Author: Andrew Bashuk

Gatwick’s South Terminal to Reopen

London/Gatwick’s South Terminal has been dormant since June 2020, but it is finally ready to reopen on March 27.

The list of carriers that will operate from the South Terminal when it reopens has 15 airlines on it, most of which we assume still exist. This includes the two largest carriers, easyJet and BA. As Gatwick’s largest operator by a wide margin, easyJet will still operate out of both terminals, while BA will also use Gatwick’s third terminal – known more commonly as “Heathrow.”

TUI will be the largest carrier at the airport staying on the 33-gate North Terminal, along with most long-haul services from airlines other than easyJet and BA.

Hong Kong Extends Transit Ban

Hong Kong’s fruitless attempt at zero COVID-19 cases on the island continues as it extended its ban of transit passengers coming from more than 150 countries it deems as high-risk… for at least another month.

This policy was enacted in mid-January and was supposed to be for just 30 days but will now last at least double that. The news was another blow to Cathay Pacific – the airline carried just 70,047 passengers in November, a number that is expected to be even lower when its January numbers are released.

In addition to the transit ban from high-risk countries, it also extended its ban of all flights from eight countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and France. The most recent member to join the full-banned list is Nepal, which was added today, causing a blow to those business travelers who frequent the bustling KTM-HKG corridor.

Airline Passengers Prefer Paying Less for Air Travel than Paying More

Economics professor Dr. Sebastian Berger led a team of four researchers at the University of Bern in Switzerland to determine a blockbuster conclusion that passengers prefer paying less when booking air travel rather than paying more.

Dr. Berger and his team presumably spent time and actual money on their study, looking at 63,520 bookings between August 2019 and October 2020 – all of which were booked direct at an unidentified airline. Only 4.5% of passengers willingly paid an additional fee to pay for CO2 offsets for their flight, while less than 3% of passengers willingly paid an additional fee to ensure their flight would have a pilot.

The news wasn’t all bad – as some carriers including Ryanair and Spirit – saw the news as a reminder that it has more gospel to preach about the consumer benefit to fees and add-ons. The carriers suggested a CO2 offset “bundle” that included priority CO2 offset, enhanced on-board oxygen, early-access to oxygen masks in the case of an emergency, and the right to purchase future fractional ownership of a tree being planted in the Amazon rain forest.

• Air India and AirAsia India officially became friends.
• Alaska named Patricia Bedient as the chair of its Board of Directors.
• Comair — the South African version — has regained its pre-pandemic market share and is doing quite well, according to the neutral source that is its own CEO.
• DHL Express took delivery of its first B777-200F.
• Eastern Airlines — the one in Miami — took delivery of its first B777-300 (ER). The plane lived the first three years of its life flying for ANA.
• Emirates is doubling its service to Sydney to twice-daily beginning March 1.
• Eurowings poached Brussels Airlines COO Edi Wolfensberger to become its COO.
• Kenya Airways appointed Seabury Consulting as a restructuring advisor.
• JetBlue‘s first commercial flight was 22 years ago today. The honorary first cup of Dunkin’ coffee served on that flight is on display in JetBlue’s Long Island headquarters where it’s curdling behind a velvet rope.
• SAS is pushing its money-losing routes to its regional subsidiaries so they become someone else’s problem.
• Southwest‘s foray into challenging Delta in Atlanta began 10 years ago tomorrow. Unfortunately for the carrier, that first arrival landed on Atlanta’s fifth runway, 10-28, and is expected to finally make it to Concourse C sometime this summer.

A police officer knocked on my door and said he was looking for a suspect with just one eye.

I told him to use both and he might find his guy more quickly.

Spirit Announces Flight School Partnership

Spirit Airlines announced a partnership with Jacksonville-based ATP Flight School to get more pilots in the door as it looks to add dozens of new aircraft over the next few years. ATP is the largest flight school in the United States with 62 training centers across the country featuring a fleet of 431 aircraft.

As part of the new partnership, ATP will immerse students in a two-year training period that develops line-ready A320 pilots for the carrier. In exchange, ATP will be painting all 431 planes in its fleet bright yellow and has introduced a new set of fees for students that will make even the most expensive colleges and universities across the country blush.

Following graduation from ATP, those in the program can advance straight to Spirit as first officers after 1,500 hours of flight time and payment of their pilot development fee, successful takeoff and landing fee, uniform dry-cleaning surcharge, and the cockpit seat assignment fee.

