Author: Andrew Bashuk

United Opens Flight School

United formally opened the United Aviate Academy, a carrier-owned flight school it purchased amidst the pandemic in 2020. It will give potential pilots the opportunity to begin with the airline with no flight hours or experience – and receive their training directly from United. This is part of United’s — and the industry’s — attempt to get more pilots in the door as a pilot shortage continues to loom.

Flight training is very expensive in the United States – United is hoping to alleviate some of the financial burden that creates a barrier to entry for many underrepresented groups by funding the cost of students’ private pilots’ licenses. What it doesn’t tell potential students is it only reimburses the cost in mini-bags of pretzels and $15 food vouchers that can only be redeemed at United’s terminal in Newark.

The path to a job with UA includes 300 flight hours to begin earning money as an instructor or flying for a Part 135 operator. Once students reach 1,500 hours, they will earn their airline transport pilot rating and be eligible to fly for a United Express operator. That will last for 24 months – or until they walk out because they’re tired of Newark – when the pilots will become eligible to be a first officer for mainline United.

The Aviate Academy currently has 59 students enrolled across two classes, with a new class monthly. It hopes to eventually grow to a 500-person student body, because that’s how many students it figures it needs in order to field a competitive football team.

Chinese Airlines Brace for $7 Billion Loss

Three Chinese airlines gave notice to the Hong Kong stock exchange today of their expected losses for last year, and Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern expect to combine for losses around $7 billion. So, no big deal.

Air China led the way with between $2.3 billion and $2.7 billion in the red, followed by more than $2 billion for both China Eastern and China Southern. All three placed the blame on the pandemic for their down year, after an optimistic expectation at the start of the year. Air China listed fluctuations in domestic air traffic and often-changing COVID-19 restrictions. That may be the understatement of the year.

China Southern pointed out the slow domestic travel recovery in China while China Eastern focused on the closure of China’s borders. China ended 2020 almost fully recovered with its domestic demanding nearly returning to 2019 levels, but the Delta and Omicron variants proved to stall the recovery each time thanks to China’s swift and brutal lockdowns any time a case pops up.  China is not expected to reopen to full-scale international travel until next year, leaving its airlines fully-focused on domestic recovery.

Aircraft Robbed in Airport Breach

A security breach at Lagos Airport (LOS) in Nigeria led to a B737-700 being broken into and thieves coming away with its flight management system computer and an unspecified number of bags of snack mix.

The aircraft was owned by Mongolian carrier Enzis Airways and on wet-lease to Nigerian airline Arik Air – one of two of the aircraft type operated by Arik. The theft happened at Lagos’s Terminal 2 sometime in the overnight of January 19 and 20 and resulted in several cancellations of Arik Air flights on the 20^th.

The fact that such a specific piece of hardware was taken implies that the thieves either knew their way around the cockpit of an aircraft or were very lucky. A brand-new flight management computer costs $300k on the open market, but is easily trackable, so what the thieves end game is remains unknown.  Rumors that Doug Parker and Gary Kelly were seen in Nigeria last week with a big duffle bag remain unconfirmed.  

• AirAsia Group has rebranded itself as Capital A. To see an example, check out the header for today’s levity.
• Contour won an EAS contract for Muscle Shoals, AL (MSL).
• El Al is resuming service to Boston on March 27. Twice-weekly service will return for the first time since it was shuttered early in the pandemic.
• Icelandair revealed its new livery today.
• JamboJet plans to open a new base in Mombasa (MBA) later this year.
• JetOneX is bringing a B747-400M combi back into service, it will be the only operator of the aircraft type.
• Jump Air completed jumping through all the hoops needed to secure its operating license, so it could challenge its hated rival Air Leap with scheduled passenger ops.
• Southwest is extending its on-board booze ban through late March or April to ensure it has a large enough stock for CEO Gary Kelly’s going away party.
• Virgin Atlantic wants to help you find your valentine in London this year. Good luck.

I was attacked leaving the bakery this morning when I was hit by a baguette.

The attacker was arrested and charged with assault with a breadly weapon.

Southwest Leads Off Cranky Daily Earnings Day

Southwest announced its year-end and Q4 earnings today, with the carrier showing a net profit of $85 million for the quarter, giving it a final total of $977 million in the black for the year… when accounting for $2.7 billion in PSP and other government aid.  Southwest’s outgoing CEO Gary Kelly stated that the strong Q4 was driven by leisure travel, a new credit card deal with Chase, and a bunch of other stuff that he didn’t pay attention to because he’s on the way out the door.

During the year, Southwest launched service to 14 new airports, some of which were places people wanted to go. It brought the B737 MAX back into service and joined the rest of the aviation world in allowing its fares to be purchased through GDS platforms. Q4 revenue was just over $5 billion, more than double the $2 billion in raked in during Q4 2020.

The airline is raising its minimum wage from $15 to $17 as it continues its hiring spree, using some of the $16.5 billion it has in liquidity on the pay raises. The rest of the $16.5 billion are being spent on a kick-ass retirement party for Gary Kelly and installing a karaoke machine on each airplane, giving its flight attendants more chances to “express themselves” during flight.

