AA CEO Doug PAArker to Retire March 31
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker announced his retirement, effective March 31, after two decades running American and its corporate predecessors. Parker will be succeeded, as expected, by AA President Robert Isom. Despite retiring as CEO, Parker will remain chairman of AA’s board of directors, and he also will keep his zone 2 boarding privileges when flying on the carrier.
Parker saw his tenure as CEO of America West ushered in by the 9/11 crisis — he started September 1, 2001 — and will now end as the COVID-19 pandemic finishes off its second year. Parker spent much of the pandemic focused equally on advocating for the Payroll Support Program — which gave a big boost to the industry during the pandemic — and on planning for his final Halloween costume at the company’s annual celebration.
Parker and Isom’s time together dates back to their time at America West in the mid-90s and saw the pair flip America West into US Airways and then turn that into AA – the largest carrier in the world. With this transition, Isom will take over an airline that lost nearly $5 billion in the first three quarters of this year and lost $9.5 billion a year ago.
Spirit Unveils Philadelphia Expansion
Nothing goes together quite like the City of Brotherly Love and Spirit Airlines, and the two are going to strengthen their ties together as Spirit adds seven new destinations from Philly.
Of the seven new routes for Spirit, two of them – Aguadilla, PR (BQN) and Oakland – are brand new destinations for the airport on any airline. Oakland service will operate daily beginning May 18 while Aguadilla will begin April 20 and operate 4x-weekly.
The five other destinations Spirit adds will see it going head-to-head with AA and Frontier:
- New Orleans (daily, beginning Feb. 16)
- Nashville (daily, beginning May 11)
- Houston/Intercontinental (daily, beginning May 11)
- Punta Cana, DR (4x-weekly, beginning May 18)
- Montego Bay (3x-weekly beginning May 18).
Flights to all seven destinations will come with a $19 new destination fee for those booking flights in the first six weeks they operate, with an additional $9 for the flights to BQN and OAK due to those being new routes for the airport.
United Plans New Club Concept
United Airlines is up to something in Denver – and it appears to be a new lounge concept for passengers looking for a quick bite to eat during a tight connection. At just 1,582 square feet with very limited seating, this “Club Lite” concept will provide grab-and-go food and a service counter for agents to assist with rebooking assistance and other irregular operations.
The club does not have restrooms and does not appear to be designed for lengthy layovers or for passengers to linger. Instead, the idea is to give customers a chance to grab something quick on their way between flights, a much better option than the other concept which was to just throw a stroopwafel at club members as they rushed between flights. The idea appears to be somewhat modeled after AC’s Air Canada Café lounge concept in Toronto which opened in 2019 and offered grab-and-go options including shot glasses of maple syrup.
The concept seems like a great idea until the first day it opens when a passenger dumps a whole tray’s worth of pre-packaged sandwiches and a dozen water bottles in their bag and ruins it for us all.
- Air Astana took delivery of its its 7th A321LR aircraft today.
- Allegiant took delivery of a new A320-200 on Monday.
- CAMEX Airlines applied for an AOC to begin operating as a cargo airline in the second half of 2022.
- Delta is partnering with Hallmark to offer six Hallmark holiday movies amongst its IFE library this month. Spoiler alert: The main character — Lori Laughlin, we assume — visits their small hometown and doesn’t have time for this Christmas nonsense until they meet a rough and tumble classmate from high school who teaches them the true meaning of the holidays and love.
- Finnair will launch 3x-weekly flights to Seattle on June 1.
- FlyAngola has suspended flight operations indefinitely.
- JetBlue promoted John Flaherty to Vice President, Inflight Experience. His first day will be spent trying to figure out how exactly AA’s 500-mile upgrade coupons work and if they can be printed on blue paper.
- PLAY will begin playing in Dublin three times a week beginning April 28.
- SalamAir is hopeful of launching new routes to Europe after the EU and Oman signed an Open Skies agreement.
- United named Nike CFO Matthew Friend to its Board of Directors.
A priest, an atheist, an imam, and a rabbit all walked into a bar. The rabbit then looked at the other three and said “I think I’m a typo.”