The carrier has chosen to expand its policy of only offering assigned seats ahead of time for a fee to the cockpit, where potential pilots will be forced to pony up $12.99 per flight or risk being stuck in a cockpit jumpseat with no access to vital controls of the aircraft.

Finnair Unveils New Business Class Concept

Finnair released its new business class cabin that will be outfitted throughout its fleet of long-haul A330 and A350 aircraft over the next two years. The carrier is going to remove the seats from business class on each long-haul plane and replace it with its new lounger concept that does not recline, but instead is more like a sofa in the sky.

The seat is designed to “maximize comfort, space, and freedom to move” according to Finnair, but these are people that choose to live in Finland in winter, so trust what they say at your own peril. The seat is wrapped in a fixed contour shell with space to sit, lay down, or pull up the leg and footrest to create a fully flat bed.

The carrier says that by eliminating the traditional seat structure, it was able to provide a larger “living space” for customers. Its ultimate goal is to create enough room to put a mini-sauna at each premium class seat, but that technology is still a year or two away.

Oneworld Prepares for Alliance-Wide Upgrades

Oneworld announced alliance-wide upgrades would be coming prior to the pandemic, but the program has been on hold since early 2020 – until now. The program will allow loyalty program members from any oneworld airline to upgrade themselves on any of the alliance’s 14 carriers by the end of the year.

The amount of miles it will take to upgrade will depend on what points currency the traveler is trying to use and what program they’re using it to upgrade on. The alliance hasn’t yet worked out any of the details except that it wants to take people’s miles and offer a different seat than was originally booked. It doesn’t yet know how airlines will compensate each other, but the current plan is for everyone to bring a bottle of booze to the annual alliance picnic and just call it even.

Upon hearing the news, SkyTeam was interested in offering a similar offer to its customers but had to pull back after seeing what Delta wanted to charge for upgrades. It planned to require 100,000 Flying Blue miles and 10 KLM delft houses for a one-way domestic upgrade from Main Cabin to Comfort+. SkyTeam instead will go back to its original program of just overcharging in cash for alliance-wide upgrades.

• American and Aer Lingus‘s application to codeshare on flights over the Atlantic was approved.
• ANA will have a new president and CEO on April 1 — Shinichi Inoue. And by all accounts, it’s not a joke.
• Copa earned a $2.7 million profit in 2021.
• Emirates is reopening the bar in business class onboard its A380.
• FedEx wants to buy some new, large airplanes. Anyone with suggestions on what it should buy is advised to stop by their nearest FedEx Office store and let the staff know.
• iAero Airways iAdded its first widebody aircraft, a VIP-configured B767-300 that’s owned by the Houston Rockets. The plane, like its owners, peaked in the ’90s and has mostly been hanging around in mediocrity since.
• Maldivian signed an MOU with Emirates to explore codeshare and other joint business opportunities.
• Mesa decided the final three months of the year is the first quarter of their fiscal year just to be difficult, and announced they lost $14.3 million during those three months ending December 31.
• Neos is the latest airline to lose a bet and be forced to enter into a business agreement with ITA.
• Singapore is delaying the opening of its new first class lounges.
• Southwest passengers can now purchase on-board wifi via Venmo. Sometimes the jokes write themselves.
• Wamos Air said “Vamos!” to the idea of expanding its A330 fleet.

What smells better than it tastes?

A nose.

State of Hawai’i to Drop Booster Requirement

As COVID-19 cases continue to drop throughout the Hawaiian Islands, governor David Ige announced that booster shots will not be required for maintaining up-to-date vaccination status as part of the Safe Travels Hawai’i program. This will allow more tourists to come to the islands and contribute to the overcrowding that the governor said was a problem just a few short months ago. My, how times change.

The governor said the declining case counts in the state along with the mainland and Europe led to his decision. He said Hawaii’s “robust vaccination rates” and the continued push by local businesses to get their employees and community vaccinated helped inform the decision.

The Safe Travels Program will still require travelers to show proof of vaccination status to avoid testing-on-arrival or quarantine requirements. The Safe Travels Program will also continue to require visitors to apply self-tanner before arriving on the islands if from more than a dozen northern states, Canada, or the UK to avoid pasty white legs ruining other people’s vacations.

