September 7, 2022

United Having Second Thoughts at JFK

United Airlines returned to New York/JFK last year after a six-year absence at the airport, but its return might be short-lived if it can’t get more slots to operate at the airport.

United left JFK in 2015 with the ill-fated idea that it could push passengers to its fortress hub across the river at Newark, failing to think through all 8,938,589 reasons everyone hates Newark. It rethought its plan last spring, grabbing temporary slots available due to the reduction in service from the pandemic. But as the industry ramps back up, UA its finding itself squeezed out at the airport.

In a letter sent to employees, the airline detailed its current thinking, that it might leave the airport as soon as this fall if it cannot get more access at JFK.

United says its requested slots from the FAA and inquired about purchasing or leasing slots from other carriers, but to no avail. It’s hopeful the FAA will increase capacity at the airport, but that seems unlikely as hourly slots haven’t been added at JFK since 2008.

We will have more on this tomorrow on crankyflier.com.

Allegiant No Longer Cares About CARES

Allegiant Air finished paying back the federal government for the $25 million CARES loan it received in 2020. In announcing the repayment, Allegiant CEO John Redmond thanked the government for its assistance in saving jobs during the pandemic, and for allowing it to keep its airplanes flying to random cities from sea to shining sea.

American was the first airline to repay the government, paying back its $550 million loan – with interest — in March of 2021, followed the next day by Sun Country.  Allegiant would have paid it back sooner, but it was busy gearing up for another season of Raiders football at Allegiant Stadium, or as it’s called around the airline’s offices: Stadium.

Allegiant flew 1.9 million passengers in July, an 11% increase from the 1.7 million it flew in July 2019. The carrier had $1.4 billion in liquidity as of last month.

Spirit Faces Class Action Lawsuit

Spirit Airlines is being taken to court by a former flight attendant who paid the carrier’s $999 lawsuit fee to permit her to bring the complaint to the legal system. The suit accuses the airline of violating the Family Leave and Medical Act (FMLA) which allows eligible employees who have worked at least 504 hours in the previous 12 months to take unpaid, job-protected leave for valid family and medical reasons.

Former FA Grace Flannery alleges the carrier did not count block hours towards the required 504 hours, only counting flight hours, depriving the FAs of access to the protections of the FMLA. Flannery was fired by Spirit in January 2020 but was reinstated in May after the California Department of Labor found Spirit out of compliance with FMLA policies.

She says she was then sent home from a training session in 2021 for wearing the wrong shoe, something Cinderella would never know about. When asked to comment on the lawsuit, a representative from Spirit chuckled and said, “Not our problem…ask JetBlue.”

  • Aeroflot ordered 339 Russian-made aircraft which are known to be of only the highest-quality.
  • Cathay Pacific is hiring a bunch of college students to eventually become pilots. What could go wrong?
  • Ethiopian is planning to start a cargo subsidiary.
  • Qantas might begin flying to Chicago or Miami. Also it might not. It’s also delaying its return to San Francisco after learning that the Golden Gate Bridge is actually orange.
  • Ryanair added a bunch of flights out of its base at Newcastle.
  • Silver Airways is saad after operating its final Saab flight.
  • United‘s most recent 8-K filing with the SEC shows a positive outlook for Q3.
  • Wizz Air is growing in Bucharest.

My terribly-obese parrot died today.

I’m devastated, but I have to admit, it’s a big weight off my shoulders.