Spirit Taking Its Talents to South Beach
Spirit Airlines announced it will begin flying to Miami International Airport this fall, launching 30 routes, 20 of them domestic and ten international. The 30 destinations from Miami immediately make Spirit the second largest carrier at the airport behind American.
Spirit is moving into Miami despite its hub down the road in Fort Lauderdale, and the airline still plans to retain most of its current traffic at FLL, especially its connecting traffic to Latin America and the Caribbean.
It will operate nearly all 30 Miami routes daily. The exceptions will be New York/LGA which will operate 2x-daily and two pairs of international destinations that will split an aircraft each week. San Salvador (SAL) will see 3x-weekly service, with Guatemala City (GUA) getting a flight 4x-weekly on the off days for SAL. The same arrangement will be in place for San Jose, CR (SJO) and St. Thomas (STT), with SJO receiving 4x-weekly flights and STT 3x-weekly.
The change that finally got Spirit to move into Miami was the airport structurally lowering its costs. The airport also agreed to Spirit’s demand that all AA passengers traveling through MIA be levied a $9 fee for not flying Spirit. For more on Spirit’s move to Miami, visit today’s post on crankyflier.com.
Government Committee to Join Forces with Other Government Committees
The White House COVID Response Team is setting up working groups with COVID Response Teams from the governments of the UK, Canada, Mexico and several European countries in order to increase the number of meetings and discussions the groups can participate in… and also to better manage reopening plans.
The Biden administration would not commit to when the working groups would report back because doing so would show efficiency and forward-thinking. The announcement of the working groups does comes after the State Department upgraded several countries including Canada, France, and Germany to Level 3 “Reconsider Travel,” an upgrade from Level 4 “Do Not Travel.”
The groups will present their findings to the White House and other governments when they have studied the issue enough to make a recommendation. One government source said that any decision to lift travel restrictions will not be made until hearing results from this multi-national working group. In the meantime, countries will continue to haggle over who foots the bill for catering at the working group meetings.
JetBlue Updates TrueBlue
JetBlue Airways unveiled new ways to qualify for Mosaic elite status in its TrueBlue loyalty program. Beginning today, points and segments earned when booking through JetBlue Vacations plus hotel and other bookings made via Paisly by JetBlue will count toward Mosaic status. Members will receive 3x points on flights booked through JetBlue Vacations and 1x points on hotels, cars, and transfers booked through JetBlue Vacations as well as hotels and other activities booked through Paisly.
The airline is also introducing minty-fresh uses for miles, making its Mint Studio product available for point redemptions. The Mint studio is currently available on New York/JFK to Los Angeles and will be available when JetBlue launches service to London later this summer.
JetBlue is also offering extra benefits for elite members who exceeded the Mosaic qualification levels in 2021. Ten thousand extra qualifying points will earn an additional 10,000 bonus points. Those who exceed Mosaic qualifying by 20,000 points will be able to gift Mosaic status to one person. Thirty thousands extra points and above will qualify for a free roundtrip flight certificate, with passengers who earned 100,000 extra points or more in 2021 receiving a card for free Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee at Boston’s Logan Airport for life. (We feel compelled to note this is a joke, and there should be no rioting over this news.)
American Forced to Divert Flight Due to Unscreened Passenger
American Airlines Flight 881 from Charlotte to Cancun on Tuesday was forced to return to Charlotte shortly after takeoff when it was discovered that passenger sitting in first class had not been screened by TSA prior to boarding.
The offender was a former employee of AA subsidiary Piedmont Airlines and was seen using their badge to bypass the TSA checkpoint and enter the secure side of the airport. Another airport staff member saw the breach and alerted airport police and the TSA. The passenger was then “followed” on camera and seen boarding the flight to Cancun with a valid boarding pass.
The captain told the passengers that the plane was returning to Charlotte due to an issue with its flaps. No one on-board questioned the pilots as they were flying AA and figured there would be a mechanical issue at some point during the flight.
When landing in Charlotte the plane was met by airport police who took the offending passenger into custody. The plane was then thoroughly searched by police and dogs before being allowed to continue. The passenger is currently in custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. CMPD is now assisting U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force as they assess what charges to file. It is expected that the former employee will receive some sort of jail time, will have to pay a sizable fine, and will be sentenced to fly American in Basic Economy at least once a month for 5 years.
GOL Beats Azul to the Punch, Acquires MAP
With rumors swirling that Azul is in the market to acquire LATAM Brazil, GOL struck first, beating its rival to the punch by purchasing Manaus-based MAP.
Before today, MAP was the 5th largest airline in Brazil, operating most of its operation in the Amazon (this one, not this one). The airline has seven 70-seat ATRs that also operate from São Paulo/Congonhas (CGH), Brazil’s largest domestic airport.
For GOL, the real prize of the transaction isn’t the airplanes or the airline’s business – it’s the 26 slots that the airline has at CGH – the most congested airport in the country. In fact, GOL won’t even take control of MAP’s seven airplanes or its Amazon routes. It will only operate existing routes in the south of the country to and from CGH using its own B737-700 aircraft.
GOL CEO Paulo Kakinoff said that this merger at its final sale price of $5.6 million is the only rational merger in the domestic Brazilian market, and that the rumored tie up between Azul and LATAM should not take place. This is the kind of nuanced, unbiased analysis found in the Brazilian aviation market right now.
- Air Senegal received final approval to fly to the United States. It will operate through a wet-lease agreement with HiFly. Due to the wet-lease potential passengers are advised to bring raingear for the flight.
- Air Serbia is celebrating the Fourth of July by resuming twice-weekly flights between Belgrade and Barcelona.
- American will begin to reopen its Flagship Lounges this year, with Miami becoming the first to return this September.
- Cathay Pacific’s $1 billion loan will have a 12 month extension on its drawdown period thanks to a rare granting of mercy from the government.
- Jazeera Airways will begin weekly service from Kuwait to London/Heathrow on June 18.
- LATAM Colombia is beginning service from Medellín (MDE) to Cúcuta (CUC) and Bucaramanga (BGA). Service to CUC will begin July 1 and operate daily. BGA will begin in August and operate 4x-weekly.
- Lufthansa is outfitting the 10 A350-900 it is taking delivery of starting in July 2023 with first class.
- Qantas is eliminating the A$99 Qantas Club initiation fee for new members through the end of the month.
- Ryanair is waiting to pounce with a lawsuit the moment the Italian government announces its plans to fund ITA, its “startup” airline that’s replacing Alitalia.
- Silver Airways leased a new ATR72-600 aircraft.
- Thai will return to Europe on July 2 as it resumes service from Phuket to Zurich, Paris, Copenhagen, London/Heathrow, and Paris.
- Virgin Australia named Dave Emerson Chief Commercial Officer. The airline did not comment on what he would do after creating the one commercial.
- WestJet announced the retirement of its President and CEO Ed Sims, effective in December of this year.
- World2Fly a Spanish startup took delivery of its first A350-900 aircraft. The “airline” has no timeline to begin flying but has a plan to operate long-haul flights to destinations where its parent company has a lot of hotels. It’s really a flawless plan.
I just started a new documentary on how to fly an airplane. We are currently filming the pilot.