Korean and Asiana Merger Approved in Singapore

Korean Air received approval from the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) on Tuesday for its merger with Asiana to proceed.

The two carriers agreed to their potential tie-up last year and are waiting for approval from various governmental competition watchdog agencies to move forward with the merger. Singapore’s government concluded the merger would not violate the city-state’s Competition Act once it realized the combined carrier reducing the number of flights it operates to Changi would only help Singapore Airlines.

The merger has now received approval from five of the eleven countries that it needs to fully move ahead. Along with Singapore, it’s received a yes from Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Turkey. Taiwan and Turkey, by the way, is also the name of a new morning talk show on Tampa’s Q105.

Large remaining hurdles remain in getting approval from Australia, China, Japan, the U.K., United States, and European Union.

Global Entry Expands to Brazil

Customs and Border Protection announced that Brazilian citizens are being granted access to Global Entry for entry into the United States for both tourism and business travel.

The announcement comes after a pilot program launched in late 2019 for select Brazilian citizens, which apparently went well enough to expand to the whole country. Who those citizens were and why they were traveling during the pandemic remains a mystery, but those brave pioneers have opened doors for millions of their fellow citizens to skip long lines when entering the United States.

Brazil becomes the 13^th country to be a part of Global Entry including Argentina, Colombia, Germany, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the UK. China is not on the list but does recognize most of the countries on the list as actual countries.

The participation of any country in Global Entry is subject to visitors not overstaying their visas on any mass level while in the country, remaining low-risk travelers, and agreeing to always put ice in their drinks.

• Aeromexico is taking full control over its loyalty program.
• Air China was fined $300,000 for tarmac delay rule violations.
• Air Europa expects to take delivery of 10 B787s by the end of this year.
• Alaska is expanding its lounges in both Portland and Seattle.
• American is returning hot meals to first class next week.
• British Airways will return to Sydney on March 29.
• Calm Air added its first ATR72-500F in a very quiet and deliberate manner.
• El Al is adding wet-leased A300s to increase its cargo capacity.
• Icelandair plans to begin working to replace its B757s later this year.
• Qatar is resuming service to Multan, Pakistan.
• Silver Airways has achieved many great things, according to Silver Airways.
• SmartLynx Malta is adding at least two B737 MAX 8 aircraft.
• Swoop is growing.
• Virgin Atlantic is buying some sustainable aviation fuel.
• Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is adding two new routes in Jordan — Amman and Aqaba (AQJ).

How does a male penguin build its house?

Igloos it together.

Spirit Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results

Lost in the shuffle of Monday’s merger announcement, Spirit also released its Q4 and 2021 year-end earnings report, with the carrier showing a $56 million loss for the year on $3.2 billion in operating revenues. It admits it was just one or two more fees away from eking out a profit on the year but will take that knowledge and use it as a teaching moment for 2022.

Spirit says it had “an unusual number of operational disruptions and flight cancellations during the peak December 2021 holiday period,” which won the understatement of the year award. Load factor for Spirit was 79.8% in Q4 with a 97.7% completion factor. If you’re willing to ignore the flights it canceled during the period, its completion factor was 100%.

Spirit ended the year with $1.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents available. It had $1.6 billion going into the last week of 2021 but charged Frontier a $100 million “merger consideration fee” which bumped up the final number.

Sun Country Unfazed by Rivals’ ULCC Merger

As Sun Country released its Q4 and year-end financials late Monday, the carrier seemed unfazed by the potential merger of two of its ULCC rivals in Frontier and Spirit. Sun Country ended the year $77 million in the black on $623 million in operating revenue for the year, a 55% jump from 2020. Sun Country earned $173 million in gross revenue for Q4, a 5% jump from the pandemic-free Q4 in 2019.  

Both Frontier and Spirit combine for about 3% worth of market share at Sun Country’s base at Minneapolis/St. Paul, while Sun Country carries more than three times that figure, with nearly 10% of MSP’s passenger count. “Minnesota hasn’t been very successful for them, and I don’t think that changes for them,” said CEO Jude Bricker on his earnings call.

Sun Country ended the year with $310 million in cash and cash equivalents, a 400% increase from the $62 million it had at the end of 2020. It credits the major jump in cash reserves to actually operating flights for much of the year. The airline plans to use its cash reserves to hire extra staff to puncture the tires of all Frontier and Spirit airplanes at MSP.