Alaska, JetBlue Also Release Earnings

American’s West Coast bestie Alaska Airlines’s earnings report revealed an $18 million profit for Q4 and a $478 million profit for the year, improving upon loses of $447 million and $1.3 billion, respectively from 2020.

Alaska repaid $112 million of debt during the quarter and earned $1.7 billion in gross passenger revenue – a 161% increase from last year. Cargo saw a more modest improvement of 28% from a year ago, going from $43 to $55 million. The airline ended the quarter with $3.1 billion in unrestricted cash, on which it’s planning to buy a super-powered wind machine to blow the fog away from Paine Field.

American’s East Coast bestie also reported its earnings today, and JetBlue was more blue than Alaska, as it ended the quarter $159 million in the red and ended the year with an $80 million loss. Both numbers are much better than a year ago and come thanks to more than double the gross revenue this year, just over $6 billion – a 104% bump from 2020.

JetBlue ended the year with a debt to capital ratio of 53% on $2.8 billion of unrestricted cash. Most of that is tied up in fighting the DOJ’s lawsuit on the Northeast Alliance with a small amount reserved for souvenirs to bring back from London.

Gatwick Closing Runway for Summer

London/Gatwick informed airlines today that it is closing its southern runway this summer during the middle of the night for a three-month period. The project will strengthen and resurface the runway, while also painting a basketball court and installing two hoops to give ramp workers something to do during down time.

The closures will take place weekly, Sunday-Thursday from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., from April 19 to July 12. It’s not supposed to affect the airport’s northern runway, which will remain open and operating normally. The switchover will cause the airport to reduce its flow capacity to just 30 aircraft movements between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. each night, and 35 movements between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

The airport is asking airlines to voluntarily reduce their capacity during the affected time but is withholding the right to force reductions if needed. Forced reductions will be assigned by proportion of slots during the affected time period, percentage of flights that have pilots that get mouthy with LGW ATC, and the whims of Prime Minister Boris Johnson… assuming he still has the job.

• Atlas is adding a third B747 freighter to its fleet which will be based at Chicago/O’Hare.
• Austrian will resume 5x-weekly service to Los Angeles in mid-May. The carrier suggests if you have a loved one on the first flight back you head to the airport now in order to have enough time to circle the terminals to pick them up.
• China Airlines is purchasing four B777 freighters. The planes have a list price of $1.4 billion each, but the carrier received a significant discount from Boeing in exchange for promising to not complain if the planes have paint issues.
• Condor plans to begin short-haul flying on the A330 in the next few weeks.
• Delta is moving to canned wine on-board, upsetting a very specific portion of the world’s population.
• EasyJet bookings are trending upward and the airline is expected to have a strong summer according to EasyJet.
• ITA plans to add its first A350 next summer.
• Pivot Airlines is adapting or improving by adjusting or modifying something as it delays the launch of Ottawa and Montreal service.
• Tbilisi Airways is closer to becoming an actual airline as it added its first aircraft this week.
• Uganda Airlines is delaying its new London/Heathrow service until June.
• Wheels Up is acquiring Air Partner.

My roommate tripped after finishing his laundry and dropped a basket full of freshly ironed clothes.

I just sat back and watched it all unfold.

Boeing’s Ends 2021 in the Red

Boeing finished 2021 with a $3.4 billion loss on revenues of $62.3 billion, its third straight year posting an annual loss. It has a backlog of 535 airplanes on order worth a total of $377 billion, led by its Dreamliner aircraft, which it hopes to actually deliver again some day.

Boeing reported a $4.2 billion Q4 loss, driven mainly by charges associated with its 787 program. The manufacturer was hit hard by issues with the Dreamliner, losing more than $5.5 billion over the last 15 months as it was unable to deliver planes to customers while it tried to fix manufacturing flaws. Boeing first disclosed the defects on the Dreamliner in 2020 but now says it’s making significant progress on fixing it and getting planes in the hands of operators as soon as possible.

Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun called 2021 a rebuilding year for the company as it increased B737 MAX deliveries, worked towards a solution on the Dreamliner, generated robust commercial orders — including record freighter sales — and acquired a host of draft picks for future years. It ended the year with more than $8 billion in cash and cash equivalents, up from $7.75 billion at the end of 2021.

European Traffic Down 1.5 Billion from 2019

Airports Council International Europe (ACI) reported European air travel increased by a third last year over 2020 but remained down by 59% – 1.5 billion total – from prior to the pandemic in 2019.

The three strongest performers in the EU were Greece, Romania, and Luxembourg which saw drops amongst the three between 45 and 54%. For Luxembourg, that was a devastating drop considering in 2019 only 2 people flew into the country, and it plunged to only 1 in 2021.

Finland was the country to suffer the largest drop, with more than 80% fewer passengers than 2019, followed closely by the UK which saw a 78% drop and the Czech Republic which suffered a 75% decrease.

Staying on the continent but outside of the EU, Russia saw a decline of just 24.4% thanks to strength in its domestic market. Moscow/SVO ranked as the second busiest airport in Europe last year, with Moscow/DME coming in fifth. Scattered between the two Moscow airports, Istanbul was the busiest in 2021, with Paris/CDG third and Amsterdam fourth.

