June 23, 2022

United to Cut 12% at Newark

United Airlines will reduce about 12% of its daily operations in Newark – roughly 50 daily flights – beginning July 1 to address concerns over congestion and why anyone would want to fly to Newark in the first place.

The cuts will come out of United’s domestic schedule at the airport, with no reduction in international service and with no markets being cut out entirely. The FAA recently granted a waiver to United to temporarily reduce its footprint at the slot-controlled airport while not being on the hook to lose any slots once the busy summer travel season recedes.

United is also locked in a war of words with JetBlue and Spirit over congestion at the airport, with United blaming the two LCCs for most of the problems, while JetBlue and Spirit find one thing to agree on and that’s to blame United. 31% of flights at Newark have been delayed this year, the second worse rate in the country behind just Chicago/Midway.

American to End Service to Three More

After announcing an end to flying to Toledo last week, American Airlines announced three more destinations are on the chopping block, citing the pilot shortage as the main culprit for the cuts.

Joining Toledo are Islip, NY, Ithaca, NY, and Dubuque, IA. All four cities will see American exit their market on September 7, the day after Labor Day. Islip, located on Long Island will retain service on Breeze, Frontier, and Southwest, while Ithaca will still see flights to Detroit on Delta and Newark on United.

American is the lone carrier at Dubuque which will leave it without any commercial air service. American has been its only airline for over a decade – Northwest served DBQ from MSP beginning in 2008 until its merger with Delta when it left the airport in July 2009. Toledo will retain service from one carrier – Allegiant – serving five cities in Florida.

Southwest Pilots Picket at Love Field

More than 1,300 Southwest pilots stood together with their families on the sidewalks of Dallas/Love Field to politely request a new contract from the airline.

The pilots – which represented about 8% of the carrier’s entire pilot roster – endured 100-degree Texas heat on the summer solstice as they marched for better pay and working conditions. The pilots union says its most recent proposal to Southwest, made three years ago, has not been acted on yet by the carrier. The union said its action was not a protest but an “informational picket” to raise awareness to pilot fatigue, stress, labor shortages, and other issues facing its membership.

The union was clear to say this is not a walk-out and no pilots were permitted to call in sick to take part in the picket, nor could they negatively impact the carrier’s operation. The union’s biggest grievance is bad scheduling with connecting flights for pilots, and pilots being tired of having to check-in online exactly 24 hours before their shift is scheduled to begin or be subject to getting on the plane with the “C” boarding group.

  • Air New Zealand plans to resume 14 new international routes on July 9 to several of its most popular international destinations and Houston.
  • Allegiant is now the official airline of the Detroit Pistons, combining the franchise that won championships with the Bad Boys of the NBA with the Bad Boys of the sky.
  • BRA signed a new tour operator deal, and is adding A319s as extra support and padding in its schedule to hold up its end of the deal.
  • Breeze will operate two round-trip flights between Norfolk and Richmond on its new A220-300 tomorrow for those who don’t believe in cars.
  • Hans Airlines, which apparently is a thing, hired Martin Dunn as its COO.
  • JetBlue finally added the partnership we’ve been waiting for, adding Blade helicopter rides to its TrueBlue program.
  • Kenya Airways is getting in the eVTOL mix.
  • SKY express completed a second sale-and-leaseback of an A320neo.
  • Swoop‘s first B737 MAX 8 swooped into its fleet.
  • Viva Aerobus took delivery of a new A321-231.

Doctor: I’m sorry, but we had to remove your colon.

Me Why?