Hong Kong Tightens Already Tight Quarantine Rules

Hong Kong will require cargo pilots and cargo crew working on quick turnarounds on the island to wear monitoring bracelets in order to avoid hotel quarantine. The offer is for three-day layovers or less and is subject to the ever-changing whims of the HK government.

The new rule will be effective tomorrow, and will also apply to cabin crew on passenger planes who have been in countries that Hong Kong deems to have high levels of COVID-19 still active. Also, airlines will be required to supply the HK government with visual documentation of staff working abroad — although it failed to define what exactly that means.

This will prevent airlines from being able to mix and match locally- and overseas-based crews on the same flight, because all crew on a flight must be subject to the same quarantine requirements. The bracelet at home option is only available to HK residents — which is good news for overseas crews anyway, as one never knows what restrictive policy the HK government will come up with next.

• Air France completed a sale and leaseback of two A350-900s.
• Air New Zealand is bringing a B777-300ER back into service after grounding it nearly 600 days ago in the early stages of the pandemic.
• Avanti Air added its first Dash 8-Q400.
• EgyptAir plans to launch an LCC subsidiary, Air Sphinx, in April.
• Norse Atlantic will begin selling tickets in March to a yet-to-be-determined destination in the United States. All three guys named Bjørn who run the airline have been advised to pick a destination before putting tickets on sale.
• SAS will begin serving Toronto from both Copenhagen and Stockholm this June.
• SKY Express joined easyJet’s “Worldwide by easyJet” connection program.
• Southwest incoming CEO Bob Jordan got a raise.
• Volotea took delivery of its third and final A320-200.

I love putting warm underwear on, fresh out of the dryer.

Plus it’s always fun to look around the laundromat and try and guess who they belong to.

Frontier’s Newest Frontier: Spirit

Frontier and Spirit announced their intentions to merge this morning, a deal that would create the 5^th largest airline in the U.S. by passenger volume, but first in the known universe by fees assessed. The combined carrier would have 283 aircraft at the time of the merger, with growth opportunities to nearly 500 based on what each airline currently has on order.

The merger is being valued at $6.6 billion, with Frontier expected to control 51.5% of the new entity and Spirit the remaining 48.5%. Spirit had an opportunity to be the majority stakeholder, but backed off when Frontier agreed to pay a majority ownership fee to Spirit.

The two did not announce the name of the new combined carrier, the CEO, or where it would be based. Frontier said all three items were being studied carefully while Spirit was adamant all three were available to the highest bidder.

American and GOL Strengthen Partnership

American Airlines announced today that it signed a definitive investment agreement with GOL, growing the partnership between the two airlines.

Highlights of the deal include loyalty members of both frequent flier programs gaining access to benefits on both carriers including priority check-in, priority security, priority boarding, larger checked baggage allowances, lounge access, and preferred seating. The pair also expect to announce a greater joint loyalty offering for earning and burning miles later in 2022.

AA also agreed to invest $200 million into 22.2 million shares of GOL, giving AA a 5.2% stake in the Brazilian carrier.

Australia to Open Borders on February 21

Australia will reopen its borders to all international tourists and business travelers – provided they’re fully vaccinated (talking to you, Novak) – on February 21.

Visitors must have proof of their vaccination status to enter the country, while visitors with a valid medical exemption are permitted to apply for a travel exception. The country lifted entry restrictions for immunized Australians last November and let family members of citizens and permanent residents return in the middle of December.

But with nearly 93% of Australians fully vaccinated and Omicron present in every state and territory, the federal government saw no reason to continue restricting entry to the country.

• Allegiant announced John Redmond will become CEO, effective June 1.
• Flair is beginning weekly service to Cancun and and Las Cabos.
• Frontier grounded all flights this morning due to an IT issue. Spirit apologized for forgetting to turn off the sabotage plan that was in place if Frontier had rebuffed its overtures.
• SmartLynx is leasing two B737 MAX 8 aircraft.
• Southwest revealed in its most recent 10-K filing to the SEC that more than one out of six customers are traveling on Rapid Reward redemptions.
• Tarom laid of 200 employees.
• Virgin Australia customers can again redeem award bookings on Singapore.

My email password got hacked again today. It’s the third time in a row I’ve had to rename my cat.

