Author: Andrew Bashuk

Cranky Daily will not be published on Monday due to the federal holiday. Have a great long weekend, enjoy the baseball playoffs, and we’ll be back on Tuesday.

LAX Prepares for Olympic-Sized Expansion

LAWA’s — the organization that manages LAX — board approved a multi-billion dollar expansion for the airport to grow its capacity in preparation the 2028 Summer Olympics coming to Los Angeles.

Highlights of the excitingly-named and never-ending Airfield and Terminal Modernization Project at LAX include a new terminal – the chronologically named Terminal 9 – to the east of the current existing terminal 8 structure and a new concourse 0 that will be attached to Terminal 1. The two will combine to replace 15 of LAX’s current 18 remote bus gates. The other three will be retained to prevent Allegiant customers from going into shock.

LAX is expected to return to pre-pandemic capacity levels by 2025 with 1.7% annual growth to follow. United CEO Scott Kirby expects Terminal 9 to be home to United and Star Alliance carriers, while Concourse 0 will add nine new gates to T1 and a new international arrivals facility, presumably for Southwest’s growth.

Both projects are supposed to open in time for the LA 2028 Games, which leads most to believe their completion will come sometime in the mid-2030s. Passengers expecting to fly out of the new terminal are asked to begin driving to LAX now, as LAX traffic is bad enough without the construction these additions will bring, making the approximate amount of time to circle LAX once in a car expected to take about 11 years.

Tata for Now: Air India Sold to Tata Sons

India’s flag carrier Air India has been purchased by Tata Sons for about $2.4 billion and 3 BOGO coupons for KFC India. Air India began in the 1930s, operating as Tata Air Mail, and now, nearly a century later is going back home, like the dopey and incompetent child with substance abuse trouble that returns to live with his parents.

With the purchase, the Tata family will own 100% of Air India, 100% of its subsidiary Air India Express, and 50% in the JV Air India SATS (which handles ground services, cargo, and other airport operations on behalf of the carrier). At the time of the purchase, Air India has 117 aircraft while the express brand has 24 planes on-hand, some of which actually flew.

Air India has been losing money for decades. The Indian government said the carrier has been losing about $2.5 million a day, propped up by taxpayer funds. The Indian government has been looking to sell the airline for decades and was finally able to close the deal when Tata Sons threw in the BOGO coupons for KFC.

Qantas Aims for 2024 Sunrise

Qantas’s “Project Sunrise” is back on track to take to the skies as soon as 2024. Qantas’s plan to operate the lengthy flights from its Sydney hub to London, Paris, and New York was placed on hold due to the pandemic. The flights, each around 16-18 hours one-way, would experience two sunrises when flying east.

The carrier is near an order for 12 ultra-long range A350-1000 aircraft which would operate the routes. Prior to the pandemic, Qantas wanted to begin these ambitious flights in 2023, but a one year delay has pushed things back to 2024. Before finalizing the deal for the ULR aircraft, the carrier must first select a manufacturer to replace over 100 domestic narrowbody and regional aircraft.

Qantas has also been working with the Australian government to stock all three cities with enough Vegemite to satisfy the crews that will work the flights and have lengthy layovers in the cities. The amount needed requires the carrier to begin stocking up now, but lucky for Qantas, Vegemite has a nearly unlimited shelf life – because it can’t possibly getting any worse – allowing it to set up storage facilities in preparation for the inaugural flights.

• American employees opposed to the carrier’s vaccine mandate protested outside of AA’s HQ on Thursday with signs that say “Mandates won’t fly” in big capital letters and then, in smaller print also said “and neither do our airplanes a lot of the time due to mechanical and staffing issues.”
• Bamboo delayed its U.S. launch from the third quarter of 2021 — which has come and gone — to “late in Q4.” We’ll see about that.
• Emirates signed a $750 million loan with Emirates NBD, a government-owned bank that surprisingly does not stand for “no big deal.”
• GlobalX has agreed to lease an A321 P2F freighter from STE Aerospace Resources, the first of five freighters its expected to lease from the lessor. Upon hearing the news, GlobalY Airlines had no comment.
• Jet2 ordered 15 more A321-200neo aircraft, now giving it 51 on order. The planes will begin to be delivered in 2026.
• Scoot will start operating the Singapore – Athens – Berlin route 4x-weekly next week, up from the 3x-weekly it currently operates.
• Ultra Air made an ultra-exciting transaction as it acquired its first A320.
• Vietnam Airlines will resume domestic operations on Sunday, along with Vietnam’s other three domestic carriers as the government will allow domestic flights to resume.

