December 8, 2020

Thank you to this week’s Cranky Daily presenting sponsor, The Airchive.

Hawaiian Adds Three New Cities on the Mainland

Hawaiian Airlines announced service late Tuesday to Honolulu from three new airports on the U.S. mainland — Austin, Ontario, and Orlando. It also said it would add a daily Maui nonstop to its Honolulu service from Long Beach beginning March 9.

Ontario Airport will be the airline’s eighth destination in California with 5x weekly flights starting March 16. It was last served by Hawaiian in 2004, but the addition of A321neos to the fleet makes it far more likely to succeed than back in the 767 days.

Orlando will be Hawaiian’s third destination on the East Coast, following New York/JFK and Boston. The two tourism havens will now be connected with nonstop service for the first time, twice-weekly on an A330 beginning March 11.

Lastly, Austin will become the 16th U.S. city in Hawaiian’s network and the first in Texas when twice-weekly service begins on April 21. Passengers on the inaugural flight can expect Hawaiian themed cowboy hats and POG juice mixed with tequila to commemorate the occasion.


American to Offer Preflight Virus Testing to All Destinations with Travel Requirements

American Airlines is launching a program offering $129 at-home virus tests for all passengers in an effort to spur travel demand as 2020 gives way to 2021. The service is priced to be far more palatable to business travelers — likely traveling alone or in pairs — as opposed to families who could see $129 per person quickly get expensive on top of airfare for the whole group.

The tests — with results in 48 hours — are available beginning Wednesday for travel beginning Saturday on domestic flights to any state (or Puerto Rico) that requires quarantine. Tests are offered in conjunction with AA’s testing partner, LetsGetChecked, and are an at-home nasal swab. The airline will work with LetsGetChecked to offer testing for all cities and states that require a test to exempt from quarantine as that list evolves. 

Executive Platinum members on AA can expect to receive plush, alpaca-fur tips to test themselves, while other AA elites will receive standard medical-grade q-tips. Those requesting a test on AA who do not hold any elite status will receive an AA-branded letter opener to shove up their nose.


Qatar Adds Seattle & Announces Partnership with Alaska

Qatar Airways announced that is will begin 4x-weekly service from its Doha hub to Seattle on March 15. It is so committed to the Pacific Northwest that it has bought flannel button down shirts for all cabin crew and is replacing its current boarding music with SiriusXM’s Grunge station.

In addition to serving Seattle, Qatar will enhance its domestic U.S. feed for the flights by signing an agreement with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines. Alaska plans to formally enter oneworld on March 31, but the two will begin their frequent flier reciprocity on December 15. A codeshare deal is likely to be announced in the coming days.

Seattle becomes the second new U.S. gateway announced by Qatar in recent weeks, with the oneworld member also announcing new service to San Francisco last month.  It remains to be seen what this means for current Alaska partner, Emirates.


Norwegian Begins Reorganization Process in Norway

Norwegian Air has begun another reorganization process, this time receiving bankruptcy protection in Norway just weeks after making a similar move in Ireland. The Norwegian-based airline was able to seek bankruptcy protection in Ireland due to having several holding companies based there — but like anyone who spends too much time in Ireland, eventually you come stumbling home to face facts.

Norwegian is flying just six of the 140 aircraft it had in service at the start of 2020. The airline presented a rescue plan last week that includes further slashing its fleet and other cost-saving maneuvers to secure jobs and keep the airline flying.

Shareholders and creditors are expected to vote on the current rescue plan at an extraordinary general meeting on December 17. In the meantime, the airline will continue flying its current domestic route network as usual and asks all passengers to check between the seat cushions and drop off any change with the cabin crew which will forward the money to corporate HQ to help pay off the airline’s debt.


Australia Extends Travel Ban Through March

Australia extended its ban on international travel through March 17, which will mark exactly one year since it was instituted on March 18, 2020.

Since the ban was put in place in the early days of the pandemic, just 95,000 Australian residents have travelled internationally, each requiring exemptions from both the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force.

Australia currently has just 42 active cases in the entire country, Of those, 41 are from visitors that are currently quarantined at hotels waiting for the symptoms to subside. The 42nd is a hotel worker who the government is currently trying to locate. It’s assumed that he or she is currently convalescing at home with gobs of Vegemite, which is known to have special virus-fighting antibodies.


Airline Potpourri

  • Delta automatically deposited up to 10,000 Skymiles into the accounts of customers who were impacted by the airline’s mass cancellations over Thanksgiving. Those who were inconvenienced are now roughly 1/15th of the way to a economy class ticket to Europe next summer. Or they can now purchase a $8 glass of wine at their next Sky Club visit. Happy Holidays!
  • Flyr, a new entrant into the Norwegian air market, plans to debut in early 2021. Good luck.
  • GOL will officially be first to return the 737 MAX back into passenger service tomorrow, Wednesday, December 9.
  • Jet Airways is currently planning to resume operations sometime in summer 2021. Sure it is.
  • Qatar will begin 3x-weekly cargo services from its Doha hub to Harstad/Narvik (EVE) in northern Norway beginning December 14.
  • Virgin Australia has restructured its 737 MAX order with Boeing, with the airline planning to receive 25 B737 MAX 10 — and no MAX 8 — aircraft beginning in mid 2023.
  • United is launching its “Agent on Demand” program at Chicago/O’Hare and Houston/Intercontinental where passengers can wait in line to access a ticket agent virtually live and on-demand. This will be a great new option for passengers as previously their only option was to see the agents actually live, in-person, and on-demand. So this is better.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I went to the funeral of a friend last weekend and there was a typo on the headstone. I couldn’t believe it — it was a grave mistake.