Sun Country Adds Nine Destinations, 18 Routes
Sun Country Airlines announced 18 new routes with service to nine new airports as it tries to open up its winter coat beyond Minneapolis/St Paul to include people freezing in other cities who desperately want to escape this coming winter.
The ULCC will introduce six new nonstop destinations from its hub in Minneapolis/St. Paul and begin seasonal nonstop flights from neighbor airports in Duluth (DLH) and Rochester (RST). New service from Minneapolis includes:
- Phoenix/Mesa (AZA) — 4x weekly beginning November 24
- Any other airport it can find that’s remotely near Phoenix
- Bozeman (BZN) — 2x-weekly beginning December 16
- St Petersburg/Clearwater (PIE) – 4x-weekly beginning November 25
- Punta Gorda, FL (PGD) – 2x-weekly beginning December 10
- Grand Cayman (GCM) – once-weekly beginning December 18
- Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS) – once-weekly beginning December 18
Other new additions for Sun Country include Fort Myers (RSW) and Phoenix (PHX) with service to Green Bay (GRB), Duluth, MN, and Rochester, MN; Madison, WI (MSN) to Phoenix, and five new destinations from Milwaukee: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cancun, Las Vegas, Ft. Myers, and Phoenix.
JetBlue Posts Q1 Financials
JetBlue’s first quarter financials are out and the airline posted a $347 million loss on revenues of $733 million. Its gross revenue figure is down 54% from Q1 last year, while its $1.03 billion in expenses are a 47% drop.
Not everything is looking blue for JetBlue as its adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was -$458 million, better than the -$540 million that had been projected. The airline operated 41% less capacity than in Q1 2019, with operating expenses down 43% from two years ago, beating the airlines expectation of a 25% savings. JetBlue repaid $94 million in debt and lease obligations in the quarter and raised $750 million with a convertible debt offering transaction.
The airline ends the quarter with $3.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, most which is tied up in 500-mile upgrade coupons from AA, as JetBlue elected to take that as payment for the Northeast Alliance slot swap instead of cash. JetBlue also received a $100 AA credit as part of the alliance that expires on Thursday. If it does sell that credit, it plans to list the sale on its Q2 financial report, to be released in July.
Real ID Deadline Really Pushed Back
The Department of Homeland Security will delay the requirement for air travelers to have a Real ID in order to fly for at least nineteen months, avoiding the crunch at the already-extended upcoming October 1 deadline.
The previous deadline was October 1 of 2020, which DHS delayed one year due to the pandemic. This new delay will hopefully allow more Americans to comply with the mandate with only 43% holding proper IDs right now. Then again, if the date keeps getting pushed back, nobody will ever believe it’ll stick and they’ll be less likely to bother getting the new ID.
The new deadline is May 3, 2023, which should allow anyone who wants a Real ID time to receive one. Based on the current wait times at some DMV locations around the country the federal government does advise Americans to get to the DMV and in line by the end of this week to ensure they have enough time to get to the counter prior to the May 2023 deadline.
SFO Closes Runway for Maintenance
Travel has been at all-time lows since the pandemic, but with demand finally picking up ahead of a busy summer travel season, plus the potential reopening of Europe to American travelers, San Francisco International Airport has decided that now is the time to take a runway offline for maintenance.
The work was originally scheduled to be done next year, and it could have been done then or any time in the past 13 months while air travel demand was the lowest its been in generations. Instead the airport thinks the next four months are prime time to tackle what it calls “routine maintenance.”
The airport expects day-to-day impact only to affect arriving and departing flights, so that’s a relief. It also says to expect maximum impact between 5-8 p.m. which, luckily for the traveling public, isn’t a time a lot of flights arrive or depart.
When work is complete, the airport’s next project is to hire several industrial fog machines to test how they affect visibility at the airport in early mornings. Airport officials say they plan to install the machines at regular intervals throughout the airport grounds and will really “soup it up” on days there is little to no fog to ensure all passengers get a true SFO experience.
China Southern Receives 1000th Dreamliner says China Southern
Boeing recently delivered its 1000th 787 Dreamliner but declined to name the customer that received the lucky airplane. This didn’t stop China Southern from announcing on Twitter that the Dreamliner it took delivery of last week was number 1,000.
The plane, which actually belongs to Air Lease Corporation and is being leased to the airline, flew from Charleston, SC to China Southern’s base at Guangzhou (CAN).
Singapore was originally slated to receive the 1,000th Dreamliner last year, but those plans were scuttled by the pandemic. The B787-10 with a registration of 9V-SCP received a “1000th 787 Dreamliner” sticker on its fuselage, but it turned out to be premature, as the aircraft hasn’t been delivered to the airline yet. Singapore now plans to sell the sticker at auction along with 2021 MLB All Star Game Atlanta merchandise to make up for pandemic losses.
China Southern took delivery of its newest Dreamliner one day after JAL took delivery of what would be number 999. After asking the airline for a comment, a spokesman for China Southern said the airline takes plane deliveries seriously, which is why it also still operates the 100th L-1011, 200th B707, 300th Ilyushin Il-62, and 400th Yakovlev Yak-40.
- Air Cairo took delivery of its first A320neo aircraft.
- Air Tanzania is more than $60 million in debt, but new Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan has pledged to rescue the airline with a cash infusion and debt relief.
- Myanmar National Airlines plans to resume E190 operations.
- Rubystar has resumed B747 freighter operations, returning to daily operations after previously only flying on Tuesdays.
- Ryanair found time in-between lawsuits to release its Summer 2021 schedule from the UK. According to its announcement, the airline will operate 160 routes to the world’s most popular destinations and several more, we presume, to the world’s least popular destinations.
- SpiceJet has determined the thyme is now to acquire up to five additional B737 freighters.
- VietJet Air expects to add A330s to its fleet this fall.
My internet provider cut me off because I used too much data when I downloaded all of Wikipedia. Luckily I can explain everything.