Holiday Weekend Meltdown Rolls into Monday
Four airlines canceled at least five percent of their flights over the weekend – Allegiant, Delta, JetBlue, and United – with their struggles continuing past the weekend and into Monday. As Omicron rages through the population, airline staff are becoming infected at a rate causing several airlines to scramble to keep their operations running.
The CDC has reduced the isolation period for vaccinated healthcare workers from 10 days to 5 days but has not extended the offer to other industries – despite Delta’s letter to the CDC earlier this month to do just that. JetBlue and Airlines for America have also requested the change, but apparently the feds don’t care about them either.
The industry will have time to settle down next month as January traditionally sees a drop in air travel demand once the holiday season passes and hangovers kick in, but in the meantime, bumps are expected to continue this week and into the new year.
As if that wasn’t enough trouble, a snowstorm slammed into the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, snarling traffic out of Seattle/Tacoma and generally causing trouble for Alaska Airlines at its home base. So there’s your cherry on top of the sundae.
Delta Flight Turns Around Halfway
Delta Air Lines Flight 287 from Seattle to Shanghai via Seoul/Incheon last Wednesday was roughly halfway to Seoul when it turned around and went back to Seattle. The airline says that reports this was due to an onboard Biscoff shortage is not true, and in fact occurred because “new procedures required at Shanghai Pudong International Airport were implemented while it was en route.”
The carrier went on to say that China’s new procedures require more time on the ground than it’s able to schedule. Delta rebooked customers on alternative flights after returning to Seattle – flights that possibly operated and landed at the destination stated on the ticket.
The Chinese consulate in San Francisco protested to Delta and received 5,000 SkyMiles from the airline as compensation.
Qantas’ A380 to Return Early
Qantas accelerated its schedule to return its A380 fleet to the air by several months as the carrier announced a plan to begin flying the superjumbo by early next month.
The A380 will return on the Sydney-Los Angeles route on January 11, operating three times weekly. The first plane back will be VH-OQB – now would be a good time to check your bingo card to see if you had that one listed.
Much of the decision to bring the plane back was forced upon the carrier as 70 of its B787-9 pilots are currently required to take 14-days quarantine after international trips due to Queensland’s isolation policies. With many of its B787 pilots based in Brisbane, they are subject to the waiting period, while the Sydney-based A380 pilots open up greater flexibility for Qantas.
The carrier plans to have as many six A380s back in the air by the end of next year, with four more by 2024.
- Comair returned its lone B737 MAX back to its lessor. The plane had been sitting in storage since March of 2019 next to the carrier’s high school year book, old Christmas decorations, and a three-quarters complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica from 1994.
- Ethiopian will resume operating the B737 MAX in February.
- Jetlines‘s first aircraft has left the paint shop and the carrier plans to take delivery of the plane in February when it expects the paint will have finally dried.
- Qantas is hiring cabin crew for its London base for the first time in two years.
- Oriental Air Bridge is replacing its Dash 8-200s with ATR 42-600s.
- Vietjet took delivery of its first A330 aircraft over the holiday weekend.
Why should you put your new calendar in the freezer?
To start off the new year in a cool way.