective November 2.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
Today I learned that boomerangs are Australia’s biggest export. It’s also their biggest import.