Author: Andrew Bashuk

Aeroflot Illegally Violates Canadian Airspace

Aeroflot Flight 111 from Miami to Moscow violated Canadian airspace Sunday, as it passed over the country despite Transport Canada’s ban of Russian flights overflying Canada.

The Canadian government launched an investigation of the incident, exploring the actions of both Aeroflot and NAVCAN, the privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation system. Aeroflot does not operate flights to Canada but typically uses its airspace for flights to the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Now it will have to find another way as rumor has it the Canadians are looking to install gates in the sky and won’t give the clicker to Aeroflot pilots so they can’t get in.

The violation came several hours after Aeroflot Flight 124 from Moscow/SVO to New York/JFK turned back to Moscow about four hours into the flight. Speculation is that without access to much of the EU and Canadian airspace, the flight wouldn’t have had enough fuel to make it to New York. The flight ended up being a nearly eight-hour flight to nowhere, returning to Moscow.

European Union Bans Russian Airlines

European Union commissioner Ursula von der Leyen confirmed the entire bloc banned all Russian aircraft from operating in its airspace. The ban includes state-owned airline Aeroflot, privately-owned carriers of scheduled passenger flights (such as S7 Airlines), and Russian-based private jets along with any airplane that’s wearing a Soviet-style ushanka hat.

The ban includes all aircraft associated with Russia, regardless of the country in which the aircraft is registered. The Russian Federation has a law that only airplanes manufactured in Russia can be registered in the country, leading Russian carriers to register Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream, and other non-Russian aircraft in other countries. The EU’s policy closes this loophole and does not permit these aircraft from flying to, from, or over the EU.

Russia responded with a reciprocal flight ban for EU-registered aircraft, a decision that was met with a roll of the eyes throughout Europe. Though this does have the ability to severely restrict European flying to the Far East, it also means Russia can’t collect overflight fees, and it needs the cash. U.S.-based airlines issued statements in solidarity with the EU, saying no U.S. airline would overfly Russia for domestic ops within the United States.

DOT Shakes Up Cuba Charter Market

The federal government is reducing the number of frequencies incumbent carriers iAero and World Atlantic Airlines (WAA) will be permitted to operate to Cuba, granting only 75% of their requested slots.

Of the 3,600 annual roundtrip charters permitted by the federal government, 2,426 are being allotted between the two, with 2,234 to iAero and 192 to WAA. This leaves 1,174 for everyone else, including the newest entrant into the market: Icelandair. Had the department granted both carriers their fully requested amount of slots, there would have only been 366 slots available for other airlines.

The government is hoping for the reduction in frequencies to the incumbents will spur new entrants into the market with airlines across the country and those with fifth freedom routes encouraged to apply. Aeroflot considered applying to operate between Miami and Havana, via Moscow, as a way around the EU’s ban on its airspace, but at this time had not formally filed its application.

• airBaltic has suspended all service to Russia until at least March 26.
• Bamboo Airlines is adding new service to Melbourne and Sydney from Ho Chi Minh City (SGN). Both will begin twice-weekly on March 30.
• Canada Jetlines took delivery of its first aircraft on Saturday. The plane operates not on jet fuel but thick maple syrup.
• Emerald Airlines inaugural flight began scheduled service on Saturday with a flight between Dublin and Donegal (CFN).
• Finnair has withdrawn its previously-issued Q1 financial guidance as it reevaluates its extensive network to Asia and challenges presented without having access to Russian airspace.
• Flyr took dlvry of its frst B737 MAX 8.
• Iberia plans to add nine aircraft to its fleet later this year. The planes will fly for the airline most of the day, except for a two-hour nap in the early afternoon.
• JetBlue will begin operating the A220-300 at JFK next week. To prepare the planes for the route, the carrier is catering them with NYC-quality hot dog water in the lavs.
• LATAM will resume service from Santiago to both Auckland and Sydney on March 29 with 3x-weekly service to both destinations.
• Norwegian increased its summer fleet plan from 75 aircraft to 80.
• Olympus Airways retired its final B757.
• Singapore Airlines is returning to Darwin in a battle to be the survivor of the fittest. 3x-weekly flights begin March 29.
• Sky Cana is adding an A319 and A330 for flights to the U.S.
• Ukraine International extended its suspension of service to March 23 which while still highly optimistic is far more reasonable than previous short-term cuts.
• Volaris expects the FAA to return Mexico’s safety rating to Category 1 as soon as the second half of this year.
• Wizz Air currently has four airplanes in Ukraine and the airline is working on a plan to extract them.

This is my step ladder. I never knew my real ladder.

