There will be no Cranky Daily on Monday due to the Presidents’ Day Holiday when we celebrate our best presidents and shake our fists at our worst. (Yeah, Buchanan, we’re lookin’ at you.) Your daily dose of airline news, snark, and bad puns will return at its regularly scheduled time on Tuesday.
United Delays Return to JFK
For the second time in recent weeks, United Airlines pushed back its triumphant return to New York/JFK, this time to March 28.
In November, the airline announced its return to the airport would begin on February 1 with 2x daily flights to both Los Angeles and San Francisco. United left JFK in 2015 in favor of its hub at Newark. The airline loaded all of its equipment at JFK into a truck after its final flight in 2015, and with NYC traffic, the van arrived finally Newark last month, just in-time for it to turn around and go back to JFK.
In January, the airline pushed the return back a month to February 28, making this new one the second delay. In addition to postponing the resumption of service, United also dialed back the frequency it would operate from 2x daily on both routes to just 5x weekly or “whenever we friggin’ feel like it,” according to a Staten Island-based spokesperson.
United Looks to Take Real Housewives of OC to Hawai’i
United Airlines will begin a daily nonstop flight from Orange County (SNA) to Honolulu beginning May 6. The flight will be the only nonstop offered by any airline from Orange County to Hawai’i, creating a new option for access to the state from southern California. It will be the first nonstop between the two airports in nine years, when United previously flew it.
This second bite at the apple pineapple for United is only possible because it operates a fleet of 737-700 with ETOPS, the only U.S. airline to do so that would consider this route. SNA’s short runway prevents any other aircraft type that has ETOPS from flying to Hawai’i with a full load on-board.
The 737-700 has relatively few seats onboard, so United will need to get a fare premium versus nearby options in Long Beach and Los Angeles for the flight to become profitable. When asked whether that was realistic, a United spokesperson simply sent a current listing of housing prices in Newport Beach along with an image of a mic drop.
Air Canada’s Purchase of Air Transat Approved
Despite strong objections from competitors, the Canadian federal government approved Air Canada’s purchase of Air Transat, clearing the final regulatory hurdle in AC’s acquisition process.
The Canadian Transport Ministry stated that the terms and conditions it imposed on the transaction make the approval in the best interest of Canadians, which is exactly what you’d expect the Canadian Transport Ministry to say. The imposed terms include ensuring Transat’s headquarters remain in Québec; guaranteeing aircraft maintenance contracts for both brands remain in Canada; launching new routes within five years; and the opening of Air Transat’s European network for new competitors on both sides of the Atlantic.
Government regulators also said concern of Transat’s ability to stay in business were a factor in the decision, that permitting the airline to fold itself into Air Canada was a better alternative to it folding altogether. Canadian carriers WestJet and Flair strongly contested the purchase, but to no avail. Both rivals to Air Canada said that the purchase would reduce options for Canadian travelers and would create a near-monopoly on flights to Europe. Spirit joined the dissenting airlines in opposing the deal because that’s just what Spirit does now.
Spirit Resumes Hiring Pilots & Flight Attendants
Spirit Airlines has begun the process of hiring a new class of pilots and flight attendants as it expects to be flying at levels equal to 2019 as soon as early this summer.
The airline will resume new pilot and flight attendant training courses next month, the first for Spirit in almost a year. In addition to the new hires, Spirit is also calling back workers who took voluntary leaves of absence last year to help the airline avoid involuntary furloughs.
At the training sessions, new hires will be brought up to speed on FAA and DOT safety regulations along with Spirit’s fee schedule. Flight attendants will be presented with potential interactions with passengers and will be tasked with quickly calculating the proper fees that the passenger would be charged. If they fail, they will be immediately forced to work the Vegas redeye flights until they learn how to collect money from sober travelers.
Air Canada Releases 2020 Fiscal Report
Air Canada released its fiscal report for 2020 on Friday, closing the books on what it called “the bleakest year in commercial aviation.”
Air Canada earned C$5.833 billion (~7 US dollars, we think) in revenue in 2020, down a whopping 70% from 2019. It closed the year with a loss of C$3.776 billion after turning a C$1.650 billion profit in 2019.
The airline carried 73% fewer passengers in 2020 than the year prior while reducing ASMs by 67%. Its Q1 2021 capacity is down 85% from Q1 2019 and 83% from Q1 2020. The airline is currently operating amidst several travel and quarantine restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, including a ban on non-essential leisure travel to Mexico and the Caribbean which forced AC to temporarily shut down its Air Canada Rouge subsidiary.
Air Canada ended 2020 with C$8.013 billion in liquidity. That figure is spread amongst its cash reserves, Tim Hortons coupons, a strong position in maple syrup futures, and four lower level season tickets to Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens home games.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Senegal is adding service to Barcelona from its Dakar hub via Casablanca. The flight will operate 3x weekly beginning this Tuesday.
- Bukovyna Airlines had its operating license revoked by the Ukrainian government. Don’t forget that Cranky Concierge is standing by to assist anyone who has future travel on Bokovyna needing rebooking options.
- Copa plans to take delivery of up to eight Boeing 737 MAX aircraft this year.
- Transavia France took delivery of two Boeing 737-800, with four more on the way.
- SWISS will extend its barebones operation at its Geneva (GVA) hub through at least March 27.
- Virgin Australia will unveil a “soft reboot” of its business class product next month. At least we think that’s why they said. The accent can be hard to understand sometimes.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
Why can’t a nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.