United Drops Three (And a Half)
United Airlines is ending service to three cities and cutting service to a fourth. The carrier will end flying to Twin Falls, Idaho (TWF) on November 30 and both Pierre (PIR) and Watertown, South Dakota (ATY) on January 3.
The two South Dakota airports were Essential Air Service markets that previously were operated by SkyWest on behalf of United Express. But SkyWest lost the contract to those two markets to Denver Air Connection for a two-year period from May 2021 to May 2023. It’s rumored that SkyWest officially chose to pull out of the two airports during its server outage last month when it lost its Google Maps printouts that it shared with pilots to find both airports.
United also is also scaling back its operation in Joplin, Missouri, ending flights to its Houston/IAH hub. The carrier will still operate to Joplin from Chicago and Denver going forward, because, well, someone has to do it.
Ryanair Puts Portuguese Government in its Crosshairs
Ryanair is now mired in a dispute with the Portuguese government over the filing of paperwork to operate flights between Portugal and Morocco.
The Portuguese Civil Aviation Authority (Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil – ANAC) forced Ryanair to cancel eight flights from Lisbon to three Moroccan destinations over the paperwork snafus. ANAC said the carrier had not submitted all documents to operate the routes despite several warnings to do so. Ryanair responded by saying it has had traffic rights between Portugal and Morocco for three years and the Portuguese government had no reason for this unlawful action.
The carrier has been aggressive in challenging Portugal for its protectionist practices towards TAP. Ryanair has accused the government of illegally hoarding slots in Lisbon, preventing it from flying more routes from the city, offering state aid against European Commission policies, reserving the good coffee at meetings for TAP’s representatives and no one else, and putting off-brand toilet paper in the restrooms near Ryanair’s gates in all Portuguese airports while TAP gates receive Charmin Ultra 16-ply.
Turkish Adds Two
Turkish Airlines is adding two new U.S. destinations – Detroit and Seattle. The carrier made the announcement on its investor relations page, clearly wanting to make sure as few people knew about the new cities as possible.
Turkish hasn’t announced any further details about the new service including trivial information like start dates, schedules, aircraft, frequencies, business class menus, champagne availability, or the color of pajamas on offer in premium cabins. When these two routes launch – assuming they do – Turkish will bring its total of U.S. cities it operates to 14.
Seattle is a SkyTeam (Delta) and oneworld (Alaska) hub, and Detroit is a SkyTeam airport (Delta), meaning Turkish will have to forge its own path in both cities. Doing so is familiar to Turkish, as the carrier moved into other non-Star Alliance airports with limited feed previously including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Miami.
- Air Astana will resume twice-weekly flights to Baku (GYD) on November 7.
- Air Canada posted a C$364 million loss in Q3, a dramatic improvement from the C$785 million it lost in Q3 2020.
- Alaska has switched plastic water bottles for cardboard boxed water. Alter your travel plans accordingly.
- Avianca‘s reorganization plan has been approved by a US bankruptcy court.
- Emirates is reintroducing service to Algiers, Algeria (ALG) with twice-weekly service beginning November 9.
- FlyWestair decided it wanted to be able to operate flights that go east sometimes, so it’s rebranded itself as FlyNamibia.
- Lufthansa turned a profit of €17m for the September quarter.
- Just Us Air is no longer about just us, as it has rebranded itself as Dan Air. This is not to be confused with the original Dan-Air which was based in the UK until British Airways picked up its remains in the ’90s.
- Star Air is adding five additional freighters to be the star of its fleet over the next three years.
Did you hear abut the ATM that got addicted to money?
It suffered from withdrawals.