Delta Ends Codesharing With Aeroflot

In a terse statement issued this morning, Delta says it has immediately ended its codeshare relationship with Russia’s primary state-owned airline, Aeroflot. Though no reason was given, it’s safe to assume this is in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. If not, this is a truly remarkable coincidence.

Aeroflot has been a member of the SkyTeam alliance which Delta co-founded for more than 15 years. Delta had increased its cooperation by placing its code on Aeroflot’s flights beyond Moscow while Aeroflot had its code on Delta short-haul services from both Los Angeles and New York/JFK. The alliance membership remains, but now the codesharing has ended.

Russia owns more than half of Aeroflot. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Aeroflot will naturally be a target for those looking to publicly protest Russia’s actions. Whether it has any impact remains to be seen, but for those of you looking to spend winter in Siberia on a Delta codeshare, you are probably out of luck.

Virgin Atlantic Restores Full Pre-Pandemic US Network

Virgin Atlantic will resume flying to Seattle and Washington/Dulles next week, and when it does, it will have returned to its full slate of flying to the United States from prior to the pandemic, ensuring plenty of empty planes until the summer leisure travel season arrives.

London/Heathrow to Dulles will begin March 5 and operate 5x-weekly on an A330-300. Seattle begins three days earlier on March 2 and will also be 5x-weekly, operating on a B787-9. In addition to resuming these two routes, the carrier will also increase frequency and capacity to Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York/JFK, and San Francisco.

Virgin Atlantic begins operating to its newest American destination, Austin, with 4x-weekly flights on May 25. Beginning in April, it will fly to Orlando from four UK airports – London/Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Belfast.

United Objects to CodeshAAre Opportunity for Philippines Airlines

American Airlines efforts to garner government approval for a codeshare on eight domestic routes from LAX with Philippines Airlines continue to be held up by United Airlines. The two carriers first applied for the codeshare nearly two years and ago and are still waiting on a resolution while UA continues to lobby against the tie-up.

The partnership would apply on AA’s flights to eight cities from LAX: Atlanta, Denver, Houston/Intercontinental, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, and Washington/Dulles. It would not apply to PR’s flights from the Philippines to the mainland United States – but AA would put its code on flights from Manila to Honolulu and Guam.

United’s objection is based on its own unresolved slot issues in Manila, insisting the DOT wait for that to conclude before ruling on the codeshare application. AA and PR unsurprisingly don’t care about UA’s problem in Manila and want the DOT to move forward, and have offered United Philippine’s exclusive adobo recipe as compensation, but UA is unmoved at this juncture.

• Aeroflot announced it was suspending its service to both Dublin and London/Heathrow which feels an awful lot like a “you can’t fire me, I quit” situation.
• Atlas Air is executing a $200 million share buyback program to raise some cash.
• British Airways will no longer overfly any Russian airspace for its limited current service to Asia.
• Delta suspended its codeshare agreement with Aeroflot effective immediately.
• Emirates is angry at Boeing.
• IAG and its airlines expect a return to great profits in the near future, according to IAG and its airlines.
• Luxair will wet-lease an E190 for use this summer.
• Qantas is working on a scheme to offer stock options to front-line staff.
• SAS is searching between the seat cushions to save cash.
• SWISS has a new premium economy seat.
• Thai is optimistic that it will rebound and recover financially, according to Thai.
• Ukraine International has now suspended flights through February 27, which is a move that can be categorized as “wildly optimistic.”
• Wizz Air is hiring pilots and flight attendants.

Which is faster, hot or cold?

Hot. Because you can catch a cold.

Ukraine Closed to Civilian Flights

All of Ukraine was closed to civilian aircraft early Thursday morning following Russia’s invasion of the country. European air safety regulator EASA issued a “conflict zone information bulletin” requiring all EU airlines – and anyone with common sense – to avoid flying through Ukrainian airspace, and to use extreme caution at any point within 100 miles of Belarus’s and Russia’s borders with Ukraine.

Most carriers have been suspending fully or greatly reducing service to Ukraine in the last few days to avoid having people or equipment stuck in the country. Ryanair announced a 14-day suspension to the country, and said it would remove flights to the country for sale for at least four weeks. Wizz Air has at least four airplanes and an unspecified number of staff in the country that it is working to evacuate.

Ukraine International Airlines announced it was suspending all flights until midnight tonight, at which point it would reassess the situation in consultation with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Infrastructure. We can’t imagine it restarting any time soon.

UK Bans Aeroflot

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson banned Russian flag carrier and Skyteam member Aeroflot from operating to the country or using its airspace.

The announcement from the prime minister was part of a series of sanctions leveled against the Russian government by the United Kingdom. Aeroflot normally operates one daily flight from Moscow/SVO to London/Heathrow. Aeroflot flight 2578 operated to Heathrow as normal today, landing at 12:05 p.m. before turning around and flying the return service to Moscow, but that’s expected to be the final Aeroflot service to the country for the time being.

