Oops, Our Bad: We noted yesterday that United’s EAS route from PQI to EWR was the only EAS route in the country with first class. Alaska operates first class on several EAS routes within Alaska, making the UA route the only EAS route with first class in the continental United States.
New Orleans Cancels All Flights Tuesday
All flights in and out of Louie Armstrong New Orleans International Airport were canceled again on Tuesday, the fourth consecutive day of no commercial activity at the airfield.
Despite the terrible winds and storms from Hurricane Ida, the airport’s runways and taxiways made it out of the storm relatively unscathed. Some jet bridges were damaged, but the airport is already working to repair those issues. Other issues sustained at the airport include debris on airport roadways and damage to the perimeter fence.
Power at the airport is being run on generators, and water pressure is dangerously low. Approximately 200 flights have already been canceled for tomorrow, or as Spirit calls it, “Wednesday.” More are expected to be axed through the evening and into tomorrow morning.
AA AAds 18 New Widebody Routes to LAAtin AAmerica
American’s new schedule for November includes widebody aircraft on 18 routes to Latin America that were previously served by either narrowbody planes or rickety boats that sometimes made it to their destinations and sometimes didn’t.
AA will send B787 Dreamliner aircraft to Jamaica for much of the winter season from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Miami, and Philadelphia. The DFW flight will operate between November 2 and March 26, with an intermission between January 6 and February 16, marking the first widebody service to Jamaica from DFW on AA since at least 2003 as far as we know. But then again, we were in a bit of a haze on our last Jamaica trip.
Flights from Charlotte and Miami to Punta Cana, DR (PUJ) will see B777-200 service beginning November 2 and through at least January 3 (CLT) and March 26 (MIA). In South America, All DFW to Bogota flights will be flown by a B777-200 beginning November 2 through March 26, and one daily from Miami will as well. The airline will also put its B787 Dreamliners from Miami to both Cali (CLO) and Medellin (MDE).
Ryanair Launches 14 New Routes from London
Ryanair announced 14 new routes for this winter from three London airports – Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted. It managed to release the news in-between lawsuits and legal challenges to aid packages issued to other EU air carriers.
London/Stansted is the big winner with seven new routes to five countries. It’s adding Helsinki and Tampere (TMP) in Finland, Oradea in Romania (OMR), Stockholm, Trapani (TPS) and Treviso (TSF) in Italy, and Zagreb.
London/Luton is adding Fuerteventura (FUE) and Gran Canaria (LPA) in the Canary Islands, Grenoble in France (GNB), Naples and Turin in Italy, and Shannon over in Ireland. It’s adding one route from London/Gatwick to Malaga.
The airline claims this will create 500 new jobs at the three London airports and CEO Michael O’Leary threatened to fight anyone who challenged the figure.
Jet2 Becomes Newest Airbus Customer
UK leisure airline Jet2 announced an order for 36 A321neo aircraft, diversifying the carrier’s fleet which currently consists exclusively of Boeing jets.
Jet2 Executive Chairman Phillip Meeson said the A320neo is the most efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft available on the market today. He neglected to mention to steal of a deal his airline got on the airplanes and how Airbus said it could replace traditional airline seats with wooden benches to enable the airline to cram as many passengers on to a flight as possible.
The 36-aircraft order comes with an option for 24 more. They will be delivered over five years between 2023 and 2028. The airline is paying for the planes through a combination of internal cash on-hand, debt, and a GoFundMe campaign.
The planes will be fit with 232 seats in economy, almost at the limit for the most seats allowed. They’ll also come with larger overhead bins to enable more carry-on bags as well as overflow seating options for when the airline chooses to oversell a flight but does not want to pay out bump compensation.
Lithuania Wants EU Out of the Business of Belavia
Lithuania’s government is lobbying its counterparts at the EU to end dealings between EU-based aircraft lessors and the maligned state-run airline of Belarus.
Months after the airline was banned from flying to or over most EU countries due to the Belarusian government’s forced landing of a Ryanair flight to take two passengers into custody, things are only getting worse for the carrier. Several EU countries have accused the Belarusian government of facilitating or organizing a human smuggling operation, moving people against their will from the Middle East to the EU via Belarus.
Belavia owns just nine of the 30 aircraft in its commercial fleet, with 16 of the planes leaded from European lessors and five from US-based lessors. Lithuania’s plan, if successful, would the EU-based lessors to call in their leases and prohibit them from working with the airline in the future. It would leave Belavia with just the nine aircraft it owns outright and the five it leases from American companies.
- Air Austral is receiving a €20m loan from the French government. The carrier would be advised to cash the check quickly, before Ryanair catches wind of the deal.
- Air Seychelles has been told by the Seychelles government that it will support the airline during its liquidation hearing on September 6. The government would not comment on whether or not its fingers were crossed.
- Alaska opened its new lounge at SFO today. The space includes a build-your-own sourdough toast bar, which used to just be called a toaster.
- Camair-Co of Cameroon acquired two Dash 8-Q400 aircraft.
- Delta is doubling the number of flight attendants it hopes to hire by next summer from 1,500 to 3,000.
- Firefly plans to resume B737 ops early next year.
- FlyArmenia has rebranded as Hayways.
- GoAir has been given permission to GoForward with an IPO
- Lufthansa and Singapore are starting a vaccinated travel lane between Frankfurt and Munich and Singapore.
- Mandarin Airlines plans a $71.5 million capital raise.
- Nepal Airlines finalized the sale of its final B757.
- Norwegian Air plans to grow its fleet from 51 B737s to 60-70 by the end of 2022.
I’m starting a new airline that only allows bald people to fly on it. I’m calling it Receding Airlines.