United Adds Daily Nonstop from Boston to Heathrow
United Airlines fired a defensive shot at JetBlue today, announcing its new nonstop service between Boston and London/Heathrow which will start on a date yet to be determined. United has finally learned from its past, understanding if you don’t list a date for the service to begin, it can’t be considered late. Industry insiders expect the airline to attempt this without an actual flight schedule going forward, having passengers purchase a ticket for a three-day floating period. By never setting an actual departure time, it will not have to report any delayed flights to the DOT.
The new route appears to be a response to JetBlue’s continued build-up in Newark. This will sit right on top of JetBlue’s coming London flights from Boston, but unlike JetBlue, United will serve Heathrow, the preferred London airport. JetBlue is currently on the hunt for Heathrow slots, actively posting on Craigslist and Nextdoor to see if anyone had an extra one for sale, but has been unsuccessful so far.
If When the new flight enters service, it will be United’s 19th daily flight between the United States and London/Heathrow. The airline will operate the route with a B767-300ER aircraft in a premium-heavy configuration. The plane has 46 seats in Polaris Business Class, 22 in Premium Plus, 43 in Economy Plus and just 56 in the cargo hold economy.
Memphis Forced to Cancel All Flights Friday
All airlines canceled their flights at Memphis International Airport on Friday due to a lack of water pressure to safely operate the airport. According to the airport, the issue only affected restaurants, restrooms, and airline services, which when you think about it, is just about everything.
All passenger flights and operations are closed while the city and Memphis Light, Gas and Water work to solve the water pressure problem. Reports that the airport agreed to install new low-flow faucets and shower heads have not been confirmed at this time. The low-flow option is known to drastically reduce water pressure, often wreaking havoc on its customers.
Cargo operations are continuing to operate at the airport despite the water issues as the airport’s cargo operators operate AT their own facilities. Memphis is the second-busiest cargo airport in the world, just behind Hong Kong. It serves as the global hub for FedEx Express, processing 4.3 million tons of cargo a year. By keeping the cargo operations active, the airport will ensure that while your FedEx package will still arrive late, and probably several days late; it won’t be because it got held up the airport. It’ll be because it was loaded onto the wrong truck, or your driver delivered it three towns over, just like normal.
American Pulls Back in Canada, Increases in Caribbean
American Airlines AAnnounced a suspension of service to three Canadian cities while AAdding daily frequencies to two Caribbean destinations.
American is suspending flights to Halifax (YHZ), Ottawa (YOW), and Quebec City (YQB) for at least the rest of 2021. The decision comes as Canada’s border restrictions become increasingly tight for visitors and residents in an effort to ward off the virus in the country. Ottawa service had been suspended since last summer, but was expected to resume this summer, with 3x daily service from Philadelphia. Halifax and Quebec City were seasonal markets that were also expected to resume this summer, but will remain scrapped indefinitely.
In the Caribbean, American will add an extra daily frequency on two routes – going from 3x-daily to 4x-daily — from Miami to both Port-au-Prince (PAP) and St. Thomas (STT). Additionally, AA’s seasonal flight to St. Thomas from New York/JFK will be extended through at least November 6 instead of ending on August 17 as previously planned.
U.S. Airlines Support Contact Tracing
Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing most U.S. airlines announced its support for a voluntary international contact tracing program as the public returns (hopefully) to the skies this summer.
Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, and United agreed to commit to collecting contact tracing data from passengers traveling to the United States on international flights and then forwarding that data to the CDC. Spirit declined to commit to contact tracing when A4A denied it the opportunity to charge a contact tracing fee for passengers who voluntarily opted into the program.
As part of the program, passengers will be asked to supply their full legal name, phone number, e-mail address, physical U.S. address, fourth grade report card, favorite vegetable, least-favorite vegetable, and favorite Dairy Queen order. The CDC will store responses in a database to contact those who might have come into contact with the virus on a airplane. In addition, the CDC will now be able to group American based on their vegetable preferences while suggesting support groups for anyone who’s Dairy Queen preference isn’t a Blizzard.
Federal Government to Spend $5 Million to Check on How FAA Spent $9.4 Billion
The DOT’s Office of Inspector General opened an audit to study how the FAA spent $9.4 billion of CARES Act funds which were distributed in 2020. The funds were granted to use as support for capital expenditures, operating expenses (including payroll and utilities), and debt payments by the nation’s airports.
The Inspector General’s office said that previous audits of the FAA’s handling of airport funds in emergency situations have raised substansial questions, dating back to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
The DOT is availing itself of $5 million from the CARES Act to conduct the investigation of the money spent by the FAA. It then plans to authorize a budget of $2 million to study how the DOT spends the $5 million on the audit of how the $9.4 billion was spent. And then there’s a budget to audit the $2 million that was spent to audit the $5 million that was spent to audit the $9.4 billion. It’s all one giant federally funded Russian nesting doll of audits.
Airline Potpourri
- Finnair posted a $482 million loss in 2020 on revenues of $671 million. For comparison, in 2019, Finnair turned a $132 million profit on $2.5 billion in revenue.
- S7 Airlines took delivery of its first 737-800 converted freighter.
- Ukraine International Airlines is restoring most of the flights it had suspended at the outset of the quarantine. The schedule updates will go into effect beginning March 1.
- Viva Air is adding three new international routes from its new hub in Medellín, Colombia (MDE). The low-cost carrier will add flights from MDE to Cancun, Mexico City, and Orlando.
- Vueling plans to add nine Scandinavian routes to its network this summer. From Barcelona it will add flights to Bergen (BGO) and Stavanger (SVG) in Norway, Billund in Denmark (BLL), and Gothenburg in Sweden (GOT). Billund, along with Copenhagen (CPH) will also see flights from both Malaga (AGP) and Palma de Mallorca, while Copenhagen will also receive service from Alicante (ALC).
- WestJet is suspending service to four domestic destinations between March 19 and June 24. The four are: London, ON (YXU), Lloydminster, AB (YLL), Medicine Hat, AB (YXH), and St. John’s, NL (YYT).
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
What’s the secret to a good elevator pitch?
It has to work on many levels.