Along with the ban, English Premier League team Manchester United is likely to end its nine-year association with the carrier. Aeroflot is a sponsor of the team and provides charter service when the team flies for matches within Europe. The team canceled their Aeroflot service to Madrid on Tuesday using UK-based charter airline Titan Airways instead.

Passengers booked on Aeroflot to or from London can reach out to Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss refund or rebooking options.

Government Sale of SAA Completed

The South African government completed a sale for 51% of formerly state-owned carrier South African Airways to its preferred partner – the Takatso Corporation – with the sale now awaiting approval from regulatory agencies.

The price of the sale was not disclosed, but Takatso is expected to invest about $200 million in the carrier in the near-term to support operations and payroll. The government is expected to put another $120 million into the airline despite the sale, that cash earmarked to settle SAA’s considerable mango-scented debts.

SAA returned to service on September 1 of last year and is bleeding cash. It expects to reintroduce long-haul service later this year. It’s been exclusively flying short-haul, regional routes since resuming operations.

• Aer Lingus restarts its service between Dublin and San Francisco tomorrow. To celebrate, the carrier will have a fog machine on board.
• Air New Zealand clearly lost a bet with someone, as the carrier plans to launch a new route to Newark later this year.
• Air Serbia is adding a second A330.
• Air Transat named the very French Canadian-sounding Marc-Philippe Lumpé as its new COO.
• airBaltic took delivery of an A220-300 yesterday, its 33rd of the aircraft type. One more and its eligible for a free dessert with a full meal purchase at the Airbus employee café in Toulouse.
• Airhub Airlines added its first A330-300.
• China Southern is retiring its A380 fleet, a blow to all A380 fans in the south of China.
• Flair will be adding flare to Waterloo Airport (YKF), basing a third aircraft there.
• Frontier‘s latest frontier is Kingston, Jamaica (KIN). It’ll operate to Kingston 3x-weekly from Miami beginning May 5.
• IndiGo Airlines co-founder Rakesh Gangwal is taking his ball and going home.

I’m thinking about having my ashes stored in a glass jar once I’m gone.

Remains to be seen.

Korean’s Purchase of Asiana Receives Korean Government Approval

South Korea’s antitrust agency gave conditional approval to the purchase of Asiana Airlines by Korean Air – clearing another hurdle as the two carriers look to merge to create one Korean supercarrier.

Korean Air announced a purchase of its rival for about $1.6 billion 18 months ago and has been working through regulatory hurdles since in an effort to move the purchase along. The Korean government ordered the two to divest of slots and traffic rights on 26 international routes and 14 domestic routes – provided a new competitor requests them. That comes from the 65 international city pairs and 22 domestic routes the two overlap on.

The merged airline will possess just under 50% of the domestic market share in the country, and about 60% of the international market share to South Korea. The merger is still awaiting approval from six governing bodies: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, the EU, Japan, and China… seven if you count K-Pop group BTS which has still not weighed in but holds great sway.

BA Braces for Catering Walkout

British Airways is preparing for more disruptions to its flight schedule as its catering staff announced a planned strike on March 4 and 5. The action by the union would lead to cancellations not because it would lead to potentially hungry passengers, but because pilots and flight attendants have meal requirements as part of their contracts with the airline. A proposal to feed them temporarily with a pasty from Greggs was not as popular as hoped.

A vote to strike came in at 94% in favor with 100 catering truck drivers planning to walk out for the two day period next month after failed discussions on pay rates. The union said that DO & CO, BA’s caterer, pays some of the lowest rates in the London region – and that’s without taking hazard pay into account for having to schlep to Heathrow for work every day.

El Al to Use Airport Slots as Loan Collateral

El Al is desperate to raise between $100 and $150 million as a condition to acquire bailout funds from the Israeli government, and the carrier is looking to use its airport slots as leverage to raise the cash.

Previously El Al announced an intention to sell a portion of its loyalty program to raise cash, and this slot scheme would be on top of that. The carrier owns high-demand slots at London/Heathrow, New York/JFK Paris/CDG, Hong Kong — that one isn’t as valuable right now as it once was — and Toronto. El Al believes it could obtain a loan worth as much as $100 million by putting the slots up with a non-Israeli bank while the Hong Kong slot could likely get it a free eight oz. bottle of hand sanitizer.