BA Flight From Cape Town Shown the Door

British Airways was forced to cancel its Wednesday service from Cape Town back to London/Heathrow after the B777-200ER scheduled to operate the flight had its 2L door ripped off. The incident occurred sometime after arrival and passenger deplaning, but before the plane was moved to a remote stand.

While the exact reason the door was ripped off has not been released, it’s being reported that the plane was still parked and connected to a jet bridge with the cabin door open when a tug driver allegedly started to push the plane back.

The plane usually spends the day in Cape Town after arriving before returning to London each evening at 9:15p as BA42. BA attempted to salvage the flight by placing a plastic grocery bag over the empty door and securing it via duct tape, but ultimately decided to cancel and fix it properly once it heard someone from Mango with nothing else to do had tattled on the airline.

• Air Leap suspended its operation and taken the leap to enter reorganization.
• Air New Zealand added former United and Hertz exec Alex Marren as its new COO and Mike Williams as the Chief Transformation and Alliances Officer. Chances are if you put Hertz in charge of your operation, you will need a transformation to take place soon after to save the airline.
• Air Serbia plans to take delivery of its first ATR 72-600 tomorrow.
• AirAsia X announced a partnership with GEODIS to provide the carrier with additional cargo capacity.
• Aleutian Airways took delivery of a Saab 2000.
• Delta is returning hot meals to first class, ensuring the bland, mediocre meal you enjoy now burns your tongue instead of being at room temperature.
• El Al is asking its pilots union to lend it $3 million as part of a bailout package, sort of like when a parent asks its kid for an allowance.
• Emerald Airlines added three to its Board of Directors.
• Hawaiian‘s first B787 deliveries are now not expected until the first half of next year.
• Smartwings landed a B737 MAX in Antarctica today — the first MAX aircraft to land on the continent. What the airline didn’t tell you was that it was supposed to go to Budapest.
• Volotea is closing its base at Genoa.

A horse walked into a bar and the bartender said “hey.”

“Sounds good to me,” said the horse.

Paine Field Feels the Pain While 777s and 747s Get Bad News

All flights scheduled to operate into Seattle/Paine Field were canceled Monday and again Tuesday morning as the airport struggles with the combination of restrictions from the 5G rollout combined with foggy weather.

The FAA’s imposed limitations on low-visibility flying are especially affecting the suburban Seattle airport. Alaska’s regional subsidiary Horizon is currently the lone commercial operator at Paine Field, and the low-visibility restrictions due to 5G are especially punitive on the E-175 aircraft that Horizon operates into the airport.

The FAA also issued an Airworthiness Directive today, saying that radio altimeters on all Boeing 777s and 747-8s can “experience interference” from new 5G wireless towers. Luckily for the traveling public, those aren’t large airplanes that carry lots of people or cargo, so everything should be totally fine. We are still waiting to see what the impact will be, but it won’t be good.

Alaska is offering Paine Field passengers whose flights were canceled a choice between a full refund, a rebooking from SEA, or a new phone courtesy of AT&T or Verizon. We have no idea what the scores of operators flying 777s and 747-8s will offer just yet….

Spirit Feeling Saltier Than Usual

Spirit Airlines announced today it’s adding Salt Lake City to its route map, its first new addition in 2022 with four daily flights to three cities. This marks Spirit’s first entrance into the large Delta hub, and in fact, it’s the airline’s first move into the state of Utah.

When asked why it took so longer to go to Utah, Spirit said that it was cleared to enter now that the governor has finally agreed to pay Spirit’s “new state” fee.

Beginning May 26, Spirit will operate from SLC to: Las Vegas (twice daily), Los Angeles (daily), and Orlando (daily). Salt Lake fits right into the pattern of Spirit’s three most recent city adds before this: Comayagua, Honduras, Manchester, NH, and Miami. And by that, we mean they have nothing in common at all.

EU to Pakistani Airlines: “Not So Fast”

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) decided not to lift the ban imposed on Pakistan International Airlines and other Pakistani carriers, keeping them prohibited from operating to the EU, utilizing the bloc’s airspace, or stealing any of their legitimate pilots.

In a note sent to PIA CEO Arshad Malik, the EASA said that removing safety concerns raised by the ICAO was just one of several other steps that would lead to a lifting of restrictions. EASA’s Executive Director wrote that despite PIA moving towards being brought back into the EU’s good graces, concern remains about the oversight capacity of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.

PIA and all other Pakistani carriers have been banned from operating to the EU since the deadly crash of PK8303 in May of 2020. The investigation of that incident revealed a severe lack of oversight by the PCAA, including pilots being certified to operate commercial aircraft without proper training.