It’s a five minute walk from my apartment to my neighborhood pub. It’s a 35-minute walk from the pub to my house.

The difference is staggering.

BA’s Pilots Back Proposal for New LCC

British Airways’s pilots union – BALPA – performed a 180 in the last two weeks, no longer storming away from the negotiating table and instead agreeing to slash pay for pilots flying for the new BA LCC. A hefty 82% of the membership approved of the idea.

Just two weeks ago, the pilots insisted on full, equal pay for pilots operating the potential new airline, and when BA refused, the pilots ended negotiations, leading BA to announce it would end all short-haul flying from London/Gatwick airport. The scare tactic seems to have worked, as the pilots came back to the negotiating table hat-in-hand, agreeing – by a substantial margin – to the exact thing that caused them to end negotiations late last month.

The agreement between the two parties has led British Airways to announce — brace yourself — that it won’t be ending short-haul flying from LGW after all. It’s almost as if that was a negotiating tactic and the carrier never actually intended to pull the flights.

Seventy five percent of the union’s members voted on the issue, and the 82%-18% landslide paved the way for BA to establish a new Gatwick subsidiary that will look and feel the same to customers as BA mainline – meaning free water and snacks in economy, mediocre premium class service, and generally surly cabin crew. BA has not come up with a name for the LCC, but some options being considered include “EasierJet,” “WizzzAir,” “Ryanaire,” “Eurowing,” or “Westar Jet.”

What’s in a Name? AA Relaxes Name ChAAnge Policy

American Airlines implemented an exception to its current (and industry-norm) practice that will now allow name changes on certain tickets purchased through AA or travel partners (such as Cranky Concierge) through January 31.

There are conditions on the exemption policy and they include:

• It must be a completely unused American Airlines ticket (meaning travel has not yet begun) with an American Airlines or American codeshare flight.
• Basic Economy tickets that are non-refundable are not eligible.
• While there’s no limitation on travel dates, ticket exchange must happen by January 31, 2022.
• If you do more than change the name, such as changing the dates, times, cities, class of service, etc., that will require the fare to be repriced.
• Passengers with an “a” in their name, they must be willing to add a second “a” to match AA’s brAAnding.

Both passengers involved in the transaction – the name going on the reservation and the name coming off the reservation – must be AAdvantage members, and only one name change is allowed per ticket.

In completely unrelated news, look for our new exchange where we take exorbitant fees like StubHub at crankyticketswap.com.

United Ramps up Holiday Flying

United Airlines will fly up to 3,500 daily flights in December, 91% of what the carrier flew in December 2019. The beefed-up portion of the schedule focuses on outdoor destinations, including warm-weather beach locations and cold-weather skiing destinations.

One hundred ninety five daily flights to 12 airports in Florida in December represent a new high for United in the Sunshine State. The carrier says searches on United.com are up 16% for holiday travel vs 2019, but that’s because passengers are doing multiple searches to find a routing that avoids Newark.

Nearly 70 daily flights will operate to ski-destinations, including the carrier’s new seasonal service between Aspen and Orange County which is priced at… well… if you have to ask, it’s not for you.

• Aerolineas Sosa added its first Saab 340B aircraft.
• AirAsia converted its 13 outstanding A320-200 orders into A321s as it looks to transform its fleet to exclusively consist of A321s.
• Alaska announced its 10th nonstop destination in the lower 48 from Anchorage, as it will operate twice-weekly, weekend-only service to Salt Lake City beginning June 18.
• British Airways will resume daily flights to Johannesburg in mid-December and 3x-weekly flights to Cape Town in November. The CPT service will upgrade to 2x-daily in December. BA will also increase its frequency to Mexico City to 5x-weekly beginning November 6, while Cancun resumes with daily service on October 22.
• Hawaiian will be moving its operation at LAX from T5 to the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) beginning October 12. Unlike many of the others forced to move, Hawaiian check-in will be in TBIT and will not require taking a bus from elsewhere.
• SkyWest is going to launch E175 ops for AA later this year.
• Spirit signed a lease agreement for 20 new A320neo aircraft with AerCap Holdings. Delivery will begin next year and continue through 2024. Spirit will owe AerCap an additional $9 per plane upon delivery if it wants the keys.
• Toki Air secured two ATR72s.
• Tunisair plans to eliminate its B737 and A319 fleets in an effort to reduce costs.
• Virgin Australia is overhauling its Accelerate rewards program for business customers.