• Air Austral retired its final ATR72.
• DHL Express is taking San Antonio airport to court over a disagreement about an alleged lease violation.
• Gulf Air will be adding service this summer from Bahrain to Milan (5x-weekly), Rome (2x-weekly), Manchester (2x-weekly) and Nice (2x-weekly).
• Lufthansa Cargo is taking delivery of two A321 freighters that will enter service March 15.
• Malaysia and Qatar signed a MOU to play nicely together.
• Norse Atlantic, in an effort to diversify its senior leadership from people named Bjørn appointed Ben “Baby Bjørn” Boiling as CFO and James Lightbourn, pronounced “Lightbjørn” as Chief Strategy and Investment Office.
• PLAY‘s fourth U.S. destination will be Orlando. The carrier will operate 3x-weekly service beginning September 30.
• TruJet is truly resuming operations today with a single ATR72. No one from the airline would confirm if it came from Air Austral.

 Where do you learn to make ice cream?

Sundae school.

Qatar to Adopt Avios as Points Currency

Qatar Airways Privilege Club members will have the privilege of earning and burning Avios when flying on Qatar as the carrier replaces its own Qmiles with the currency created by British Airways. Those with current balances accumulated in the Qmiles program will see their miles turned into Avios at a 1:1 ratio with bonuses for believable-sounding British accents and family-owned bangers and mash recipes.

Avios is the points currency used not just by British Airways but all IAG airlines in their own respective programs. Qatar, while not owned by IAG, is the single largest shareholder of the group, so this change aligns it with its corporate siblings. More details on the move by Qatar are expected in the coming weeks. It expects to make the switch sometime late next month, depending on how long it takes to coordinate required Downton Abby screenings for its own loyalty staff.

While Qmiles are going away, Qpoints are staying. Qpoints are how members of Privilege Club earn elite status with the airline, and that process is not expected to change. Redemption rates for award tickets are also expected to maintain current pricing – for now – with Qmiles being replaced by Avios.

Air Canada Adds Seven

Air Canada announced seven new routes today, restoring its North American pre-pandemic network by adding four transborder options to the United States and three domestic routes.

To the United States, the carrier will operate three new routes in direct competition with Delta, from Toronto to Salt Lake City and Montreal to both Atlanta and Detroit. A fourth transborder route will be from Vancouver to Austin 4x-weekly beginning June 1. As for the flights to Delta’s hubs, Montreal to ATL and DTW both launch June 1 and will be twice-daily, with YYZ to SLC flying 3x-weekly beginning June 2.

Domestically, it’s launching daily service from Calgary to Fort St. John — not to be confused with St John or St John’s on the other side of the country — on May 1, and from Montreal to Gander (YQX) on June 25. Five-times weekly service from Vancouver to Halifax (YHZ) also begins May 1 or when Halifax thaws out – whichever comes first.

Court Puts Airbus’ Cancellation of Qatar Order on Hold

A judge likely wearing a ridiculous looking wig in London’s High Court issued a restraining order against Airbus to temporarily halt the manufacturer’s cancellation of a 50-jet order from Qatar Airways. Airbus announced last month it would terminate Qatar’s order for 50 planes as retaliation for Qatar taking it to court over alleged paint issues on its A350 fleet.

The ruling prevents Airbus from reallocating delivery slots to anyone else pending a resolution of the paint dispute. Should Qatar win the case, Airbus will be required to make the deliveries as previously planned, which means beginning next February and continuing with six annual deliveries for five years.

Airbus will receive a hearing on April 4 to stop the order that prevents them from canceling the order. (Got it?) Arguments in the original case regarding the paint are expected to begin April 26. In the meantime, both parties were ordered to watch Netflix’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing together by the end of this month to see if it would spur a compromise between the two.

• airBaltic is adding flights this summer to Malta, Yerevan, and Baku.
• Air France canceled Tuesday’s flight to Kiev and will “regularly assess” the situation for future flights.
• Austrian appointed Annette Mann as its new CEO.
• Condor will add twice weekly service to Johannesburg this winter.
• Delta has launched a new partnership with Instacart. A gallon of milk is available for just 100,000 SkyMiles while a loaf of bread is available starting at 125,000 SkyMiles. Blackout dates apply, and the airline reserves the right to swap out your selected item for a similar off-brand regional variety of your item at its discretion.
• Eastern failed its ETOPS certification and will not be operating its own aircraft over the ocean anytime soon.
• Eurowings Europe is moving its operating certificate from Austria to Malta.
• Greater Bay Airlines finally received is operating license from the Hong Kong government.
• ITA will wet-lease E190s from German Airways to operate from Milan to London/City, Luxembourg, and Geneva until its acquires its own fleet of A220s.
• Kenya Airways plans to reduce its fleet down to 30 airplanes.
• Qatar is upgrading its flight to Brisbane to year-round and making its Perth flight daily.
• Norwegian is running to begin a domestic route within Denmark on June 15 between Copenhagen and Rønne (RNN).
• S7 Airlines took delivery of an A321neo.
• Ultra Air received its AOC from the Colombian government and will begin scheduled ops tomorrow.
• Wamos Air secured €85 million of state aid from the Spanish government.