It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere: Southwest Brings Back Booze

Nearly two years since it poured its last Wild Turkey in the sky, Southwest Airlines will resume selling alcoholic beverages on February 16. When the taps are turned back on for the airline, it will leave American as the lone major U.S. carrier still flying like it’s 1920s prohibition all over again.

Southwest is adding back beer, wine, sparkling wine, and spirits, on-sale for either $6 or $7, presumably depending on how polite passengers are to the flight attendant working their section. Southwest will honor drink coupons that expired in 2020 and 2021, and if past history is any indication, will honor drink coupons that expired in the Reagan administration too.

It originally planned to bring alcohol back nearly a year ago, but a string of on-board incidents with rowdy passengers assaulting flight attendants and other passengers caused the airline to continue the ban. Other drinks returning include hot tea, hot cocoa, tonic water, and the always danger-causing… apple juice.

Hawaiian Employees Lose Vaccine Challenge in Court

The challenge by seven Hawaiian Airlines employees to block the carrier’s COVID-19 vaccination policy was shot down by Judge Jill Otake in the United States District Court for the District of Hawai’i.

More than 95% of Hawaiian’s employees are vaccinated, and the carrier denied exemption requests from all seven – which led to the suit. The seven plaintiffs cited religious and medical reasons for wanting an exemption, including one flight attendant who stated her body is “temple of the Holy Spirit and that God has directed her not to take the vaccine.”

There was no further update as to whether God directed her to keep her seat in the upright and locked position for taxi, takeoff, and landing.

BA to Allow Non-Revs to Do What They’ve Always Done

British Airways will allow non-rev passengers to take onboard amenity kits and pajamas – something they’ve always done anyway – as it looks to win its employees’ hearts back through mini toothpaste and eye masks.

Non-revs can also choose wine from the full on-board selection and can even choose a drink that would require a new bottle to be opened. These luxuries were previously against policy as a cost-cutting measure for the airline, despite most flight attendants’ willingness to provide amenity kits and wine to non-revs as a part of professional courtesy.

CEO Sean Doyle reversed the policy after acknowledging a broken relationship with staff. A recent internal staff survey was said to shock Doyle, who called the results “sobering reading.” Unfortunately for BA staff, he won’t be increasing salaries or PTO, but those able to score seats in long-haul premium class will now head home with more mouthwash and Q-tips than before the flight.

• Aegean added new wifi on its planes.
• Aeroflot took delivery of two B777s with a retrofitted cabin.
• Airnorth added two E190s.
• ANA is increasing fuel surcharges.
• Bamboo Airways will make its intercontinental debut on February 19 when it flies to Melbourne and then will add Frankfurt on February 25.
• Etihad is resuming daily flights to Sydney and Melbourne on April 3.
• flydubai is adding new 3x-weekly service to Al Ula, Saudi Arabia (YNB) on February 24.
• GlobalX was classified as an actual business by the SEC.
• Kenya Airways is restructuring its debt.
• LATAM was given permission from the bankruptcy court to put its reorganization plan to a vote.
• Norse Atlantic, the carbon copy of Norwegian founded by three guys named Bjørn, will place its first FA base in the arctic climates of Florida.
• Qantas CEO Alan Joyce compared Western Australia to North Korea, which is a mighty bold statement regardless of the context.
• Qatar is resuming daily service to Brisbane on March 1.
• Sun Country Flight 110 landed safely in Las Vegas this morning when its landing gear collapsed. All 50 passengers and six crew were unharmed, but management suffered grave injury upon learning they broke a perfectly good landing gear to get only 50 people to Vegas.

A guy came up to me on the street with a camera and microphone and said he’d give me $10,000 if I could name two structures that hold water.

I was so stunned, I blanked and just said “well, damn.”

United Ponders Partial Sale of MileagePlus

United Airlines is contacting potential investors about a sale of a minority portion of its MileagePlus loyalty program. The airline is looking to sell a stake that’s less than 15% of the program to a strategic partner who can help better monetize data from the business. It is rumored a company that sells car warranties may be interested.

Industry analysts say that United could bring in as much as $3 billion in cash from the sale, helping it fund some upcoming capital expenditures from aircraft acquisition and retrofits. The carrier currently has more than $6.5 billion in debt financed against its loyalty program in a combination of cash outlays and United Club day passes.