• Air Atlanta Icelandic added a B747-400(M) combi-freighter.
• Air Namibia and its assets are being sold to South African carrier BDS Airways for $94 million.
• Air Serbia is beginning nonstop service from its Belgrade hub to three new destinations: Amman, Lyon, and Sochi.
• airBaltic lost a bet signed a codeshare agreement with ITA.
• Delta‘s new business class blanket is made of 100 recycled bottles. Passengers watching their calories can request a blanket made of bottles from calorie-free beverages.
• Jeju Air plans to enter into cargo operations.
• Jump Air received its commercial license and AOC and plans to begin commercial ops soon. The airline has just one question left to answer: “How High?”
• KLM is adding an air-rail link option from AMS to Amsterdam Centraal Station via NS Dutch Railways.
• Mas Air took delivery of its first A330-200(P2F), but it won’t be its last. There will be mas.
• Raya Airways denied that it’s in talks with Air Asia about a potential sale. It did not deny that it spoke to Air Asia about a combined pot luck dinner sometime in Q3.

I know it’s wrong, but I always find myself wanting to steal kitchen utensils. It’s just a whisk I’m willing to take.

Lufthansa Pulls Ahead in ITA Alitalia Sweepstakes

Alitalia, dba ITA Airways, aka Alitalia 182.0 announced today that both Lufthansa and shipping company MSC Group have formally expressed interest in making a combined bid to purchase the beleaguered and often money-losing airline.

In its release, ITA said it received a formal expression of interest from Lufthansa and MSC Group to acquire a majority stake. Initial reports last week said that Lufthansa was only interested in 40% of the carrier, but with its new partner in crime, it looks like Lufthansa could be going for a full controlling interest.

Both members of the potential takeover bid did say they regardless of what size stake they potentially get in the airline, they will want the Italian government on board as a minority shareholder to take advantage of the potential discounts on government housing for meetings.

ITA will take the next steps in the potential sale at its next board meeting on January 31 when CEO Alfredo “Sauce Me” Altavilla presents the offer to the full board.

Cathay Pacific Boasts About $720 Million Loss

Cathay Pacific posted a $720 million loss, a marked improvement from 2020 when the airline ended the year nearly $3 billion in the red.

The airline says its improved financial performance stemmed from strong cargo demand and high cargo yield, in addition to not needing to restructure like it did in 2020 – which led to significant one-time charges. The improvement did not come from passenger travel, as Cathay flew just 717,059 passengers last year, combined to 4.6 million in 2020 and 35.2 million in 2019.

Looking forward to 2022, the airline still expects to lose between $100 million and $150 million per month for as long as Hong Kong maintains its strict COVID-19 quarantine regulations — or forever, whichever comes first — which will force it to further reduce cargo and passenger capacity.

It’s operating at just 2% of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity and about 20% of its pre-pandemic cargo capacity. Hong Kong has suspended transit flights for the indefinite future, forcing the carrier to rely on Chinese mainland O&D traffic almost exclusively.

Air India Weighs New FA Policy

As Air India prepares for its takeover by new parent company Tata Group, it’s planning to implement a new policy that its flight attendants are fighting back on. Part of the future strategy for the airline is ensuring its flight attendants present a certain image to its customers. To do so, the carrier is setting itself back about 50 years as it looks to control the weight and BMI of its cabin crew.

Air India is planning to check the BMI of its cabin crew as well as their overall grooming and appearance. The checks will be performed by “grooming associates” and will take place as crews report to work. AI’s FA union is obviously pushing back over this policy that’s likely to be ended before it ever gets off the ground.

When asked what the acceptable BMI range is or what the grooming associates will be looking for, a spokesperson refused to answer, just giving a head wobble. It also hasn’t disclosed what actions will be taken against staff with a non-compliant BMI or grooming look. Reports that Air India wants to refer to its cabin crew as stewardesses, require them to be female, under 40, and fire them for getting pregnant have not yet been confirmed by the airline.

• Amazon Air is channeling Jack White by going to Wichita with daily service.
• American added three Saturday-only summer routes to begin June 11: Austin to Cozumel & Montego Bay and Chicago/ORD to Martha’s Vineyard.
• GOL achieved its goal of securing $600 million in financing to acquire new planes.
• Gulf Air signed an MOU with DHL.
• Jetstar Japan hopes to start A321 freighter ops by Q2 of 2024.
• Lufthansa lost its final appeal against the European Commission over millions of euros given to Frankfurt/Hahn (HHN) Airport in 2014.
• Lynx has begun selling tickets for five routes from Calgary that will hopefully begin in April.
• Qantas is suspending its Sydney to Honolulu service through March 26.
• Scoot will once again scoot to Australia’s Gold Coast as the carrier resumes 3x-weekly service on February 14.
• TUI Group plans to retire its B767 fleet by the first half of 2024. You’ve been warned.

What did the baby corn say to the mama corn?

“Where’s popcorn?”

U.S. Government Charges Belarus with Aircraft Piracy

The Department of Justice charged four Belarusian officials and the Belarusian government of air piracy following the diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978 last May. This conclusion was reached after officials saw someone with an eye patch and a parrot on his shoulder leaving the country.

