We will be taking a break from laboring on Labor Day. The next issue of Cranky Daily will be published on Tuesday, September 7.
Alaska’s Booking Trends Have “Deteriorated Moderately”
Issuing an investor update six weeks after it last predicted Q3 performance, Alaska says the rise in COVID cases has hurt travel demand, and it is revising expectations downward. Though the airline still expects to have pre-tax positive income, it will show weaker results across the board.
Q3 revenue passengers are now expected to be down 21 to 23% vs a previous plan of 15 to 18%. Load factor will also drop from between 82 and 85% to between 79 and 81%. Total revenue should be down 19 to 21% vs a previous expectation of being down 17 to 20%. To make matters worse, unit costs will come in at the high end of expenses, up between 11 and 12% vs the previous 10 to 12% metric.
Despite the short-term bearishness, Alaska is feeling good about the long run and will have 100% of 2019 capacity flying by next summer. In 2022, it will add net 41 new aircraft to the fleet with a mix of 737 MAX 9s and Embraer 175s in addition to a few Lockheed Electras it found when it was cleaning out the junk drawer in its Seattle headquarters.
The Netherlands Requires Quarantine for All US Arrivals
The Netherlands has become the second EU nation behind Bulgaria to follow the European Union’s guidance by requiring all US arrivals into the country to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status, reinstating COVID-restrictions that will all but remove travel to the Netherlands as an option for Americans.
The US has been re-classified by the Netherlands as a very-high risk country. Joining the US in this change is Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. (South Macedonia, which is apparently better known as Greece, is not impacted.) Unvaccinated travelers from these countries will not be allowed to enter. Vaccinated travelers will be allowed, but they will have to quarantine for 10 days and, as of Monday, show a negative test result. The quarantine may be shortened with testing, but it will still be a non-starter for most travelers.
Last minute efforts by the US to get an exemption for short people appears to have failed. The remarkably tall Dutch are often socially distanced from others vertically, but that wasn’t enough to avoid the quarantine rules going into effect.
Alaska Outlines Rules for Unvaccinated Employees
Alaska has decided against requiring all employees be vaccinated, but it is doing its best to make it worthwhile for everyone to get the jab.
Similar to Delta, Alaska will now implement a testing protocol for its employees who are not vaccinated. It will also stop allowing unvaccinated employees to collect special COVID pay if they miss work due to exposure or infection. Further, Alaska will require that all new hires must be vaccinated. It is believed that Pfizer, J&J, and Moderna vaccines will qualify, but Maderna vaccines will not.
Where Alaska differs from Delta is in its financial impact. Delta will require unvaccinated employees under company health plans to pay an extra $200 per month, but Alaska will instead actually pay out $200 to each employee who shows proof of vaccination. Alaska will also require unvaccinated employees to attend a vaccine education program which sounds super boring and probably not effective if those employees can’t already figure out the value of having the shot.
Lufthansa Introduces Slightly Less Torture in Short-Haul Cabins
It’s a kinder, gentler Lufthansa Group these days, as evidenced by the fact that the group’s Brussels, Eurowings, Lufthansa, and SWISS subsidiaries are rolling out a new interior product on newly-deliveredd Airbus A320 family aircraft. This updated design will result in actual improvements, mostly because it couldn’t go in any other direction as compared to the current product.
The new Lufthansa Group cabin will include 40% larger overhead bins, Human-Centric Lighting (aka mood lighting but with a more ridiculous-sounding name), and “improved” seat comfort. We take that to mean the group will be replacing its current spiked metal benches with spikeless versions.
We’re not sure what will change, but at some point in the future, there will be more shoulder room in the cabin, so all you broad-shouldered folk can rejoice. Lastly, we understand the lavs are “even more usable for people with limited mobility” now that a person-sized shoehorn has been installed to wedge them in.
Aer Lingus UK Can Join the Immunity Party
Shortly after gaining approval to the fly to the US, Aer Lingus’s new UK-based subsidiary has been approved to join the joint venture over the Atlantic that includes Aer Lingus, American, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia. The airline did not start off the spirit of cooperation well, misspelling Finnair as Finn Air in its filing. The Finns are not amused.
The venture allows the airlines to price and schedule jointly without fear of violating anti-trust laws. Aer Lingus’s new subsidiary will start by flying from Manchester to the US and Caribbean and, DOT says it will consider “Aer Lingus UK, as the entity exists today, to be an immunized affiliate.” It’s a good thing that Aer Lingus got the jab or it would be in trouble.
DOT does say it reserves the right to change its mind if Aer Lingus UK starts doing something different than what’s in the current plan, so be warned, Aer Lingus. DOT is watching.
- Aeronexus Corporate will finally be bringing service to the obviously underserved route of West Palm Beach to Maun in Botswana.
- Air New Zealand is still hoping to operate a skeleton schedule to Australia this fall, but Sydney is not one of the cities in the plan. Instead, service will focus on Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne, Gold Coast, and Brisbane if it is able to operate at all.
- Etihad is getting excited now that vaccinated travelers will be allowed into its Abu Dhabi home without quarantine. This is in stark contrast with Wizz Air which is temporarily relocating its Abu Dhabi flights to Dubai.
- Hello Airlines will say hello to its first ATR72-300F freighter. It will then promptly say goodbye since the airplane will be operated under a different brand, NXT Air.
- Jet Airways is hoping to restart operations in the first quarter of next year even though it lacks the slots it needs at Delhi and Mumbai.
- Lufthansa looks closer to retiring the A380 for good as it prepares to send its last of the aircraft into long-term storage.
- Malaysia Airlines can breathe a sigh of relief now that Malaysian authorities have approved the 737 MAX for commercial service. Granted, it won’t take delivery until 2024, but it’s still nice to know.
- Ryanair is facing unhappy pilots at its East Midlands base, or at least an unhappy union which says the airline is slashing wages despite the return of demand.
- Southwest has rolled out a plan to help travelers achieve A List status this year by giving double qualifying points for those who sign up for the promotion.
- SWISS is back at London/City after a flight from Zurich operated by Helvetic arrived last night. This is the first commercial operation of the Embraer 190-E2 at the airport.
A 40% cut less than a week out? What are you, Frontier?
-An unnamed subscriber’s network planning joke about our cut from 5 to 3 stories per day starting Tuesday