The sale is far from a done deal, with sources telling Bloomberg the airline is merely exploring the possibility – mostly to distract it from the fact it doesn’t have enough pilots to operate its current regional schedule. With just 15% — or less – potentially up for sale, United would maintain its role managing the program, as opposed to when Air Canada spun off and sold Aeroplan before deciding that was a bad idea and then reversing the plan.

Allegiant Posts 2021 & Fourth Quarter Profit

Fueled by a busy holiday season and increased domestic demand in the final months of 2021, Allegiant turned a tidy $10.7 million profit during Q4 on nearly $500 million in gross revenue. Wall Street’s expectation for Allegiant was just $475 million in Q4 revenue, with the carrier surpassing expectations by just over 4% thanks to an extra $26.7 million it found in between seat cushions after the first aircraft deep cleaning in several years

For the full year, the airline reported a net income of $152 million on gross revenue of $1.7 billion. Both numbers are dramatic increases from a year ago, with gross revenue up 72% and profit up 182%.  

Allegiant ended the year with $1.2 billion in cash and investments on its balance sheet. It has $67 million on its books worth of flight vouchers for future travel – mostly attributable to customers who need to travel between two random cities at an off-peak time that isn’t particularly convenient.

El Al Plans Merger with Arkia

El Al Israel Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding with Arkia Israeli Airlines for the two carriers to merge, cutting the number of airlines in Israel down from three to two.

Under the current proposal, Arkia would become a fully owned LCC subsidiary of El Al, primarily focused on tourism. The potential merger would likely signal the end of Sun d’Or, El Al’s owned and operated leisure carrier. The merger would diversify El Al’s current fleet very, very slightly, as Arkia would be in position to add its two leased A321s and two owned E195s to El Al’s all-Boeing fleet.

Any job losses from the merger would come from the El Al side, not Arkia. The transition – if it goes through – would be an exchange of stock, with El Al acquiring Arkia’s shares in exchange or the allocation of its securities to Arkia shareholders and a promise that Arkia would take the responsibility of hosting and managing the company’s annual Hanukkah party.

• Ashanti Airlines made a bid to become Ghana’s new flag carrier.
• British Airways expects to become a truly premium airline again. According to British Airways.
• Flyr is lkng for csh.
• Frontier repaid its $150 million loan to the government from the CARES Act. To pay for the loan, it’s lowering the amount of weight you can put in a checked bag, leading to more overweight bag fees.
• Icelandair took delivery of a B737-8 MAX.
• JAL posted a $275 million loss during its Q3 ending in December 2021.
• Neos has plans to enter the Scandinavian charter market.
• Qantas is delaying the resumption of its flights to San Francisco to this summer.
• Singapore is resuming service to Bali on February 16.
• Southwest is moving Adam Carlisle into its VP for Labor Relations position.
• Ukraine International Airlines will begin new service to Oslo on June 1.
• Virgin Atlantic will now use Viasat for on-board wifi.

I sat next to an elderly couple in church last weekend. I overheard the wife tell her husband “I let out one of those silent farts. What do I do?”

He said to her: “Change the battery in your hearing aid.”

Delta to Test New Boarding Option

Delta Air Lines is beginning a pilot program this week in Boston where it will text passengers before arriving at the airport to offer the option of checking their carry-on baggage for free.

The program will be limited to passengers departing Boston who have shared their contact information with the airline and will allow them to check the bag in when arriving at Logan Airport. Through a spokesperson, the carrier admitted what travelers have said for eons, “This test is designed to help Delta teams better understand how fewer carry-on bags can positively impact the customer experience – from arriving at the airport through boarding the aircraft.”

The offer will likely be most attractive to non-regular customers of Delta. Elite members of Delta’s SkyMiles program from silver to diamond all receive at least one free bag for each traveler on their itinerary, and cardholders of most Delta-branded American Express cards also receive a free checked bag.

Customers who take advantage of this offer will presumably be eligible for Delta’s guarantee of checked bags appearing on the carousel within 20 minutes of arrival. When it doesn’t meet that goal, it offers passengers 2,500 SkyMiles or the cash equivalent, which comes out to about a quarter.

UK Proposes Compensation for Most Delays

The United Kingdom currently still uses the EU’s rules for compensation due to passengers for airline delays and cancellations, but a new law being proposed would force airlines to pay out cash to passengers for delays as short as one hour.