Sometimes on weekends, I like to play chess with the older gentlemen in the park, but I’m finding it increasingly hard to find exactly 32 of them each week.

Canada to Require Air Travelers to be Vaccinated

Beginning October 30, 2021 all customers on domestic commercial flights in Canada will be required to be vaccinated in order to be permitted to fly. The mandate also will apply to train customers and cruise ship passengers plus all staff and crew on each method of transportation. The government has not made a decision on a vaccination requirement for dog sledding in the Yukon but is expected announce its decision soon.

The rule will apply to all passengers 12 years old and older with what the Canadian government calls “very limited exceptions to address specific situations such as emergency travel, and those medically unable to be vaccinated.” There will be a one month trial period where those who have received at least one dose of the vaccine and produce a negative test can travel – this will only apply through November 30.

Of eligible Canadians, 89% have received at least one vaccine shot and 82% are fully vaccinated. If those 18% try to fly and falsify information, they will be subject to fines of up to C$5,000 per violation. In addition to the fine, violators will be given a one-year ban from watching hockey and — in a show of just how serious this is — will be barred from drinking Tim Hortons coffee for one year.

British Airways to Bring A380 Back Next Month

British Airways announced today it will bring the A380 back into service earlier than expected, now putting the widebodies into the air as soon as November. The carrier had held off on bringing the A380 back into service while CEO Sean Doyle tried to get a straight answer from previous CEO Alex Cruz on where in the office he kept the keys to the jumbo jets.

The aircraft will first operate to three destinations: Dubai, Los Angeles, and Miami. Those three cities were chosen because the carrier wants the planes to get some sun on their fuselage after becoming pale from so many months in storage.

In other news, BA is adding to its winter frequencies to the United States, increasing New York to five daily flights, and then as many as eight dailies beginning in December. Double daily service will resume to eight airports: BOS, ORD, LAX, SFO, IAD, DFW, MIA, and YYZ, with daily service being restored to PHL, PHX, SEA, ATL, DEN, IAH, and YVR.

Airbus Makes Plans for Larger A220

Airbus CCO Christian Scherer said at the IATA General Meeting in Boston this week that his company expects to create a higher-capacity version of its successful A220 in the coming years.

It looks as if this new plane will be the long-coveted, mythical A220-500, which will surely distract from the fact that’s its really the same size as an A320 – a plane Airbus manufactures quite regularly. Several airlines have expressed interest in the theoretical plane, including Korean and Air France. Air France plans to eventually transition the A220 and its 4.5 hour range onto all of its medium-haul routes, including those as far as Moscow and North Africa.

Airbus currently has 2,537 A320neo family aircraft on backorder, and it’s expected that A220-500 production would not begin until those deliveries are made. That is expected to be about a five year timeline for Airbus, allowing for the backlog to clear before starting anew, a strategy perfected by thousands every year at Las Vegas Strip buffets.

• Air India, AirAsia India, and Vistara are likely to be combined into one super brand if Tata Sons is selected to purchase Air India from the Indian government. It is rumored that the new mega-airline will be called Dysfunctional Air.
• AirAsia Group restructured its Airbus order to reduce the scope of the purchase to something it might actually one day be able to afford.
• Lufthansa sold 98.4% of the 59 million new stock it offered as part of its €2.1 billion capital increase. The carrier is also cutting free booze in long-haul economy. Contact your Congressman today about this injustice.
• MIAT is in desperate need of a bailout from the Mongolian government. It is asking quietly, hopeful that no one from Ryanair catches wind of the request.
• RwandAir and Qatar signed a codeshare agreement. Rwandair will also double its fleet size and look to grow within Africa thanks to the new agreement with Qatar.
• Spirit inaugurated service in Miami this morning with the first flight arriving at 8:54 a.m. and the first departure leaving at 10:54 a.m. Anyone — passengers included — wanting to know where the inaugural flights operated from or to will need to pay us $15 as we have decided to adopt Spirit’s ancillary model.
• United is dropping its oversized baggage fee. Spirit officials were confused by the move, having never heard of the concept of “removal of a fee.”
• WestJet is beginning 4x-weekly service between Toronto and Dublin on May 15. The route will upgrade to daily on June 2.

What always tastes better than it smells?

A tongue.

Shocker: BA’s Gatwick-Based LCC Not Dead Yet

It appears that reports of BA’s potential new LCC’s death were premature, as the carrier and BALPA – its pilots union – have returned to the negotiating table after both sides threw fits late last month “ending negotiations” on the proposed new carrier.