Front Desk Clerk: “How can I help you, sir?”

Hotel Guest: “Hello, I’ve forgotten what room I’m in.”

Front Desk Clerk: “No problem sir, that happens all the time. This is the lobby.”

American Reduces Summer Schedule…Again

American Airlines is pulling back on its summer schedule as Boeing’s delays in delivering 787 Dreamliners continue.

AA is now planning to temporarily suspend service between Seattle and London, Los Angeles to Sydney, and Dallas/Ft. Worth to Santiago. The launch of DFW to Tel Aviv is being delayed, and Miami to Rio de Janeiro is being reduced to a single daily service.

American investigated the possibility of continuing these routes using the three new E175s it purchased earlier this week but couldn’t justify the price it would cost to fly those aircraft on long-haul routes all over the world while also operating regional routes for Envoy.

The carrier expected to have 13 new Dreamliners to fly this summer and instead will have zero. Boeing does not expect to resume for several weeks at the earliest. The manufacturer no longer can check each plane for its airworthiness prior to delivery, now being required to turn each airplane over to the government and await approval from the FAA.

Delta VP for Network Planning Resigns  

Delta Air Lines Vice President for Network Planning Scott Laurence resigned his role at the carrier after just a month in the job.

Laurence came to Delta from JetBlue where he was considered the architect of the Northeast Alliance with American – and was expected to head up Delta’s JV partnerships with an eye on long-term growth. His role was created just for him – the airline did not previously have a VP of Network Planning and finds itself without one again.

Some industry insiders knew his time at Delta would be short when he insisted that every gate at the Atlanta Airport be renamed as gate B6, oblivious to the confusion it would cause for passengers and employees alike. Laurence’s reason for leaving is unclear at this point, although rumors are swirling. One report says he bristled at Delta’s requirement that he accept his salary in SkyMiles, and another says he left after being told he would be forced to find a way to keep ITA in SkyTeam.

Delta Says Aloha to Three Hawai’i Routes

Delta Air Lines is adding three new routes to Hawai’i while also looking to resume a very long-haul service to Africa.

The carrier will add daily service from its Atlanta headquarters to Maui, resuming a service that last operated in 2007, while also adding daily nonstop flights from both Detroit and New York/JFK to Honolulu. The Atlanta to Maui and Detroit to Honolulu flights will begin on November 19, with JFK to HNL beginning about a month later on December 17. Atlanta will become Maui’s just second destination east of the Mississippi, coupled with United’s flight to Newark.

In addition to adding in Hawai’i, Delta is looking to again resume service from Atlanta to Cape Town, South Africa. It attempted to first bring it back as a triangle route with Johannesburg, but the South African government declined the request. In its current application, Delta still desires to operate the triangle, but is also willing to operate 3x-weekly nonstop service. Delta proposed the flights begin November 18 and operate year-round.

• Air Canada lost a cool C$3.04 billion in 2021.
• Air Tahiti Nui will receive a cut of a $341 million loan from the French government to French Polynesia.
• Alaska now allows award redemptions on Malaysia.
• Astral Aviation will become the launch operator of the A320 P2F.
• British Airways will begin new daily service from London/Heathrow to Newark beginning June 6.
• Cebu Pacific will take delivery of three A330neo aircraft later this year.
• Condor will bring streaming in-flight entertainment to its entire fleet this April.
• Hawaiian‘s employees from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ratified a new 5-year agreement.
• Lynx Air took delivery of its first aircraft — a B737-8 — earlier this week.
• Starlux took delivery of its first A330neo today in Toulouse and the company’s chairman K.W. Chang is flying it back to Taipei. Presumably he’s also a pilot.
• Volotea will open a new base in Lille (LIL) later this spring.

What do you call an illegally parked frog?
Toad

FAA Administrator Resigns

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson announced today he would retire from the position, effective March 31. Dickson was appointed to the post in August 2019 by President Trump following a 30-year career with Delta as a pilot and SVP of Flight Operations.

Dickson’s time at the FAA began just prior to the grounding of the B737 MAX, and continued through the pandemic, staffing shortages that resulted because of it, the rise in passenger violence, and the 5G fiasco. His term was supposed to last five years, but will instead come to an end at the halfway mark, once again sticking to the Delta motto of trying to be early every time.

Dickson famously piloted a B737 MAX himself in September 2019 after saying he would not consider recertifying the airplane until he flew one himself. The approval to return the plane to the skies came about a year later – in late 2020.

President Biden will now need to appoint a new FAA Administrator to fill the void. White House officials are remaining tight-lipped about rumors that the position will be raffled off to a winner at next week’s Cranky Network Awards.

