The Skinny on American’s 2022 Schedule: It Just Isn’t Wide Enough
American Airlines doesn’t have enough widebody airplanes to operate its planned schedule for next summer and the carrier has been forced to cut several routes and destinations to accommodate the fleet shortage.
AA puts much of the blame on Boeing’s inability to delivery a heap of B787 Dreamliners the carrier has on order while the FAA takes a deep look at the Boeing’s production program.
The lack of widebody, long-haul aircraft deliveries will leave AA at least 13 planes short this summer. Because of the shortage, American plans to cut service to Edinburgh, Shannon, and Hong Kong. Seasonal routes including Dubrovnik and Prague will not come back, but the airline will launch one new route – New York/JFK to Doha.
The carrier also plans to reduce services on some of its longest routes, including Shanghai, Beijing, and Sydney. It will also once again delay the debut of its new route between Seattle and Bangalore. Outgoing AA CEO Doug Parker had no comment on the delivery delays, only to say “That’s Robert’s problem now,” while cracking open his fourth black cherry White Claw of the morning.
Delta Removes Mileage Earning from Basic Economy Fares, Adds Flexibility
Delta Air Lines will no longer allow for mileage earning on Basic Economy fares purchased today and beyond for travel on or after January 1. The basic itineraries will no longer earn redeemable SkyMiles, Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM), nor will they earn $200 while passing GO if playing Monopoly while on board a Delta aircraft.
On the bright side, Basic Economy passengers will receive some flexibility to change their flights instead of having their travel be “use it or lose it.” Basic fares for travel within the United States, or to the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico will be subject to a $99 change fee plus any fare difference, and flights from the United States or Canada to any other destination will be subjected to a $199 change fee.
Award tickets booked in Basic Economy will be subject to 9,900 mile change fees for domestic, with the international flights costing 19,900 miles for changes. Passengers electing to book a basic itinerary as a SkyMiles award will also be required to submit a 500-word essay as to why they are redeeming SkyMiles, a horrendous value to begin with, for a restrictive ticket that doesn’t come with a seat assignment or an oxygen mask in the case of an emergency.
Alaska’s New Concourse Open in Portland
Concourse A is no more at PDX after the airport opened a new Concourse B for Alaska Airlines today with ten gates for the exclusive use of Alaska and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air. Concourse B is the second expansion at PDX since the onset of the pandemic, as the airport opened a six-gate extension of Concourse E for Southwest last year.
The new concourse’s ten gates include four on an upper level with jet bridge access to airplanes with six at ground level. It features 8,900 square feet of south-facing windows with views of where your plane would be if it weren’t delayed. There are 500 seats in the concourse to accommodate up to 200 people after taking the annoying families of four that spread out over an entire of row into account. There are more than 300 places to charge devices in the concourse, but none will be working or available on the day you visit.
Concourse B was built near the south runway, and next to a live taxiway for planes. All the white oak surrounding the windows came from sustainable managed forests within 60 miles of Salem, Oregon while all the Coca-Cola products on offer came from a bottling plant in suburban Atlanta.
- Air Belgium says it’s acquiring three B747-8s to launch cargo ops in 2022.
- Air Tanzania‘s board was warned by the Tanzanian government to do their jobs and not use the airline as their personal bank account like their predecessors.
- Bonza, Australia’s newest LCC start-up carrier announced it will lease eight 186-seat B737 MAX aircraft for its first year of operation.
- Equair took delivery of its first aircraft — a B737-700 — earlier this week, less than two weeks ahead of its first scheduled flight.
- flydubai must have lost a bet similar to the one Etihad recently lost as it signed an interline agreement with Pakistan International Airlines.
- Frontier signed a five year contact with Lufthansa Technik to repair and overhaul 21 CFM56-5B engines.
- Garuda Indonesia was granted protection from creditors, giving the beleaguered carrier 45 days to reach settlements with lessors and creditors to chip away at its nearly $10 billion pile of debt.
- Hainan Airlines controlling stake has been transferred from bankrupt conglomerate HNA Group to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial.
- Peach took delivery of a new A321-200neo aircraft.
- Proflight Zambia added its first CRJ-200, doubling its capacity when it begins operating on February 1.
- Ultimate Air Shuttle is suspending scheduled flights from its two bases — Cincinnati/Lunken and Cleveland/Burke — on December 16.
- YTO Cargo Airlines took delivery of its first B767-300 freighter.
I got carded at a liquor store, and my Blockbuster card accidentally fell out. The cashier said never mind.