The DOJ said the quiet part out loud – that the Belarusian government made up a fake bomb threat to force the plane to land in Minsk and detain a Belarusian journalist who was not friendly towards the government. The four officials charged by the DOJ are:

• Leonid Mikalaevich Churo – Director-General of Belaeronavigatsia, the Belarusian state air navigation authority
• Oleg Kazyuchits – Deputy Director-General of Belaeronavigatsia
• Andrey Anatolievich Lnu (last name unknown) – Belarusian state security services
• Fnu Lnu (first name unknown, last name unknown) – Belarusian state security services

According to the FBI’s investigation, Churo personally communicated the false threat to Minsk ATC prior to the flight departing Athens. Kazyuchits is the bookworm of the group, as they assigned him to falsify incident reports. Fnu Lnu helped convey the fake threat and directed radio communications to the flight while sharing progress of the caper with Antolievich, his direct superior.

All four remain in Belarus and are at large – the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Belarus. The US’s best bet in bringing the four in is waiting until they take a flight somewhere, call in a fake bomb threat, and force the plane to land somewhere with a friendly extradition treaty with the United States.

Airbus Tells Qatar to Take its Paint and Get Out

Airbus canceled a contract to deliver 50 A321neo aircraft to Qatar Airways in the latest salvo between the two companies. The single-aisle aircraft are a hot item right now and ends a deal completed in December 2017 at a rack cost of about $6.4 billion.

Qatar was supposed to begin taking delivery of the A321s next year but now will have to look elsewhere for single-aisle planes. The cancellation comes about a month after the two companies found themselves in London’s High Court over an issue about paint on Qatar’s A350s.

The carrier claims the paint was cracking and peeling, which exposed copper meshing on the planes used to protect the airframe from a lightning strike. Airbus’s response to Qatar was that the paint issue was not a safety issue, and added “besides, what are the odds a plane gets struck by lightning? Like 100 to 1, right? And then it’s gotta be your plane – and an A350 to boot. The odds are super small.” We’ll let you judge for yourself. Here’s a video Qatar released today showing the damage.

In the meantime, if Airbus and Qatar cannot work their problems out together and anyone reading this has 50 single-aisle jets laying around, now would be a good time to call Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker before Boeing beats you to it.

Qantas Explores Ending Flight Attendant Agreement

Qantas went to the Australian Fair Work Commission this week to seek permission to terminate its deal with its long-haul flight attendants. This is the first time in its history that the carrier has gone for what some are calling “the nuclear option,” and the unions in Australia are totally cool with it. Just kidding. They’re really pissed off.

Qantas said in a statement it wanted to adjust the agreement “to change restrictive and outdated rostering processes.” The carrier said the current arrangements meant that about 20% of its 2,500 long-haul crewmembers could only be used on a single type of aircraft.

The airline says it offered more money in return for changing those arrangements, but the workers’ union, the Flight Attendant’s Association of Australia (FAAA), and 97% of staff who voted turned down the offer. The FAAA says the change would cost its members in work-life balance, being forced into much more standby and uncertainty about trips, in addition to significant pay reductions.

If the Fair Work Commission approves the application, salary and conditions for international crew would revert to what is known as the ‘modern award’ which guarantees a minimum pay and allowances system which is much lower than what FA’s currently earn.

• Air Canada won an award.
• Air France-KLM added some people that aren’t you to its Engineering & Maintenance Executive Committee.
• AirAsia X has come to terms with the fact that it owes BOC Aviation nearly $24 million.
• Allegiant is leasing two more A320-214 aircraft.
• American and Aer Lingus completed a slot swap in Dublin for summer 2022.
• Condor and SKY Express are now besties.
• DHL Express will no longer fly to Bergamo, Italy (BGY).
• Libyan Airlines received $15 million in state aid to help cover the costs of employee salaries.
• Qantas will cut domestic capacity by another 10% after Western Australia surprisingly delayed its border opening.
• VietJetAir launched domestic A330 ops.
• Wizz Air applied to the DOT to operate cargo flights to the United States.

A guy stopped me in the street the other day to ask why I was carrying a 9ft book. I said “It’s a long story”.

American AAnounces Q4 Earnings

American Airlines reported its fourth quarter earnings today, revealing a loss for the three months ending December 31 despite narrowly beating Wall Street’s expectations.

The airline lost $921 million, equal to $1.42 per share on $9.43 billion in revenue. The loss for the entire year ended up at $2 billion despite carrying more than 165 million passengers during the year, a small portion of whom actually got to the place it said on their ticket by the time that was listed on said ticket.

AA achieved its best performance of on-time arrivals, on-time departures, and completion factor since the pandemic, which only draws attention to the very low bar it’s comparing itself to. It expects first quarter capacity to be down 8-10% compared to Q1 2019, with revenue down 20-22% from three years ago.

American ended FY2021 with $15.8 billion in available liquidity including cash, several ten-gallon hats Doug Parker left in his office when he started cleaning it out, and a Dreamliner-sized Texas state flag it keeps on-hand for office visitors that’s valued at $240 million.

United’s Q4 Earnings Beat Expectations But End in the Red

United Airlines also beat investor expectations in the year’s final quarter despite ending up at a loss as the carrier posted $8.2 billion in revenue, better than the $7.9 billion that was predicted by Wall Street.