Breeze Blows Harder Into Hartford

Breeze Airways is making Hartford’s Bradley International Airport the fifth base in its network — one more than allowed on a baseball field – with the addition of eight new nonstop destinations, bringing the total it operates to from BDL to 12.

The announcement comes one day after fellow startup Avelo announced an expansion at nearby New Haven (HVN). The eight new destinations Breeze is adding will remain a secret for now, as the airline is supposedly not finished throwing dots at its map of the east coast.

Breeze currently serves Charleston, SC, Columbus, Norfolk, and Pittsburgh from BDL and will have its new fleet of A220s operating on all four routes beginning this June.

Oh Good, Another Icelandic Startup

We’ve got a new Icelandic startup airline, this time the pleasantly named Niceair, which plans to launch operations this summer with one 150-seat A319 it has on lease.

The airline expects to begin ticket sales early this spring, which makes sense if it wants to have a chance to survive as an airline.  The carrier’s operating license would be held by a mystery European carrier – fingers crossed its ITA.

Initially, it plans to operate to the UK, Denmark, and Spain – according to CEO Þorvaldur Lúðvík Sigurjónsson. It will base itself not at Iceland’s largest airport in Reykjavik, but instead at Akureyri Airport (AEY) in northern Iceland. If it follows previous Icelandic-airline patterns, it will soon overextend itself, buy too many big airplanes, and then go out of business.

The airport currently has 4x-daily service on Icelandair to Reykjavik, and regional service on Norlandair. In addition to the international destination, Niceair is also planning domestic service on the bustling route to Egilsstadir (EGS) in eastern Iceland.

• Aeromexico will return to London on April 1 with 5x-weekly service to London/Heathrow.
• Atlas Air is adding a new B747-8 freighter.
• Azores Airlines is adding a wet-leased B767 this fall.
• Bees Airline is no longer buzzing around after it was grounded this week.
• Cathay Pacific carried just 24,699 passengers total in January.
• Emirates will return A380 service to Brisbane next month.
• flynas added Prague as its newest destination with 3x-weekly service beginning May 1.
• LIAT expects to exit bankruptcy by the middle of this year.
• Malta Air is opening a new base in Vienna.
• PIA wants to fly to Australia.
• Rex wants to add lots of airplanes.
• Uzbekistan Airways took delivery of its first A321neo(LR).

Light travels faster than sound.

That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Alaska Debuts as the Netflix of the Skies

Alaska Airlines unveiled its new subscription service – called Flight Pass – which allows for up to 24 annual round trips to destinations within California, plus Reno, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The prices start at $49 per month – that gets you six flights for the year, booked a minimum of 14 days prior to departure – all the way to $749 per month. The $749/month option gets you two flights per month, booked as little as two hours prior to departure, and the airline will name a moose in the Alaskan bush after you.

Pass holders are still responsible for government fees on each redemption – usually about $14.60 – and what it’s calling a “nominal fare,” which usually will be $0.01. But Alaska is carving out an exemption that some of the most popular flights will require a higher fare, but what the higher fare is, it’s not saying.

Travelers flying on Flight Pass will earn full Mileage Plan benefits when traveling and elite status will be honored. Main cabin seats can be selected at no additional fee, and changes are free – guaranteeing that mileage runners up and down California are currently plotting how to game the system to their advantage and somehow end up as oneworld Emerald after signing up for Flight Pass.

Avelo Expands South

Avelo Airlines announced four new cities in the southeast that it will serve from its East Coast base in New Haven, CT (HVN).

Service will begin to Myrtle Beach and Charleston (SC) on May 5, and to Nashville and Savannah on May 6. The four cities will give Avelo 10 destinations from New Haven, joining the six cities it currently serves – all located in Florida. Myrtle Beach service will operate six days a week with the other three destinations seeing flights 4x-weekly.

Avelo is the lone carrier at HVN, but will compete to MYR with Spirit, to BNA with Southwest, and Avelo on the CHS route, with those three flying from nearby Hartford – about 55 miles north of New Haven.  There are also countless flights out of nearby New York airports for those who love a good challenge.

Mango’s Tale of Woe Suffers Blow as it Hits Another Low

Mango, the shuttered South African LCC that time forgot, took a hit when South Africa’s national taxi association’s bid to purchase the beleaguered carrier was denied.

The airline has been in bankruptcy since July of 2021 and dormant since November of last year after parent company SAA elected to pull the plug. The taxi association – SANTACO – presumably based at the North Pole — has wanted to own its own LCC for at least a decade. It unsuccessfully launched an airline in 2011 and was involved in at least two other startups since.

