American CAAncels Hundreds of Flights
American Airlines canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend due to staffing and maintenance issues plus other operational shortcomings. AA is trimming its schedule for the next three weeks by about 1% to give the airline more breathing room to actually operate the flights it has listed in the schedule.
One hundred eighty flights were canceled on Sunday, representing about 6% of mainline AA’s schedule for the day. That number equals about 3% of all ops when including regional flights from American Eagle. Half the cancellations were due to crew staffing shortages with the rest being because of maintenance problems on some aircraft, poor weather in Charlotte and Dallas causing a domino effect across the network, and three different flight crews losing the keys to their airplanes.
The Allied Pilots Association, which represents AA’s pilots, and is allied, is requesting more overtime opportunities for its members to help the airline cover staffing shortages but AA has not yet taken the pilots up on the offer. American is also working quickly to retrain all of its previously furloughed pilots to bring more staffing onlin. It is hopeful to have that process wrapped up by the end of June but like most thing the airline does, that’s likely to be delayed.
Airline and Unions Ask Feds to Throw the Book at Idiot Passengers
Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing the largest airlines in the country, the Allied Pilots Association which represents AA pilots, and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) which represents 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines have written a letter to the US Attorney General asking the federal government to avail itself of a law that prohibits interference with a crew member. In theory, that can carry up to a 20-year prison sentence if the feds enforce it.
The FAA has been doling out punishment for in-flight incidents which includes $356,000 in fines to 21 passengers, but the airlines and unions want the DOJ to handle punishment to ensure criminal sanctions are on the table in addition to fines.
The letter argues that the government already has the right to punish these rule-breakers thanks to Section 46504 of Title 49 of the U.S. Code (it’s true, we looked it up) that prohibits assault or intimidation of a flight crewmember or flight attendant.
If the DOJ agrees, the industry will then send a second letter to the Attorney General in which they ask that as long as the DOJ was going to involve itself in what happens in the air, that it should also have a wider range of enforcement. The letter asks the DOG to make it illegal to expose bare feet on an airplane, recline a seat in coach during a daytime flight without at least warning your neighbor, bring any hot food on-board that has a smell, or willingly flying Spirit. If approved, all will come with a lengthy jail sentence imposed by DOJ and a sizable fine.
Boeing’s First 737-10 MAX Completes First Test Flight
Boeing completed the first test flight of the 737 MAX 10 as it moves towards getting the aircraft approved to fly passengers in service.
The flight took off Friday morning from the Boeing 737 facility in Renton, WA before flying two hours and then landing at Boeing Field at 12:38 p.m. Boeing 737 Chief Pilot Jennifer Henderson said the airplane performed beautifully, which she said without reading from a notecard or any sort of coercion from Boeing executives. She also noted that she’s being treated well, being given three meals a day, and her living conditions are “quite appropriate.”
The new MAX aircraft will offer a 14% reduction in carbon emissions and 50% reduction in noise emissions compared to other B737 next-generation aircraft. The trim systems in these plans are also expected to function as intended, unlike previous editions of the MAX. The aircraft has 450 orders from airlines around the world including United in the United States, which plans to take delivery of the aircraft and immediately send the planes to its Newark hub for “toughening up” before entering service.
BA Considers Leaving Gatwick
British Airways is again considering the idea of leaving London/Gatwick airport and consolidating its international operations from its home at London/Heathrow.
BA first considered leaving its long-term home at Gatwick last spring, early in the pandemic when it was concerned about the time it would take for travel to return to pre-pandemic levels. If the British government ends the waiver that requires airlines operate 80% of the slots at Heathrow or risk losing them, the airline might need to move all its operations to Heathrow to maintain its valuable slots at that airport.
As long as the slot waiver is extended, BA can afford to maintain its operation at Gatwick. But when that changes, the airline will be forced to make a hard decision. In the meantime, it can continue to operate from both airports and offer itineraries that require a connection between the two, causing undue stress and anxiety for BA passengers, just as the airline likes it.
Mexican LCCs Expand South
Volaris and VivaAerobus, two competing ULCCs in Mexico, are both expanding into Colombia later this year.
When the airlines begin service, they will be the only Mexican LCCs flying to Colombia, joining two Colombian airlines on the route: Wingo and Viva Air Colombia. Interjet was the only previous Mexican semi-LCC to operate to Colombia, but it hasn’t operated the route since shutting down in March of 2020.
VivaAerobus will plant its flag in Colombia first, launching operations from Mexico City to Bogotá on August 7. The flight will operate 2x-weekly at launch before upgrading to daily on September 15.
Volaris will fly from Mexico City to Bogotá beginning October 6 with 4x-weekly service. The airline will also fly 3x-weekly flights to Bogotá from Cancún. The Cancún flight will also begin the first week of October, and the return flight will operate the very passenger-friendly schedule of departing BOG at 2:55am and arriving in Cancún at 6:24am.
- Aer Lingus will now charge Basic Economy passengers a €5.99 fee for carry-ons. Basic economy passengers will also be required to board last and be pelted with rotten cabbage from other passengers as they make their way to the back of the plane.
- Aeroflot will increase its service to Istanbul to 2x-daily beginning June 25. The airline will also offer flights once-daily to Antalya (AYT), Bodrum (BJV), and Dalaman (DLM).
- Air Manas of Kyrgyzstan plans to start flying international charters this fall.
- Azul began flying with free wifi on-board 15 of its aircraft today.
- Cathay Pacific’s First Class lounge in Hong Kong is not joining Priority Pass. PP erroneously put the lounge in a list of future additions over the weekend, sending some into a concerningly-serious tantrum fit for a toddler.
- EasyJet and Ryanair completed a slot swap at London/Stansted.
- Emirates is boosting its service to Amman, Jordan (AMM) in July and August to include 2x-daily A380 flights.
- Frontier is playing fast and loose with the government’s restrictions on executive bonuses for airlines that received CARES act funding. In a filing with the SEC, the airline disclosed that it is still giving its top executive bonuses, but with a wink and a nod, it’s deferring payment until the government restrictions end.
- Garuda Indonesia returned 20 planes to its lessors to cut costs and is negotiating the return of seven more. It also went to a flea market over the weekend and sold most of its office supplies. The airline’s executive team is now going to have to split one pen amongst the entire office.
- Norwegian will stretch further beyond its Norwegian borders when it resumes Finland flying on June 28. It has also reduced the number of employees it plans to lay off in Spain by about 15%. While Spain sees fewer layoffs, Norway sees one more… the board removed CEO Jacob Schram from his position and gave the job as new CEO to CFO Geir Karlsen. Schram will receive nine months pay as an “advisor” through March 31 and then 15 months’ worth of severance after the airline was unable to come to an agreement that would pay him severance more reflective of “the challenges of the industry,” which sounds like Scrham told the board to pound sand.
- Philippines Airlines will stop flying ultra-long haul flights, as those flights tend to be money-losers. The airline has not named which flights will be given the axe, but it’s expected to be its service to London/Heathrow, New York/JFK, and Martha’s Vineyard that are in trouble.
- Royal Air Maroc will restart flying the B737 MAX this fall.
- Taos Air plans to resume scheduled passenger ops on July 1.
- Vistara flight 963 last week from Delhi to Mumbai was the first flight in India to operate with a fully vaccinated crew.
A man walks into a bar after the summer solstice and orders a quadruple vodka.
The bartender asks, “Is everything alright?”
The man sighs and says, “It’s been a long day.”