UA’s net loss for the quarter was about $600 million, ending the year $2 billion in the red. The $8.2 billion revenue figure for Q4 is down 25% from Q4 2019 and is paired with a 3% drop in TRASM from the same time frame. The carrier paid $2.41 per gallon during the final quarter, and is committed to always putting its phone number in at the grocery store in 2022 to get all the savings it’s owed – the airline admitted to often forgetting to do so in 2021

United expects Q1 2022 capacity to be down 16-18% with revenues down 20-25% when compared to Q1 2019. It ended the year with $20 billion in available liquidity. The majority of the $20 billion is tied up at Newark where it’s constantly throwing good money after bad to improve the customer experience. The carrier is also expected to spend significant money on exploring a new long-haul business class seat and brand. Now that it’s finally gotten Polaris rolled out everywhere, it seems like as good a time as any to find its replacement. (No, not really.)

Alitalia is Back, Baby!

If you had January 20 in the pool as to when ITA would decide to return to Alitalia’s name and branding, you’d be a big winner. Italian media is reporting that the carrier will return Alitalia’s name, branding, and likeness to service sometime later this year – actually putting to use the €90 million it spent last October to hang onto the brand for safekeeping.

The announcement comes on the same day the carrier announced it lost €170 million in its first two and a half months as a “new” airline, from mid-October through the end of the year. ITA Alitalia ITA brought in about €86 million in revenue, with €77 million from passenger revenue and the rest from cargo.

ITA Airways president Alfredo “Sauce Me” Altavilla said that it was always part of the plan to integrate Alitalia’s brand into the new airline. Despite this grand plan, the airline has already painted two planes into its new ITA livery – the idea is likely to make them the quickest throwback livery in aviation history… except that it seemingly plans to use both brands. That makes all too much sense.

• Air Austral received €20 million in aid from the French government. Ryanair will be addressing this shortly.
• Air Malta is cutting the size of its staff almost in half as it plans to let go more than 400 of its 890 current employees.
• Alaska will begin flying B737s from Seattle/Paine Field on two of its 12 routes from the airport — Las Vegas and Phoenix.
• American‘s flight attendants want to reduce on-board service levels.
• British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will continue to require face masks on-board despite England ending its face mask requirement next week.
• El Al spun off its loyalty program as a wholly-owed subsidiary of the airline.
• ITA — or whatever its calling itself these days — plans to wet-lease B77s from AlisCargo.
• Lufthansa revealed its new premium economy seat.
• Ryanair announced its summer schedule from Dublin which includes 900 weekly flights to 120 destinations. Customers can see the schedule and destinations for the nominal fee of €2.
• Virgin Atlantic is returning to Tobago (TAB), with twice-weekly service as a tag flight from Barbados.

What does the Dentist of the Year win?

A little plaque.

Breeze Schedules Its “Nicest” A220s This Summer

Breeze will be introducing its second fleet type into revenue service this summer, the Airbus A220-300. The aircraft will also mark the introduction of Breeze’s third class of service which it calls “Nicest.” This complements the current “Nicer” and “Not Even Remotely Nice” cabins that exist today.

Eventually, the A220-300 will be used to fly longer haul routes for the airline, but for now, it will start by placing the aircraft on existing routes.

• From May 4, 2022
  • Tampa – Akron/Canton, Charleston (SC), Louisville, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Richmond
• From May 5, 2022
  • Charleston (SC) – Providence
  • Tampa – Tulsa
• From May 6, 2022
  • Tampa – Huntsville, Northwest Arkansas
• From May 26, 2022
  • Richmond
• From June 2, 2022
  • Hartford – Charleston (SC), Columbus, Pittsburgh
• From June 30, 2022
  • Huntsville

The A220 will have 80 Nice seats, but it will vary Nicer seats between 10 and 45 and Nicest seats between 12 and 36 depending upon just how nice the guy in charge of changing configurations is feeling that day.

Northern Pacific Has an Actual, Real-Life Airplane

Northern Pacific Airways introduced its livery on its very first B757-200 aircraft on Tuesday at the very northern location of San Bernardino, California. The plane is the first of nine that it has acquired. It started its life with USAir in 1995, then US Airways, and then American until AA retired its B757s in the spring of 2020.

The carrier aims to become the Icelandair of the Pacific – shuttling passengers between the U.S. and Asia using Anchorage as a stopover that can be a destination in and of itself. It hopes to launch in the second half of this year with a low-cost model that’s surely to generate headlines but isn’t guaranteed to be a success.

At launch, it expects to operate to five mainland U.S. destinations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York/JFK, and Orlando. On the other side of the ocean, it plans to serve Tokyo/Narita, Seoul/Incheon, Nagoya, and Osaka.

Mango’s Next Woeful Chapter is Upon Us

Bidders for much-beleaguered South African LCC Mango are being given more time to comply with state-required financial requirements after none of the bidders provided an acceptable source of funding to buy the bankrupt carrier.

Expressions of interest in potential suitors were due to Mango’s bankruptcy administrator by December 20, with those who would make the shortlist to be informed by January 14. Unfortunately, no one made the shortlist as all the bids were insufficient, causing the carrier to extend the bidding process.

About 90% of the airline’s staff – 593 employees – took voluntary severance packages while the carrier flopped in the wind. Forty-one staff remained on-board to carry out critical office tasks to keep the flicker of hope alive that the airline can eventually be revived. Administrator Sipho Sono is optimistic that he will receive the remaining $26 million the carrier is owed in state aid this month. The cash will be used to pay the severance packages and keep the lights on in the office while awaiting the bidding process to run its course.