BALPA walked away from the negotiating table over its insistence that pilots at the new carrier receive the same benefits as those at mainline BA, which defeats the entire purpose of the new airline for BA. The carrier then countered by saying it would end all short-haul operations at Gatwick which would, ya know, eliminate a bunch of pilot jobs. Apparently the pilots have rethought their position.

The two parties have returned to negotiations this week, which are being touted as “productive.” The union plans to send the proposed pay package to a union-wide vote with the results announced by the end of the week. Other items on this week’s ballot for the pilots is whether or not they want to continue with the soft “c” in “schedule” when making on-board announcements, and to decide on the size of the lump of coal they’ll be sending BA CEO Sean Doyle this holiday season.

The Dream is Dead: LGA AirTrain Scuttled

New York governor Kathy Hochul ended the LGA AirTrain project this week when she told the Port Authority to find an alternative to the $2.1 billion project that was set to connect eastern Queens with LaGuardia Airport.

The governor said at a press conference Monday that “I don’t feel obligated to accept what I have inherited,” a stance that led her to end the AirTrain project and have the governor’s mansion undergo a thorough cleaning and sanitization process following the exit of Andrew Cuomo.

The project had opponents across the political spectrum and in the aviation world, including within the Port Authority and the FAA. Those two agencies are historically committed to making the New York airport experience as expensive and inconvenient as possible, so this was quite the surprise.

Manhattan passengers would first travel east – away from the airport – before connecting to the subway at Willets Point to then head west to the airport. A government watchdog said only 6,000 new daily transit customers would use the train, or roughly the same number ahead of you in line when arriving at LGA TSA because inevitably only one checkpoint is ever open.

ITA Announces U.S. Schedule

ITA, the zombie airline reincarnated from Alitalia’s ashess, announced the schedule of U.S.-bound flights it plans to fly when it begins operating as a “new, independent airline.” The carrier is expected to operate some of these flights but makes no guarantees that they’ll operate even remotely on-time. Passengers are encouraged to arrive at the airport 3-4 days before their scheduled departure because their aircraft could leave at any point and may not ever return.

The first city on the big board for ITA is New York, where the airline claims it will operate 3x-weekly service from Rome/FCO to JFK beginning November 4, upgrading to 5x-weekly in early December and daily for a limited period between December 20 and January 9.

It’ll spend four months trying to get its one U.S. destination under control, because the next city doesn’t join the schedule until March. ITA will begin flying to Miami and Boston in March on a date to be determined once ITA’s senior leadership can locate a 2022 calendar with March on it. Rome to Los Angeles service is scheduled to launch sometime next summer, but we don’t advise anyone to hold their breath awaiting the route.

• Alaska continues to spread its wings within oneworld as the carrier announced a new codeshare agreement with Iberia.
• Air Seychelles entered administration as it begins to restructure itself under bankruptcy protection.
• Finnair retired its €175 million revolving credit facility. The credit has since moved to Del Boca Vista.
• Fly Baghdad added its first B737-900.
• GlobalX signed a long-term lease for four A321 aircraft with the first to enter service next month.
• LOT is seeking more state aid by the end of the year. “Over our dead body,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said despite no one asking his opinion.
• Philippine Airlines DIP financing plan was approved by US Bankruptcy Court.
• Qatar will send its A380s to both London and Paris when the carrier brings its fleet out of retirement on December 15.
• Ryanair is hiring up to 200 new cabin crew jobs in the UK. Applicants should be interested in travel, willing to work weekends, generally be unpleasant around others, and value customer service as little as possible.
• SpiceJet is clove to acquiring up to 10-15 more widebody jets and is looking for up to 30-40 more narrowbodies as well. The carrier does not have a thyme table for the narrow body aircraft but that could change as its current planes increase in sage.
• TUI ended its B757 operations.

I saw a burglar kick his own door in, damaging the frame. I asked him “what are you doing?” To which he answered, “working from home today.”

Vaccination Nation: Air New Zealand to Require Passengers to be Vaxed; AA, Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest to do the Same for Employees

Air New Zealand announced over the weekend it would implement a “no jab, no fly” policy for all international flights beginning February 1, 2022. The carrier plans to require all passengers 18 years or older to present proof of being fully vaccinated or be denied boarding. The airline already has put a policy in place for all its employees to be vaccinated and says campaign will be successfully completed before the February 1 deadline for customers.

