BA’s Pilots Back Proposal for New LCC
British Airways’s pilots union – BALPA – performed a 180 in the last two weeks, no longer storming away from the negotiating table and instead agreeing to slash pay for pilots flying for the new BA LCC. A hefty 82% of the membership approved of the idea.
Just two weeks ago, the pilots insisted on full, equal pay for pilots operating the potential new airline, and when BA refused, the pilots ended negotiations, leading BA to announce it would end all short-haul flying from London/Gatwick airport. The scare tactic seems to have worked, as the pilots came back to the negotiating table hat-in-hand, agreeing – by a substantial margin – to the exact thing that caused them to end negotiations late last month.
The agreement between the two parties has led British Airways to announce — brace yourself — that it won’t be ending short-haul flying from LGW after all. It’s almost as if that was a negotiating tactic and the carrier never actually intended to pull the flights.
Seventy five percent of the union’s members voted on the issue, and the 82%-18% landslide paved the way for BA to establish a new Gatwick subsidiary that will look and feel the same to customers as BA mainline – meaning free water and snacks in economy, mediocre premium class service, and generally surly cabin crew. BA has not come up with a name for the LCC, but some options being considered include “EasierJet,” “WizzzAir,” “Ryanaire,” “Eurowing,” or “Westar Jet.”
What’s in a Name? AA Relaxes Name ChAAnge Policy
American Airlines implemented an exception to its current (and industry-norm) practice that will now allow name changes on certain tickets purchased through AA or travel partners (such as Cranky Concierge) through January 31.
There are conditions on the exemption policy and they include:
- It must be a completely unused American Airlines ticket (meaning travel has not yet begun) with an American Airlines or American codeshare flight.
- Basic Economy tickets that are non-refundable are not eligible.
- While there’s no limitation on travel dates, ticket exchange must happen by January 31, 2022.
- If you do more than change the name, such as changing the dates, times, cities, class of service, etc., that will require the fare to be repriced.
- Passengers with an “a” in their name, they must be willing to add a second “a” to match AA’s brAAnding.
Both passengers involved in the transaction – the name going on the reservation and the name coming off the reservation – must be AAdvantage members, and only one name change is allowed per ticket.
In completely unrelated news, look for our new exchange where we take exorbitant fees like StubHub at crankyticketswap.com.
United Ramps up Holiday Flying
United Airlines will fly up to 3,500 daily flights in December, 91% of what the carrier flew in December 2019. The beefed-up portion of the schedule focuses on outdoor destinations, including warm-weather beach locations and cold-weather skiing destinations.
One hundred ninety five daily flights to 12 airports in Florida in December represent a new high for United in the Sunshine State. The carrier says searches on United.com are up 16% for holiday travel vs 2019, but that’s because passengers are doing multiple searches to find a routing that avoids Newark.
Nearly 70 daily flights will operate to ski-destinations, including the carrier’s new seasonal service between Aspen and Orange County which is priced at… well… if you have to ask, it’s not for you.
- Aerolineas Sosa added its first Saab 340B aircraft.
- AirAsia converted its 13 outstanding A320-200 orders into A321s as it looks to transform its fleet to exclusively consist of A321s.
- Alaska announced its 10th nonstop destination in the lower 48 from Anchorage, as it will operate twice-weekly, weekend-only service to Salt Lake City beginning June 18.
- British Airways will resume daily flights to Johannesburg in mid-December and 3x-weekly flights to Cape Town in November. The CPT service will upgrade to 2x-daily in December. BA will also increase its frequency to Mexico City to 5x-weekly beginning November 6, while Cancun resumes with daily service on October 22.
- Hawaiian will be moving its operation at LAX from T5 to the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) beginning October 12. Unlike many of the others forced to move, Hawaiian check-in will be in TBIT and will not require taking a bus from elsewhere.
- SkyWest is going to launch E175 ops for AA later this year.
- Spirit signed a lease agreement for 20 new A320neo aircraft with AerCap Holdings. Delivery will begin next year and continue through 2024. Spirit will owe AerCap an additional $9 per plane upon delivery if it wants the keys.
- Toki Air secured two ATR72s.
- Tunisair plans to eliminate its B737 and A319 fleets in an effort to reduce costs.
- Virgin Australia is overhauling its Accelerate rewards program for business customers.
Sometimes on weekends, I like to play chess with the older gentlemen in the park, but I’m finding it increasingly hard to find exactly 32 of them each week.