The new system would be tiered and would be based on length of delay, the cost of the customer’s ticket, and number of mince pies eaten in the last month. Passengers will be able to claim up to 25% of their ticket price for delays between one and two hours, half their ticket price for delays between two and three, and the full 100% for delays over three hours. Delays over four hours would be paid in aforementioned mince pies. Upon hearing the proposal, Spirit decided to continue its policy of keeping its delayed flights on this side of the pond.

As compensation to airlines for the new proposed guidelines, customers would be required to reimburse airlines for flights that arrive early. A charge of £1 per passenger, per minute would be levied with elite members being exempt.

American Adds 737 MAAX, Defers Dreamliner Deliveries

American Airlines is converting seven existing options for B737 MAX aircraft into firm orders, bringing its total firm count of MAX aircraft to 30. Of the 30 on order, 15 are on-track to be delivered next year with 15 more in 2024. But delivery is expected to be delayed by at least several hours so the planes get a feel for what its like operating on behalf of American.

As part of the agreement, American and Boeing are delaying the delivery of already-delayed B787 Dreamliners by several months. Those jets were, at last check, supposed to begin being delivered in January of 2023, but delivery will now begin in Q4 next year and continue into 2027.

• AirAsia X plans to resume operating later this month, with Sydney as its first destination on February 14.
• AnadoluJet is looking to order new-generation narrowbodies and wants either the B737 MAX or A320neo this summer.
• British Airways is expanding its codeshare agreement with Loganair.
• Delta is beginning service between Honolulu and Tokyo/Haneda on April 1.
• Emirates Skywards awards can now be redeemed for JetBlue Mint.
• Eurowings welcomed Kai Duve as its new commercial director this week.
• JAL became the world’s first airline to issue transition bonds.
• Norwegian plans to reopen its base in Stockholm this summer.
• Pakistan International Airlines has a plan to return to profitability by 2024. It also has beachfront property just outside of Tulsa for sale.
• Ryanair carried more than 7 million passengers in January and some of them were satisfied with the experience.
• SAS Link is opening a new base in Bergen this summer.
• Xejet completed its certification with the Nigerian government.

My friend keeps asking me to blow cold air on him when he’s hot, and I don’t like it.

I’m not a fan.

Allegiant Announces Nine New Routes

Allegiant announced nine new nonstop routes this spring from five airports across its route map. The carrier is adding:

• From Austin: Sarasota (begins April 14), San Diego (begins April 20), and Washington/Dulles (begins April 21)
• From Nashville: Providence (begins April 21), Roanoke (begins April 21), and Washington/Dulles (begins April 21)
• From San Diego: Sioux Falls (begins May 19)
• From Orange County: Des Moines (begins April 14)
• From Savannah: Flint (Begins April 15)

The carrier’s release did not mention the frequency of the routes which leads to the assumption each route will operate whenever Allegiant damn well feels like flying it. The four cities added to Austin will grow its base there, while the Des Moines to Orange County and Savannah to Flint routes seem to be the result of dart throwing.

Aeromexico’s Bankruptcy Plan Approved

Aeromexico had its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan approved by the US Bankruptcy Court of New York this week after the airline and its parent company agreed to a $40 million settlement with a group of unsecured creditors.

In the new deal, Apollo Global Management is swapping its debt for equity, become the largest shareholder of the company with a 22.38% stake. Delta’s majority stake is being reduced to just 20%, but Delta is happy with the deal as it got Aeromexico to agree to provide the booze at the next SkyTeam pot luck dinner.

A group of Mexican investors will account for just over 4% of the company with the rest distributed amongst new investors and creditors. As part of the deal, Aeromexico will be able to wipe out about $1.1 billion worth of debt while raising $720 million if new equity capital.

PLAY Heads to NYC – Sorta

Icelandic Startup PLAY will begin flying to the United States this spring and announced its third U.S. destination, following the previously announced Baltimore and Boston. The airline is going wow its customer base by flying to New York, launching service New York/Stewart (SWF) on the farthest outskirts of what can maybe be considered the NYC metro area.

SWF is in Stewart, NY, about 60 miles north of Manhattan. Service will operate 4x-weekly, beginning June 10. The flight will depart London/Stansted, stop en-route for about 90 minutes in Reykjavik and then make its way to the New York area.

This flight will be the first international service into SWF in three years. Norwegian operated to the airport from Dublin, but suspended service in September 2019. The airport boasts a new $37 million international arrivals hall that will need a thorough cleaning as it’s sat vacant for so long.

