Alaska Announces Addition of 12 New Planes
Alaska Airlines is expanding its fleet as it exercises options on 12 B737-9 aircraft. The option is being called in earlier than was expected, and will become firm commitments for 2023 and 2024. The additional planes bring Alaska’s firm order to 93, five of which are currently in service.
The airline restructured its agreement on the B737-9 with Boeing late last year to acquire 68 planes between this year and 2024, with 52 more on option from 2023-2026. Alaska has now exercised 25 options this year and is adding 25 more options to the end of the deal to replace the planes that have been ordered.
The planes will come with 178 seats in a three-class configuration – 16 in first, 24 in premium class, and 138 for the hoi polloi in the back.
UA’s Flight Attendant Union Will Not Assist in Vaccine Exemptions
United Airlines is the only legacy U.S. carrier to announce a vaccine requirement for all of its employees, threatening termination for those who are not vaccinated by this fall. United will consider very limited exemptions for those with legit religious or medical reasons to opt out of the jab. But the airline’s flight attendant union – The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) will not be helping its members earn exemptions.
The union, which has been supportive of United’s mandate, says that any exemptions are private issues between employer and employee and that those seeking an exemption must contact the airline directly.
Frontier and Hawaiian have both announced vaccine mandates for employers but have not gone to termination as a consequence for not being vaccinated like United has. Those two airlines will require non-vaccinated employees to take constant and frequent COVID-19 tests and continue to wear masks once the mask mandate is removed.
Allegiant Plans Revamp of Loyalty Program
Yes, Allegiant Airways does have a loyalty program, and according to reports, some people are members of it. The airline is going to transform its current myAllegiant Rewards into Allways Rewards, and it will enable points earning for any transaction with the airline.
The number one thing that passengers asked for in the new loyalty program is that the airline operate the flights it puts on its schedule. Many of Allegiant’s cost-conscious customers also fly Spirit, and know first-hand that just because an airline prints a schedule and sells tickets, it doesn’t mean it’s actually going to fly those flights.
Allegiant expects to increase its partnerships to allow its customers to use their buying power with partners outside of the airline world. The carrier announced a first-of-its-kind relationship with Live Nation and Ticketmaster last month, and the tea leaves indicate more is to come.
CMO Scott DeAngelo said 30-40% of Allegiant’s customers are members of a legacy loyalty program and that 90% said they didn’t benefit from being a member of that program to the point of having status or earning free flights. Allegiant having no status-based upgrades or international long-haul destinations to redeem for free flights is then right up their alley – and why the airline will instead create a points bank that can be redeemed at any time for any product.
Sydney Airport Rejects Buyout
Sydney Airport rejected a $16.8 billion bid claiming the offer undervalued the airport, but that in a act of total benevolence, it would consider another offer if it came in at a higher amount. The offer, which was nearly A$23 billion valued the airport and its holding companies at A$8.45 per share, a 2.4% increase on the most recent offer and a 9% premium to the stock’s previous close.
If an offer is made that the airport eventually accepts, it will rank as one of the largest buyouts in Australian history, behind just the Waltzing Matilda museum and a Vegemite production facility in suburban Adelaide.
The rejection was unanimous amongst the airport’s board, and it comes one month after the same group rejected a bid from the Sydney Aviation Alliance. The alliance said that it does not see a path forward right now due to the airport’s lack of engagement and immediate rejection of the most recent offer, which is a picture-perfect example of Negotiating 101 if there ever was one.
Analysts and investors believe the airport’s ask for a higher price is reasonable, which is easy to say when you’re not the one forking over more than $23 billion for a couple runways, a Hudson News and metal detectors. The airport will report its financial results from the first half of the year on Friday.
Heathrow Records Busiest Month Since Pandemic
London/Heathrow saw 1.5 million passengers pass through the airport in July, the busiest month for the airport since March 2020 and the onset of the pandemic.
The airport proudly announced that every passenger was forced to walk through layers of duty-free to their gates, and despite the on-going pandemic, the airport sold four tons of Toblerone chocolate bars, 37 barrels of whisky, and nearly 100 gallons of perfume to passengers en route to their departure gate.
Despite the positive numbers, the number still represents an 81% drop from July 2019. But the airport is using all four terminals again, ensuring no passenger has a convenient or quick connection. Delta and Virgin Atlantic returned to their home in Terminal 3 last month where they found a couple dozen passengers in the Virgin Clubhouse who were waiting for a flight last March when the terminal shut down and decided to wait out the pandemic in the lounge Big Brother-style.
- Air New Zealand announced its intention to complete a capital raise with components of both debt and equity by the end of September.
- airBaltic took delivery of its 28th A220-300 over the weekend. The other planes took it out for drinks on Saturday before getting settled on Sunday and starting its first day of work on Monday.
- Allegiant is opening two new bases in the first quarter of 2022, with one in Flint, MI (FNT) and the other in Appleton, WI (ATW).
- Emirates and Airlink announced the expansion of their existing partnership into a unilateral codeshare agreement.
- Helvetic Airways took delivery of its 12th E-Jet E2 aircraft, completing a renewal program that began in October 2019 with an announcement that was written in Times New Roman.
- Interjet is being required to pay its $24.7 debt on an outstanding lease by a U.S. court.
- Jin Air plans a $157.5 million recapitalization.
- Prime Air’s new hub in Cincinnati opened for business over the weekend. So far, it’s received an average of 4.7 stars from verified users.
- Norse Atlantic painted its first aircraft. We cannot confirm, but do assume that it was painted by a guy named Bjørn.
- Turkish Flight 30 mistakenly tried to take off on a taxiway earlier this month. Luckily ATC noticed and there was no incident. In the pilot’s defense, taking the most direct route out of Newark, regardless of consequence, is often the best idea.
- Singapore is beginning family pooling with its KrisFlyer loyalty program allowing for families to pool their redeemable miles together.
- SKY took delivery of its first A321 neo.
- SpiceJet potentially has an air cargo division potentially cumin to fruition as it applied for an air operating certificate.
- Starlux will begin flights between Taipei and Singapore on September 23.
- WestJet is very pleased the Canadian government is requiring vaccines for travelers and is directing all complaints to the government.
Did you know the inventor of the Farris wheel and the inventor of the merry-go-round never met?
They operated in different circles.