• Air Astana has fully restored its network after unrest in Kazakhstan caused it to suspend some service.
• Air Bora Bora now hopes to begin flying late in 2022.
• American wants you to know if you were waiting to hear if you were named to its Board of Directors, you were not. Unless you’re Gregory D. Smith. If you are, then congratulations on your appointment.
• BA CityFlyer is launching four new European routes this summer from London/City.
• Cathay Pacific is offering $3,700 bonuses to its pilots to keep them flying.
• flypop took delivery of an A330 this week — its second aircraft for dedicated cargo ops.
• German Airways is adding its first dedicated ATR freighter aircraft.
• Go First has ended its plans for an IPO for the time being, making executives consider changing its name to Go Later.
• Icelandair is leasing two new B737 MAX 8 aircraft that will be delivered this spring.
• ITA (the bankrupt and grounded Brazilian one, not the likely soon-to-be-bankrupt but never grounded Italian one) had its request to defer a $400 million tax payment rejected by the Brazilian government.
• LATAM and Virgin Atlantic are beginning a new codeshare agreement.
• SriLankan Airlines is now being required to pay its fuel bill in advance after the airline has come up short on several payments.
• Trans Island Airways took delivery of its first Dash 8-300.
• WestJet politely announced more reductions to its schedule through February.
• Wizz Air raised new capital this week when it issued a $572 million bond which is expected to close today. Somehow Ryanair will come up with a reason to challenge this in court.

I told my friend I saw a deer on the way to work this morning.

She asked me, “How did you know it was on its way to work?”

Airlines Sound Alarm Over Tomorrow’s 5G Rollout

The CEOs of major U.S. airlines wrote a letter again asking for a delay on the launch of new C-Band 5G service which wireless companies were expected to make live tomorrow until they capitulated… again. This marks the third rollout delay as government agencies and businesses all run around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure out what to do.

In the letter, the CEOs said the implementation of the new technology runs the risk of grinding the nation’s commerce to a halt. “In addition to the chaos caused domestically,” the letter continues, the lack of certified planes “could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas.”

According to United, the new technology could negatively affect as many as 1.25 million of its passengers, 15,000 flights, and further slow down supply chain issues across the country. Not said out loud by the carrier but understood by most is the fact that further service disruptions run the risk of forcing passengers to be stranded in Newark – a fate no one deserves.

AT&T said on Tuesday it would delay its 5G rollout near some airports but is not happy about it. A call to Verizon about if it would also delay was placed on hold for over an hour and ended up with a customer retention representative who offered $15 in cashback for combining alarm coverage with an already overpriced wireless plan.

Frontier’s Newest Frontier Includes Midway and Hobby

Frontier Airlines announced two new (well, returning) airports and thirteen new routes today adding two of the busiest secondary airports in the country. The carrier will begin flying from Chicago/Midway on April 28, starting with 10 routes from the airport, while it adds Houston/Hobby on May 26, starting with three routes.

From Midway, Frontier will operate to:

• Atlanta (Daily)
• Dallas/Ft. Worth (Daily)
• Denver (Daily)
• Las Vegas (Daily)
• Ontario (Daily)
• Phoenix (Daily)
• Tampa (Daily)
• Trenton (4x-weekly)
• Fort Lauderdale (Daily)
• Orlando (Daily)

All destinations will begin April 28 except for Trenton (April 29) along with Fort Lauderdale and Orlando (both begin October 13). The first seven destinations are currently served by Frontier from Chicago/O’Hare and the carrier will move its service to Midway. Fort Lauderdale is a new city for F9 from Chicago, while Orlando will be served from both airports.

From Houston/Hobby, Frontier is adding:

• Cancun (3x-weekly)
• Las Vegas (4x-weekly)
• Orlando (4x-weekly)

Cancun begins May 26 with Vegas and Orlando starting the next day, May 27… unless Frontier shifts its schedule at the last minute just for fun, something it is wont to do.

DOT Allows Icelandair Into Cuba

The DOT granted Icelandair all of its requested slots to operate charters between the United States and Havana over the objection of several U.S. charter airlines.

Icelandair was granted 170 round trip flights to Havana between February 1 and May 31, with 136 operating from Miami, 17 from Orlando, and 17 from Houston/IAH. In a separate ruling, the DOT also granted Icelandair the right to operate four round trips from Orlando to Havana between now and January 31.

Charter operators iAero Airways, GlobalX, and World Atlantic Airlines led the charge against the application, and they were joined by the Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA), but their collective objections were smacked down by the DOT. The government, in its ruling, rejected the U.S. carriers’ claim that there was lack of reciprocity, as there was no evidence that any U.S. carrier had ever requested to fly between seventh freedom routes from Iceland.

Lastly, the government told the U.S. airlines that despite a cap of 3,600 annual round trips between the U.S. and Havana annually, there are still unallocated frequencies even when including Icelandair’s 170. The three carriers are free to apply for whatever flights to Cuba might strike their fancy whenever it suits them.