Its dream of bringing bumpy, overpriced, and unreliable transportation from the ground to the air won’t come true anytime soon though. The remaining 105 employees of the airline – mostly office staff keeping paperwork current for when if it returns to the skies – will go back to waiting for its financial savior to be identified.

• American will add three new E175s to its fleet by the end of this year to be operated by Envoy.
• Air India‘s new ownership group Tata Sons will make the airline financially fit, the most technologically advanced airline in the world, and it’ll do this with a modern fleet. The revelation was announced in a book of fairy tales published by new ownership group Tata Sons.
• Austrian will add four new A320neos to its fleet by next spring.
• Avelo appointed former Wall St analyst Hunter Keay as its new CFO.
• Etihad painted the final touches on a letter of intent to purchase seven A350F freighters.
• Iberia will launch service to Dallas/Fort Worth and resume serving both San Francisco and Washington/Dulles on June 1.
• ITA, despite the fact it will be reverting back to Alitalia’s name and brand on at least some of the fleet, is still painting airplanes with its new ITA livery because that just makes sense.
• Jet Airways secured a $6.6 million loan to fund its resumption of service.
• Lynx Air completed the first of three pending sale and leasebacks on its fleet of B737 MAX 8 aircraft.
• United will resume service between San Francisco and Melbourne on May 10 with 3x-weekly service.
• Western Global Airlines purchased two B777 freighters.

My cousin is an archaeologist.

His life is in ruins.

JetBlue Confirms 30 Additional A220s

JetBlue passengers who enjoy the carrier’s NYC Subway tile-themed restrooms aboard its fleet of A220s are in for good news today – the carrier confirmed it would exercise purchase options on an additional 30 A220-300 aircraft. When the final aircraft of this order is delivered – in 2026 – JetBlue will boast a fleet of 100.

The additional planes will also allow JetBlue to speed up the retirement of its E190 fleet, with the final one expected to transition to the big hangar in the sky in 2026.

JetBlue currently has eight A220s in its fleet, and they’re generally based in Boston. By this summer, it plans to put the aircraft on transcontinental routes including its first service to Vancouver beginning June 9. With its 100 on order, the carrier will become the largest operator of the A220 in the world. The 30 it added today blows it past Breeze (80 firm orders) and Delta (95).

EU Explores Forcing IAG to Divest Itself of BA

The French and German governments are filing a challenge that could potentially force IAG to spin off its ownership of British Airways. IAG, which also owns European carriers Aer Lingus, Iberia, LEVEL, and Vueling in its portfolio is technically running afoul of EU ownership rules following Britain’s exit from the EU via Brexit.

A regulation in the bloc requires airlines operating flights between EU countries to be owned and controlled by member state entities, which is no longer the case with British Airways. The regulation is currently in limbo – it was suspended in the immediate aftermath of Brexit on January 1, 2021 – but its return is currently being negotiated.

IAG argues it is compliance with EU ownership laws, with its Madrid-based Board of Directors having a majority of independent EU non-executive directors. While some countries in the block are willing to consider providing an exemption for IAG or scrapping the regulation altogether, France and Germany are unlikely to go along, wanting to build protectionist advantages for Air France and Lufthansa outside of the advantage they already have – the fact that they aren’t BA.

BA Offers 15% Raise to Cabin Crew

As the drama between British Airways and its flight attendants continues, the carrier is offering sugar to counter yesterday’s offer of spice to solve its staff shortage problems.

BA is prepared to offer pay raises between 10% and 15% to its flight attendants, with the first step being a 5% raise beginning next month. Crew would then receive two bonus payments worth about 5% of their salary near the end of this year, with the longest-serving employees receiving three bonus payments – worth 10% of their salary – throughout 2022.

The carrier then says it will increase wages by 10% at the start of 2023, dependent on how quickly the airline recovers from the pandemic. The offer will also apply to call center staff — though judging from the number of times we’ve been forced to listen to Flowering Duets for hours on end on hold, we don’t believe any are left — and other customer service employees and comes one day after the airline offered office staff and pilots the “opportunity” to serve as cabin crew in lieu of regular staff.

• Alliance Air will take delivery of two ATR 42-600 aircraft later this year.
• Azul has completed the conversion of the world’s first E195 freighter.
• Etihad will resume daily service to Sydney and Melbourne on March 27.
• Icelandair is suing Kelowna Flightcraft in British Columbia Supreme Court over a collapsed landing gear from two years ago.
• Malaysia will take delivery of 25 B737 MAX aircraft between 2023 and 2026.
• Qantas‘s flight from to London will continue to operate via Darwin instead of Perth through at least June.
• Singapore signed a $2.8 billion deal with GE Aviation for 22 GE9X engines and six-month’s access to Peacock.
• SKY Express completed an interline agreement with El Al.
• Thai AirAsia completed seven sale and leasebacks of A320-200s.
• Ukraine International Airlines sent two aircraft to Spain for safekeeping but is currently operating a nearly-full schedule with 13 planes.
• Widerøe secured all but one FOT routes — Norway’s version of EAS — to operate in Northern Norway for a two-year period beginning April 1.
• Wizz Air‘s application to operate charter flights to the United States on behalf of the Hungarian government is being opposed by AA’s pilots’ union.

