EU Drops American Travelers from Safe List
The European Union showed today that it has working internet and knows how to do a web search as it reversed its decision from earlier this summer and removed Americans from its safe travel list.
When the EU made its decision in June, it warned that being moved to the safe list was dependent on the number of positive COVID-19 patients remaining below 75 per 100,000 people over a rolling 14-day period and the USA is currently at more than 500 per 100,000 and growing. The rising figures, plus the federal government’s insistence that a hot dog is a sandwich have forced the EU to take action… which is ultimately toothless.
Despite being removed from the list, it’s up to each individual country to decide whether to ban Americans outright, or require prerequisites to reduce COVID risk such as negative tests, proof of vaccination, or the ability to correctly identify who won the 2020 US presidential election.
United to Keep B777s with Engine Troubles Grounded
United Airlines will keep its fleet of B777 aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines on the ground through at least early next year. Federal regulators are still considering additional safeguards delaying the planes’ return to the air which was previously hoped to occur this summer.
United has 52 aircraft that will remain grounded, as the government considers an additional type of engine-blade inspection and a proposed modification from Boeing designed to prevent engine covers from ripping off. This proposed action is proving far more popular than a previous proposal that encouraged engine covers to rip off mid-flight.
When a United 777 returned to Denver shortly after takeoff in February after parts of its engines ended up in people’s backyards, it marked the third similar incident in recent years forcing the government’s hand to ground the planes. The loss of these aircraft from its fleet has forced United to scramble to find aircraft to fly certain routes including those to Hawai’i. In the meantime, the carrier will operate the portion of its fleet that’s engines stay attached to the airplane in-flight for the foreseeable future.
Man Takes Unscheduled Tour of AA Plane
A Los Angeles man broke through a security perimeter at LAX early Sunday morning and managed to board an American plane for reasons that are not clear to anyone. He is presumed to be the first person to voluntarily board an AA plane without the benefit of at least getting to fly somewhere. The man supposedly used a metal pipe to pry up a security fence at LAX and slithered underneath to help himself into the secure section of the airport. A cleaning crew was on the aircraft that the individual was able to access and they quickly contacted security and held the man down until police could arrive.
The alleged trespasser thought he had found a clever way to skip abnormally long lines at TSA checkpoints this summer, but despite his ingenuity, he was taken into custody by law enforcement and given a psychological exam for not trying to get onto a plane of an Asian airline with a much more opulent passenger cabin.
The plane, N826AN, is a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that had arrived on Friday from Sydney. The aircraft was inspected by security later Sunday and given clearance to fly. It departed Los Angeles Sunday night at 11:27 p.m. as AA73 bound for Sydney without further incident with the exception of the vegan first class meals.
Uzbekistan Airways Unveils Uzbekistan Express
Because apparently there is a lot of untapped potential in the Uzbekistan leisure travel market, Uzbekistan Airlines released plans for its leisure focused LCC spin-off: Uzbekistan Express.
The new airline will operate two A320-200 aircraft, acquired from – you guessed it – Uzbekistan Airlines. The planes are currently configured with 138 seats in economy and 12 up front, but will be reconfigured to squeeze 174 seats in an economy-only configuration because nothing screams leisure airline like cramming as many people into as tight a space as possible.
The airline will focus on domestic routes and international routes which makes it like most every airline in the world. It will begin flying three routes regularly beginning September 2, with the popular Tashkent (TAS) to Nukus (NCU) corridor being served 4x-weekly alongside two other once-weekly routes. It will also operate two one-off routes next week for reasons that remain unexplained.
BA to Keep A380s Grounded
British Airways is holding off the return of its A380s to the skies for at least another six months as demand has not returned to the level the airline needed to bring the jumbo jets back into service.
As of now, the A380s are scheduled to return to the air as soon as March 27 and operate seven destinations for the airline including Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the United States. The previous plan to have A380s fly to LA and San Francisco this winter has been replaced with a new plan to just refit 777s with only standing-room seats so that the same level of capacity can be offered.
The planes are currently in storage around the world with several in Madrid at IAG partner Iberia’s hub while two are being held in the foyer of Buckingham Palace.
- Air New Zealand resumed planning for its nonstop service between Auckland and New York, designed for aviation enthusiasts who think 18 hours in coach is a good time.
- airBaltic took delivery of the first of three A220s through a sale and leaseback with Azorra.
- Breeze took delivery of its 10th and final E190 aircraft from Nordic Aviation Capital.
- Compass Cargo Airlines launched operations this weekend.
- Gol will require all employees to be vaccinated. Its gol is to have everyone vaccinated by November 1 or risk termination (of employment, life termination will be determined by the virus that causes COVID).
- Interjet is seeking a 90% write-off of its debt, which seems like a great plan for someone with a lot of debt.
- Qantas Club memberships are being extended by seven months to when they might actually be useful again.
- Spicejet is being peppered with lawsuits, this time by the salty Sky Gourmet who says the carrier has missed payment deadlines thyme after thyme. The caterer said it chives to have a good relationship with all partners, but that the airline had this cumin.
- Sunwing is winging its way back to Ottawa, adding 11 routes from the Canadian capital through April 2022.
- Tarom is being offered a €7.8mn aid package from the Romanian government, pending approval from the European Commission and Ryanair.
- Turkish is requiring a negative PCR test or proof of vaccination for domestic flights, effective September 6.
- United will operate the CRJ-550 on its EAS route from Newark to Presque Isle, ME (PQI), marking the only EAS route to offer first class.
- Virgin Australia will require all staff be vaccinated, with frontline staff facing a deadline of November 15 and office staff of March 31.
- Vistara received approval to fly to the United States.
I’ve started telling friends and neighbors about the benefits of dried grapes.
I like to call it raisin awareness.