• Avelo ended service to Tucson yesterday.
• Avianca is adding seven new routes.
• Blue Panorama is in talks with potential investors. According to Blue Panorama and NOT according to people with actual money.
• Delta is not interested in investing in ITA. Seriously. It promises.
• Emerald Airlines will open a base later this year at Belfast City.
• Emirates is suspending service to nine U.S. cities indefinitely due to the 5G rollout. The suspension does not affect Emirates’s operation to New York/JFK, Los Angeles, or Washington/Dulles.
• Fly Arna unveiled its new livery, and it slaps.
• FlyBosnia plans to restart ops later this summer.
• Hi Fly transferred its A330-200 aircraft to Hi Fly Malta. Nothing shady here.
• LATAM has reached a deal with many of its overseas creditors and shareholders but its Chilean creditors aren’t so thrilled.
• Maldivian ordered its first ATR aircraft — one ATR 42-600 and two ATR 72-600s.
• MYAirline, a Malaysian startup received a conditional Air Service License. YOURairline has not received a license yet.
• Qantas is restarting nonstop service between Perth and London/Heathrow on March 27. It’s also resuming service to Dallas/Fort Worth with 3x-weekly flights beginning February 16.
• SkyWest is canceling two EAS routes — Plattsburgh (PBG) and Ogdensburg (OGS). The cancellations will be effective by April 11.
• Vietnam Airlines is looking into converting two A321s into freighters.
• Virgin Atlantic will now send its cargo flights to Hong Kong via Delhi to change crew.

What’s an English teacher’s favorite cereal?

Synonym Toast Crunch

Southwest Goes Kayaking

Southwest Airlines has begun providing content – schedules, routes, and fares – to Kayak’s corporate travel platform, the cleverly named Kayak for Business.

In addition to regular fares, the carrier will allow Kayak for Business customers to access discounts and book reward trips using their Rapid Rewards points. Customers can also waste their money buy EarlyBird check-in through Kayak to ensure they get to stand in front of the A 1-30 placard at the gate, automatically becoming the envy of all the suckers in the B and C boarding groups.

Hong Kong to Ban Transit Passengers

Hong Kong International Airport is banning transit passengers from more than 150 countries beginning Sunday as the island’s government tries desperately to halt the spread of Omicron. The ban comes with a ban on dining on the island after 6 p.m. for another two weeks, which makes sense as Omicron is known to rest during the day and come out once the sun sets.

Airline passengers who have visited any one of more than 150 countries and territories for the last 21 days including the United States, Canada, Australia, U.K., and most of Europe will be banned from visiting or transiting Hong Kong through at least February 15.

Despite the sweeping ban, negotiations are taking place for an exception – athletes and officials transiting Hong Kong en route to Beijing for the Olympic Winter Games. The Hong Kong airport said in a statement on Friday that it had no Olympic exemptions – yet. No other exemptions are expected to be in place between now and the current February 15 deadline, much to chagrin of Novak Djokovic who suddenly finds himself with extra time on his hands.

Saudia Requests Reciprocal Cargo Rights

Saudia, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, wants to get into the U.S. cargo game, and is requesting its government grant reciprocal seventh-freedom rights to US cargo operators in exchange for similar rights for itself. The carrier wants to operate cargo-only flights on the oddly specific Belgium-U.S. corridor and is struggling to get permission from the U.S. DOT.

Four US cargo carriers – FedEx Express, UPS Airlines, ATI, and ABX Air have also asked the DOT not to rule, wanting to wait until the Saudi government grants equal seventh freedom rights to the U.S. carriers, and if the Saudi government does not do so, to deny Saudia’s request.

Saudia dismissed the request of the U.S. cargo airlines, saying that its service between the U.S. and Belgium would be in the best interest of the American public because it would alleviate supply chain issues.

Any questions on why Saudia operating cargo routes between Belgium and the United States would be beneficial to the American public can be directed to Saudia.

• Air France unveiled new amenity kits for business and premium economy. Finally.
• Air India is returning hot beverages to its meal service. A world rejoices while sipping slowly to avoid
• Cathay Pacific zigs where Hong Kong zags, as the carrier is reopening its first and business class lounges at London/Heathrow. Passengers transiting are not allowed access to the lounge and they’re not even supposed to look up at the door when walking past.
• Fly LeOne deferred its LeLaunch to sometime in February.
• Interjet is calling it a day.
• KLM will be looking for a new CEO next year when Peter Elbers steps away on May 1, 2023. Interested applicants should reach out to KLM. Or Air France. Or maybe even Delta. But not us.
• Norse Atlantic, the startup carrier run by three guys named Bjørn received its U.S. operator license.
• Peach got a sweet-smelling deal on its first A321neo(LR) that recently began scheduled passenger service.
• Ryanair is suspending seen routes from Ukraine for the month of February.
• Singapore is extending PPS Club and KrisFlyer Elite status to 2024.
• Smartwings served more than 2.7 million customers in 2021, and unlike United, it didn’t force any of them to fly through Newark.
• Starlux is adding an A320neo in the next several weeks.

 Never discuss infinity with a mathematician, they can go on about it forever.