American Passes Torch to United at Joplin & Sioux Falls
Last fall American Airlines wanted to end flying to both Joplin, MO (JLN) and Sioux Falls, IA (SUX) but was denied by the DOT as both cities were part of the federal government’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program.
AA had to continue flying to both cities until another airline stepped up to provide at least 12-weekly flights to each airport. That time is now, as SkyWest has been announced to fly to both airports under the United Express brand.
Reminiscent of a player being traded in-between games of a doubleheader and switching dugouts for the second game, SkyWest had been operating both routes on behalf of AA, so it’ll just slap a UA logo over all its AA logos and be ready to go.
In Joplin, SkyWest will operate 6x-weekly flights to both Chicago/O’Hare and Denver receiving $2.5 million from the federal government over the next three years. In Sioux Falls, it’ll operate the same 6x-weekly flights to both ORD and DEN, while receiving $2.9 million from the government. In Joplin, SkyWest was the lone bidder to operate the route, while it fought off Boutique Air and AA in Sioux Falls. AA was only willing to continue to operate from SUX on a two-year EAS agreement for over $5 million in compensation making SkyWest’s three-year, $2.9 million offer far more appealing.
Air Canada Jazzes Up Regional Ops
Air Canada has come to an agreement with Jazz Aviation to be the exclusive operator of Air Canada Express flights with AC looking to save up to $350 million over the next 15 years. To facilitate the new streamlined partnership, AC is transferring 25 E175 aircraft from its previous regional operator, Sky Regional, to Jazz.
With the new agreement, Jazz is now the sole partner for Air Canada regional flying on aircraft with at least 70 seats through 2025. Additionally, Jazz plans to remove all 19 Dash 8-300 aircraft from its fleet by the end of this year.
The agreement is subject to approval from the Air Line Pilots Association, which is not expected to be an issue. Chorus Aviation Ltd., Jazz’s parent company, can now sell the 15 Dash aircraft or convert them to cargo aircraft. With the airplane resale market not very hot right now, the airline is considering turning at least one plane into a freighter in order to haul around all the cash it expects to make from this new deal with Air Canada.
Qantas to Offer Mystery Flights
While many travelers have fantasized about showing up to the airport and buying a ticket to a destination without any advance planning, Qantas is taking the concept a step further. Travelers who purchase a seat on the airline’s mystery flights will board the aircraft not knowing their destination or what the airline has planned upon arrival.
Reviving a concept from the ’90s, Qantas will offer three mystery flights, one each departing from Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Those lucky travelers who participate will board only with the knowledge that the flight will be approximately two hours in length and will include an excusrsion upon landing, and presumably a return flight home in the evening.
En route, the flight will include low-level scenic flybys of key landmarks and Vegemite factories. The Brisbane mystery flight will operate on March 27, Sydney on April 18, and Melbourne on May 1. Tickets go on sale Thursday and start at $737 in economy, with the ground activity included in the ticket cost.
While the idea of the mystery flight might originate in Australia, several U.S. airlines are watching carefully to see if the concept could be brought to the United States. Spirit is especially interested, as it’s considering making all flights on the airline a mystery flight, choosing only to reveal the destination if passengers are willing to pay an additional fee to know where they’re going. United is also watching closely, hoping the only way it could actually get people to fly to Newark is to not tell them that’s where they’re going until the plane is already in the air.
Alitalia’s Latest Revamp Revealed
Alitalia is planning yet another revamp of itself, with the Italian government hopeful to restart the airline with 45 aircraft, 4,500 employees, and about $1.2 billion in federal funding.
The Italian government is trying to restart its national airline to then flip it to dupe investor Fabio Lazzerini. Lazzerini’s cleverly named ITA Airline plans to purchase the entirety of what remains of Alitalia this summer, leading the government to want it to have as much resale value as possible.
According to La Repubblica, the Italian government originally planned to relaunch the airline with 70 aircraft, 6,000 staff, and $2.6 billion in operating cash, but the EU nixed those plans. The current figures are a compromise with the EU, with the Italian government offering less than half of what was originally planned. It is currently targeting June 1 as the effective date, a date no one is taking seriously as Alitalia has never done anything on-time or on-budget in its history.
American, Delta Reach Agreement with Deloitte on Sustainable Fuel
Delta Air Lines signed an agreement with Deloitte to purchase enough Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to “represent a lifecycle emissions reduction of approximately 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.” For those of you keeping score at home, this is the rough equivalent to carbon sequestered by 1,306 acres of U.S. forests or 756 football fields in one year. Why anyone would measure anything by football fields is another question for another day. This follows on the heels of last week’s announcement that American and Deloitte are working together as well.
The agreements are designed to cover a portion of Deloitte’s business travel with American and Delta as the companies are working towards the idea of carbon reduction and removal through stakeholder engagement. Deloitte has committed to being net zero by 2030, similar to a goal of American and Delta’s rival United. Delta, on the other hand, is considering going in the opposite way, to be completely carbon positive by 2050. When other airlines zig, Delta zags.
To fulfill its part of the agreement, Delta entered into an SAF supply agreement with the leading producer of low emission, renewable fuel for aircraft: Neste. Reports from the airline’s headquarters said that many executives were blindsided when they found out the agreement was with Neste – and not Nestlé – meaning no chocolate would be forthcoming.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Serbia resumed flying to Geneva (GVA) for the first-time in 36 years. Kudos to the passengers who waited it out, 36 years is a hell of a delay on such a short flight.
- FedEx acquired European cargo airline TNT. It plans to downgrade its hub in Liege (LGG) to secondary hub status behind Paris/CDG, similar to the role Indianapolis plays for the carrier relative to its megahub in Memphis in the United States.
- Harbour Air Seaplanes plans to introduce year-round service this June between its Vancouver/Cole Harbor (CXH) base and Lake Union (LKE) and Kenmore (KEH) seaplane bases in the Seattle area.
- Mesa has entered into a conditional agreement with London-based Gramercy Associates Ltd. to create a European-based JV. It’s distinctly possible Mesa hasn’t yet gotten the memo that the UK isn’t in the EU anymore. Literally none of this makes any sense.
- Saudia is looking to raise $3 billion to purchase an additional 70 aircraft.
- Via Airlines was found fit to re-launch passenger operations via an announcement by the DOT. The tentative agreement allows the airline to move forward with its plan to begin flying via the air later this year.
- Volaris and Viva Aerobus have both hired pilots from currently-shuttered Mexican airline Interjet, casting doubt if the airline will ever return to service.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
What’s the leading cause of dry skin?
Towels.