Why didn’t the toilet paper make it across the street?

It got stuck in a crack.

Wannabe Pilot Forces AA Diversion

American Flight 1175 on Sunday from Los Angeles to Washington/National was forced to divert to Kansas City due to an unruly passenger who tried to break into the cockpit and open an emergency door.

The passenger, who it is assumed normally flies Spirit, was unsuccessful at both attempts as opening a pressurized emergency exit while a plane is in-flight is basically impossible… and breaking through the locked cockpit door isn’t terribly easy either. The passenger was eventually subdued after a flight attendant whacked him on the head with a coffee pot. The pot went right back into use for the beverage service. Most passengers did not report any noticeable change in the flavor or drinkability of AA’s on-board coffee with some reporting it actually had improved.

After diverting to Kansas City, FBI agents boarded the plane, catered it with burnt ends from Arthur Bryant’s, and took the passenger into custody. The flight eventually made it’s way to DC, landing about five hours late at 11:29 p.m. The coffee pot was taken as evidence by local DC police to investigate complaints about undrinkable coffee on all AA flights. The airline had no comment.

BA Turns to Office Staff to Serve as Flight Attendants

British Airways is looking for pilots and office staff willing to work as flight attendants for about 10 weeks as the carrier scrambles to fill staff shortages and combat a growing clash with its cabin crew union. BA once tried this scheme a decade ago in an attempt to break the union, and the two have been fighting since.

The airline is pushing the program as a chance to “meet new people in the business” and “travel to a wide range of destinations” while getting an insight into “what it is really like for our crew to do their job,” which is a wildly glass half-full view of the offer. Most pilots are declining the job in solidarity with the cabin crew – but also because working in the back comes with a host of problems that can be ignored when the cockpit door is shut.

BA is looking to add as many as 3,000 new flight attendants ahead of the summer and is offering current staff £300 referral bonuses for friends and family hired as cabin crew and is giving new hires flight privileges immediately at hiring, rather than being forced to wait six months.

Bonza Plans 25 Route Bonanza

Australian LCC Bonza will launch with 25 routes to 16 domestic destinations when it begins service later in 2022 with bases at Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY) and Melbourne.

The carrier will be the first new domestic carrier in Australia since Tiger Airways roared onto the scene 14 years ago. It doesn’t plan to challenge Qantas, Jetstar, and Virgin Australia on traditional business routes, instead taking the first line out of every new airline’s playbook, declaring it will operate to underserved locations.

It will fly to mostly tourist destinations including Albury, Bundaberg, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gladstone, Mackay, Mildura, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Toowoomba Wellcamp, Townsville and the Whitsunday Coast – some of those are actually real places.

The carrier will operate the B737 MAX when it begins flying, with delivery of its first aircraft this May. That plane is then expected to return to the desert late next year when the airline inevitably files for bankruptcy and will end up being scooped up on the cheap by Allegiant in 2025.

• Aer Lingus will resume serving Miami with 3x-weekly service on October 21.
• Air France will resume daily flights between Paris/Orly and New York/JFK on March 27.
• Air India cabin crew have been banned from duty-free shopping because they’ve been delaying flights to do so.
• Ariana Afghan Airlines has its eyes on a B737 aircraft formerly operated by Belavia.
• British Airways is increasing surcharges on long-haul premium class bookings departing the UK.
• Cathay Pacific is being sued by the Hong Kong government over the island’s current COVID-19 outbreak.
• China Airlines extended its maintenance contract with Lufthansa Technik for six years.
• Condor‘s 2022 summer schedule will include 12 destinations in the United States and four in Canada.
• Delta told the SEC that 10% of its customers purchase their flights using SkyMiles.
• Finnair had a €48.62 million aid package from the Finnish government approved by the EU, but payment is pending the inevitable Ryanair lawsuit.
• Jazeera Airways confirmed its order for 28 new A320neo aircraft.
• KLM is temporarily halting service to Ukraine.
• Korean will fly its first B737 MAX this March.
• Ryanair is being asked to refund two customers who claim they were flown by the airline to the wrong country. Ryanair says the airline did not pay its “country confirmation fee,” and therefore was subject to arrival in whatever country Ryanair damn well pleased.
• Silver completed its capital raise of $50 million.

It was love at first flight.