• Air Europa needs cash.
• Air India‘s sale and leaseback of 21 B787s was nixed by the Indian government.
• American is hopeful of reopening its flagship lounges at Dallas/Ft. Worth and Chicago/O’Hare later this spring.
• Emirates will operate to Melbourne tonight with A380 service — its first time sending the A380 to Melbourne since the onset of the pandemic.
• Finnair will launch its new premium economy and business class products next week.
• FlyWestAF Algeria is excited AF to launch in Q4 of this year.
• KLM is beginning service to Austin on March 28.
• Ryanair is asking the Italian government to eliminate its boarding tax.

My cousin and I are going to get new glasses tomorrow morning.

After that? We’ll see…

 Qatar Paints Final Touches on Boeing Order

Qatar Airways completed an order for 102 airplanes with Boeing today, becoming the launch customer for the B777X freighter in addition to adding B737 MAX aircraft to its fleet.

The total order is for up to 50 B737 MAX aircraft including 25 confirmed orders for the B737 MAX 10 and options for 25 more. Then, it’s adding up to 50 B777x freighters, including 34 confirmed orders and options for 16 more. Lastly, it’s taking two current generation B777 freighters as well.

The 777X freighter is the cargo version of the B777X passenger jet that’s expected to enter service late next year. The freighter version of the aircraft is expected to come off the production line in 2027 at the earliest and will be the world’s largest twin-engine cargo jet.

The list prices of the 102 planes purchased by Qatar come in at a cool $34 billion, but as always, the airline likely saw significant savings over the list price for placing such a large order. It’s also being reported that a new partnership between Boeing and Sherwin Williams will see each airplane come with a complimentary bucket of paint to allow the carrier to perform its own touch-ups, as needed.

JetBlue’s Jaded JFK Job

JetBlue Airways had a tough day at its hometown airport on Sunday as it struggled to bounce back from a snowstorm that hit New York on Saturday. The carrier proactively canceled hundreds of flights ahead of time to account for the storm, essentially shutting down its JFK operation on Saturday. But scores of passengers were left stuck on their planes after landing at JFK Sunday as JetBlue ran out of gates and staff to handle arriving flights.

As the situation worsened Sunday evening, the airline began to divert flights away from JFK, including subjecting some passengers the undignified horror of being forced to Newark. At the peak of irregular operations last night, JetBlue had nearly 20 planes scattered around JFK having landed with nowhere to go.

As it attempts to recover, JetBlue has canceled about 15% of its operation on Monday.  The Port Authority in a statement said JetBlue’s issues were due to the carrier’s own staffing shortcomings and not directly related. The Port Authority was also seen violently kicking several passengers while they were also down.

United Flight Lands with More Passengers Than at Takeoff

With two hours left on United Flight 977 from Accra to Washington/Dulles this past Saturday, a passenger went into labor and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby 30,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Atlantic Canada.

The flight had a Ghanian doctor on-board the flight as a passenger who helped with the delivery along with United’s flight attendants, of which one was a registered nurse. The flight landed at about 5:30 a.m. at Dulles where the mom and baby were helped off the aircraft and sent to a local hospital.

Upon arrival, United made sure its new passenger had a MileagePlus number and credited it the 5,143 miles for the flight. It also sent the mother a bill for 2/11 of the full-fare economy price for the ACC-IAD route since the baby did fly for the final two hours of the 11 hour journey as a regular passenger. There’s no truth to the rumor that the carrier offered the mom free flights for life if she was willing to name the baby “Newark.”

• Alaska is adding dynamic award pricing when redeeming on American.
• China Airlines placed an order to add four more B777 freighters.
• easyJet is hiring pilots.
• GOL took delivery of seven B737 MAX 8s.
• Kuwait Airways has suspended service to Iraq for a week.
• Lynx Air will do just fine in the crowded Canadian LCC market, according to Lynx Air.
• Philippine Airlines is returning to Tel Aviv in April for the first time since the 1950s. Twice-weekly service from Manila to Tel Aviv begins April 6.
• Q-Airlines secured an operating license in Pakistan (trust us, that’s not very difficult), and plans to begin operating later this spring because a new airline is exactly what Pakistan needs.
• Qantas opened its newest flight training center in Brisbane.
• Starlux took delivery of an A321neo.

The guy who invented velcro died.

RIP