Delta Cancels Hundreds of Flights Over Thanksgiving
Delta canceled hundreds of flights over the Thanksgiving weekend due to a pilot shortage. The new month should bring relief for travelers, but the same issue could rear its ugly head over the Christmas holiday if Delta can’t fix the issue.
With the number of flights down dramatically compared to last year and Delta not furloughing any pilots, it seems counterintuitive that there would be a shortage. There are, however, three things working against the airline.
- Many pilots took a voluntary package to retire, so the actual number of pilots is down year-over-year.
- Pilots are only considered “current” on one aircraft at a time, so changes require that they retrain before they can fly on a new type, and there is currently a backlog.
- Pilot hours reset at the beginning of each month, so a shortage is more acute at the end of the month.
Delta very rarely cancels flights, so this is significant. The lack of pilots explains why Delta opted to cancel these flights outright instead of following standard operating procedure to just delay them for hours, days, or years on end until someone can rustle up an airplane and crew to actually make the flight go… some day.
Airlines Gear Up to Transport COVID-19 Vaccines
Cargo and passenger airlines alike are gearing up to transport COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they are given the go-ahead to do so. This, to the surprise of no-one, flies in the face of the veiled threat from the airline lobbying group A4A that they wouldn’t be able to rise to the challenge without a government bailout.
United put out a memo to its pilots (via Brian Sumers) detailing the new procedures required to ship the Pfizer vaccine which requires extremely low temperatures. Using a significant amount of dry ice and other tools, United can now fly the vaccine between Brussels and Chicago, near where Pfizer has two major centers. American has also begun a trial with flights from Miami to South America to simulate the conditions needed to successfully transport the vaccines.
Not all airlines are taking the same approach. WestJet, for example, will just fly the vaccine on its Disney Frozen-themed airplane, assuming that Elsa can use her magic to keep it cold.
JetBlue Warns of a Worse Than Expected Q4
If bad news is not your thing, you might want to skip this story. JetBlue filed an 8-K disclosure over the long weekend announcing that the fourth quarter of 2020 will prove to be worse than originally hoped.
Revenue is now projected to be down 70% versus Q4 2019, worse than the previous 65% projection. Further, cash burn will be $6 – 8 million per day, up from $4 to $6 million under previous plans.
JetBlue had hoped to fly 55% of the capacity it flew in Q4 2019, but with conditions deteriorating, it has now revised that to say capacity will be between 50 and 55%. According to Cirium data, JetBlue schedules currently filed are at 53.8% of last year. As noted in Cranky Network Weekly, JetBlue has 60% scheduled for December right now. It appears further cuts are to be expected.
Kaua’i Reinstates Quarantine for All Arrivals
If you skipped the last story because you don’t like bad news, well, keep skipping. Barely a month after the State of Hawai’i began allowing travelers to bypass a mandatory 14-day quarantine by showing proof of a negative COVID-19 test, the island of Kaua’i has decided to opt out of the scheme. A mandatory 14-day quarantine will be in effect for all arrivals in Kaua’i beginning at 12:01am on December 2.
Kaua’i was already on the fence about the pre-testing program but opted to participate when it first launched on October 15. Now, however, it’s seeing the spike in cases on the mainland along with rising community spread locally, and it is shutting the program down for all arrivals, including those from neighbor islands.
Those not dependent upon tourism support the change, but the thousands of wild chickens that roam the island are concerned that they will not have enough people to annoy until the pre-testing program is put back into place.
American Outlines Customer-Friendly 737 MAX Policies
American will be putting the 737 MAX back into service on December 29, and it knows some customers will not feel comfortable flying the airplane. For that reason, the airline has rolled out a generous policy in an email to travel agents that allows changes for free through February 28.
The policy applies only to travelers booking travel before December. In other words, if you book a flight now knowing the MAX is scheduled, you can’t change your mind. New travel dates can be up to 7 days before or after the original travel date. The origin and destination must either stay the same or be within 300 miles of the original cities.
That furious keyboard-typing sound you hear is dozens of points and miles bloggers trying to figure out how they can game the system.
Airline Potpourri
- Berlin Brandenburg will close its brand new runway and old Terminal 5 for an undefined period due to lack of demand.
- COMAC’s C919 narrowbody aircraft received its type inspection authorization from the Chinese authorities. This freezes the design and paves the way for the airplane to enter service in China next year.
- Finnair is getting so desperate that it’s going to sell its “signature” blueberry juice in Finnish supermarkets.
- Qantas, which seems to always be restructuring, will cut another 2,000 jobs from Australian airports.
- TAP Air Portugal is putting together plans to lay off 3,600 workers and ground 17 aircraft in a bid to survive.
- United will fly the 737 MAX from its Houston and Denver hubs when the aircraft returns in early 2021.
Brett’s Moment of Levity
Being quarantined with a talkative child is like having an insane parrot glued to your shoulder.