COVID Vaccine Takes to the Skies
With Pfizer having received authorization to begin distribution of the COVID vaccine, both American and FedEx became the first airlines to use their aircraft to begin to distribute the vaccine across the United States.
A FedEx truck left the Pfizer factory in Portage, Mich. on Sunday, taking vaccine doses to Grand Rapids Airport (GRR) to fly aboard a FedEx aircraft down to the airline’s hub in Memphis to be distributed across the country. Meanwhile, American Airlines received a shipment of vaccines on Sunday night at its Chicago/O’Hare hub and flew it to Miami to be distributed to U.S. territories in the Caribbean later today.
American began conducting trial flights last month to simulate the conditions needed to transport the vaccines. The airline placed Basic Economy passengers in the cargo hold at the -30 degree temps required for the vaccines and then had the passengers complete a survey upon arrival on the journey. Once the airline’s questions were satisfactorily answered, the passengers were given a $5 voucher to purchase a coffee or hot chocolate in the airport terminal to warm up.
American Picks Up Heathrow Slots From Finnair
American Airlines completed a trade purchase with JV partner Finnair to secure slots at London/Heathrow to operate its new Seattle service this summer.
Prior to the swap, American held slots for 22 daily flights at the airport while Finnair held enough for seven. American is acquiring two slots from Finnair that it previously used to fly to Helsinki in exchange for a left-handed reliever and a light-hitting but strong defensive shortstop as Finnair desperately wanted to shore up its defense up the middle.
American’s new service to Seattle will be one of 33 weekly frequencies between the two cities as Delta and SkyTeam duke it out with American and Oneworld on the route — and in Seattle.
Aeroplan Launches Chase Partnership in U.S.
Aeroplan 2.0, the revamped loyalty program for Air Canada which relaunched several weeks ago, will be joining Chase Ultimate Rewards as a points transfer partner.
Aeroplan has traditionally been tied up with American Express Membership Rewards and Capital One, so adding Chase will give even more options in the U.S. market for the valuable currency. Aeroplan will join Chase with a 1:1 transfer ratio when the tie-up begins, likely in late 2021.
In addition to being a transfer partner, Aeroplan will be introducing a U.S. credit card, in partnership with Chase and Mastercard. The Aeroplan credit card is expected to offer generous bonuses when first launching, including triple points on all Air Canada purchases. It will also offer double points on all purchases of NHL tickets or merchandise, verified Canadian maple syrup purchased on the internet, and on all 12 and 24-packs of Moosehead.
Starlux Prepares for U.S. Market
Taiwanese carrier Starlux formally applied for U.S. DOT permission to operate its A350-900 between Taipei and Los Angeles beginning in 2022. It plans to join two Taiwan-based rivals, China Airlines (SkyTeam) and EVA (Star) in operating the route.
Starlux plans to operate with 306 seats to Los Angeles, on a plane that will also contain a first class cabin.
The filing by the airline shows how tight the margin on such a route can be, as it plans to achieve a profit of $4 million by 2023, which comes to just $11,340 per round trip. It is planning on a load factor of 75% at an average of $600 per passenger per one-way direction. Of that $11,340 per round trip, it is expected that roughly $11,000 will come from the sale of Hello Kitty-themed duty free, with the remaining $340 from the actual sale of air tickets.
Wing Enthusiast Gets Close-Up Look
A Florida man caused a wildly-bizarre incident in Las Vegas on Saturday as he entered the taxiway and helped himself to the wing of Alaska Airlines flight 1367 which was about to take off on its way to Portland.
The aviation fanatic eventually fell when trying to climb up the winglet and was apprehended upon returning to the ground. The plane returned to the gate for a full inspection before eventually departing four hours late.
When questioned by police, the individual said he had purchased a basic economy ticket, but he wanted to ensure he could social distance from his fellow passengers and that the wing was the only location that would guarantee him six feet. His basic economy seat did not come with advance seating assignment and he hates sitting in the middle. He also said since he was unable to take the trip to Portland, he would be applying for original routing credit in his Alaska Mileage Plus account.
Airline Potpourri
- Aeromexico will resume 737 MAX operations next Monday, December 21.
- Air Niugini has increased its capacity for the holiday season, adding extra domestic flights from its hub in Port Moresby (POM).
- Congo Airways has resumed flying international service operating 3x-weekly service to Johannesburg from its Kinsasha/N’djili (FIH) with a stop en route in Lubumbashi (FBM).
- Flair Airlines, Canada’s self-proclaimed only ULCC has named
Nature Boy Ric FlairGarth Lund as Chief Commercial Officer. - JetBlue operated its inaugural flight to Georgetown, Guyana (GEO) over the weekend.
- Qantas flew an empty leg from Perth to Paris/CDG to operate a repatriation flight, the first flight from Qantas into Paris since 2002.
- Royal Zambian Airlines has launched scheduled passenger service on Saturday between its hub in Lusaka, Zambia (LUN) and Johannesburg.
- Virgin Atlantic has suspended the operation of its new service between Manchester and both Delhi and Mumbai.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
A man strutted into a sperm bank like he owned the place. The doctor looked at his staff and said “Would you get a load of this guy?”