January 13, 2021

Delta Adds Two Senior Execs

In a memo to employees, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced two additions to the airline’s senior leadership team.

Alain Bellemare will be joining Delta as the president of its international business. Bellemare comes to Delta from Bombardier from where he retired last year as President & CEO. Prior to his time at Bombardier, he spent 18 years at United Technologies Coportation as President & CEO of Propulsion & Aerospace Systems.  In other words, he was in charge of the things that make airplanes go zoom zoom. Bellemare must now prepare for the culture shock of his life as he moves from Montreal to Atlanta.

Michelle Horn will be joining Delta from McKinsey where she was a partner for the consulting giant. Horn will take the roll of Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer. Horn already lives in Atlanta and she and her husband and three children expect to welcome Bellemare along with his partner and two children to live in their home as part of a new Delta reality show that will be available as in-flight entertainment on Delta flights beginning Summer 2022.


Sriwijaya 737 Was Certified Airworthy After Nine Months in Storage

The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 that tragically crashed last week had been put into storage in March at the onset of the pandemic as Sriwijaya reduced its operation.

The aircraft was approved by Indonesian aviation authorities as airworthy during a check in November. It underwent a second inspection on December 14 before it returned to the air. The plane was parked on March 23 and remained dormant for nearly nine months. It had its airworthiness certificate extended December 17, 2021 and returned to Sriwijaya on December 19. Its first passenger flight took place on December 22 and was without incident.

After the FAA ordered U.S. operated 737s that had been stored for more than a week be inspected further for an issue in the engine, the Indonesian government did the same and performed that check on this aircraft in early December. The results of the test were not released publicly, but the fact that the plane was returned to service indicates it likely passed the inspection.


CNN Airport Network Signing Off

The dulcet tones of CNN Airport Network — which have been the background noise of layovers, delays and missed connections for more than 30 years — will sign off for the final time on March 31.

The network has not been profitable for some time and has seen its ad revenue plummet since the onset of the pandemic, forcing CNN to finally pull the plug on the programming. With most passengers able to stream news and information to their phones, the service became less and less relevant.

At its height, CNN Airport Network was shown on 1,800 screens in 54 airports across the country. The final half-hour of programming on March 31 will live on, running in a loop for the foreseeable future. Those passengers booked in basic economy will have the 30-minute loop sent to their seatback screens and it will be the only entertainment option available during flight.


Aeroméxico Attempts to End Labor Contracts

Aeroméxico has requested to end its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with both its pilot and flight attendant unions as it restructures its finances in the wake of the pandemic. The airline claims the move is essential due to the “adverse financial, operational, and structural effects on the airline,” and it comes after it spent weeks negotiating with its unions to no avail.

Aeroméxico filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last summer in an attempt to clean up its balance sheet but still needs help from its unions. The airline saw its traffic shrink as much a 91% month over month back in April, and ended up down 84.5% on revenue for 2020. With President Trump’s term as president ending without a wall being completed, the airline is concerned customers will simply walk into the United States instead of flying.

As part of its restructuring, Aeroméxico came to an agreement for a $1 billion loan from Apollo Global Management, but terms of the loan require renegotiation with the labor unions. With no deal having been reached as the calendar turned to 2021. Aeroméxico is requesting permission from local labor authorities to use the force majeure clause in its CBAs due to the pandemic to end the agreements and start over.


Emirates Adds Flights in the Americas

Emirates Airline will grow its schedule to the Americas in the coming weeks as it resumes suspended routes and adds new frequencies to destinations it’s currently serving. The move comes as Emirates looks to find ways to lose more money before vaccines are widely available and demand improves.

Nonstop service will resume to Seattle on February 1 with Dallas/Fort Worth and San Francisco following on March 2. When these three destinations are resumed, Emirates will be serving 10 gateways in North America – nine in the United States plus Toronto/Pearson.

The airline also will increase its frequency to both New York/JFK and Los Angeles. JFK will see 2x-daily service beginning February 1, while the LAX flight will increase to a daily frequency. In addition to those two, São Paulo/Guarulhos will get one more weekly flight, upping to 5x-weekly.

The flights in New York and Los Angeles are being timed to connect with its codeshare partners JetBlue and Alaska. JetBlue is in the process of beefing up its schedules in and out of New York to match up with its Northeast Alliance partner, American. In addition to coordinating with AA, JetBlue will have the advantage of a second-daily flight from Emirates to feed domestic connections to. If passengers are lucky, they’ll connect onto one of JetBlue’s new A220s, to experience the NYC subway tiles in the restroom to ensure a true NYC experience for someone who didn’t get to leave the airport.


Airline Potpourri

  • Air Canada & Vueling completed a slot swap at London/Gatwick for two flights a day on both Thursdays and Sundays from May 20 through October 7.
  • Air Canada also announced it will be reducing its network further during Q1 2021 than it had previously planned. The airline will cut its total flying by an additional 25%, which is leading to a necessary reduction of as many as 1,700 employees.
  • Eastar Jet, a Korean LCC and bitter rival of Canada’s WestJet, is rapidly running out of money and plans to file for a court receivership by the end of January in a last-ditch effort to find a new investor.
  • Hawaiian has requested the DOT exempt it from service to Molokai (MKK) and Lanai (LNY) because the airline planned to end service to the two airports on January 14 already — with DOT permission.
  • Jet2 has suspended flight operations through at least March 25.
  • Qantas plans to revive its ambitious Project Sunrise later in 2021, which hopes to eventually launch nonstop service from Sydney & Melbourne to London, Paris, and New York.
  • Qatar plans to retain only half of its pre-pandemic A380 fleet once it returns to full operation. The 10 jumbo jets will compete on a primetime special to win the affection of Qatar CEO by receiving a rose-colored fuel pump at the end of each episode in order to advance to the next week.
  • Ryanair plans to begin flying the 737 MAX aircraft as soon as this summer.
  • Singapore has launched its first U.S. dollar bond on Wednesday to help fund the purchase of new aircraft.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

My wife left me because I always jump to conclusions and I’m very insecure. Oh, wait nevermind — she just went to check the mail.