Domestically, four major airlines – Alaska, American, JetBlue, and Southwest all informed their employees they must be vaccinated based on federal guidelines which apply due to each of their roles as a government contractor. The deadline for vaccination is December 8 – just over two months from today.

Alaska extended its $200 incentive for staff to get the vaccine from October 15 to December 1. American has received resistance from its pilots union and mechanics over even considering a mandate, while JetBlue is going to do whatever American tells it to do does. Southwest is offering employees the chance to submit their vaccination cards early for a $59 “early-bird” fee which will give staff the exclusive ability to choose which vaccine they get.

Delta Forms Alliance with Itself in Boston

Delta Air Lines answered back at American and JetBlue by expanding its presence in Boston, adding new domestic and international routes and by placing its newest, fanciest airplanes on routes from the city. Delta’s move is a direct shot at the AA/JetBlue NEA partnership as it looks to assert dominance in the city while the DOJ does Delta’s dirty work to break up the alliance.

Delta will add two new international routes from Boston: Athens and Tel Aviv. Athens will operate 3x-weekly on Delta’s A330-300 aircraft beginning May 27. Tel Aviv will also operate 3x-weekly, beginning on May 26 on A330-900neo aircraft. The route to Athens will the only nonstop flight from Boston, while the Tel Aviv flight will complement Deltaa’s service to TLV from JFK and will compete with El Al’s BOS-TLV route.

Domestically, Delta is adding flight to Baltimore, Denver, and San Diego. Baltimore will see 5x-daily service on E175 aircraft operated by Republic Airways beginning July 11. Also on July 11, the carrier will begin daily service to DEN and SAN on 737-900 aircraft. The carrier also plans to use its fancy new A321neos, which will enter service in the spring for service from Boston to four west coast destinations: LAX, SAN, SFO, and SEA.

Overall, Delta will have over 160 daily nonstops from Boston to 55 destinations, a 20% increase from its pre-pandemic height of October 2019.

Spirit Flight Aborts Takeoff After Birdstrike

Spirit Airlines flight 3044 from Atlantic City to Fort Lauderdale was accelerating for takeoff Saturday when the aircraft encountered birds which flew into its right engine. The pilots aborted the takeoff.

The incident caused the engine to catch fire as the A320neo stopped about 1,800 feet down the runway. In defense of the birds who struck the engine, they often fly around the runway at that time on Saturdays, and Spirit almost never operates its flight to FLL on-time, giving the birds free roam of the runway. The fact that the flight was operating on-time – or even operating at all – came as a shock to the birds.

Passengers were forced to evacuate via the emergency slide but were not allowed on the slide until they paid the flight attendant the carrier’s mandatory $15 slide evacuation fee. Some passengers were seen grabbing carry-ons, normally a no-no during emergency evacuations, but they did pay a significant amount to bring those carry-ons aboard, and Spirit’s $99 fee to reclaim carry-ons abandoned during an emergency was certainly a factor.

Luckily there were no injuries reported except for the birds. Passengers willing to pay Spirit’s change fees and a fare difference were accommodated on Spirit’s next flight to FLL, which is expected to be in December.

• Air New Zealand COO Carrie Hurihanganui resigned to take over as the CEO at Auckland Airport. Hurihanganui turned the job down at first when she thought it was to take over as CEO of Oakland Airport, but reconsidered when seeing she wouldn’t have to move as far.
• airBaltic took delivery of its 32nd A220-300 on Saturday, it’s 7th and final A220 for the year.
• Avianca and SKY are expected to merge by 2022 as Avianca plans to buy 40% of the Chilean airline for about $70 million.
• EgyptAir launched 4x-weekly service from Cairo to Tel Aviv on Sunday.
• Emirates and Qantas extended their partnership through 2028.
• EVA will return to Brisbane on December 7, operating weekly flights between BNE and its Taipei hub.
• Iberia is selling three A330s to the Spanish government for a quart of sangria and a heaping helping of paella.
• Lufthansa Group leased an additional four A350-900 aircraft and will be holding a mini-Olympics between the CEOs of each airline in the group to see who gets the planes.
• Nok Air‘s restructuring was approved by the Thai Central Bankruptcy Court.
• Qantas is in discussions with several aircraft manufacturers about updating its narrowbody and regional fleets — provided REX doesn’t find the negotiations to be anti-competitive.
• PIA is attempting to sell six A330-200 aircraft. The sale has been challenging because the aircraft are missing engines and PIA mistakenly hoped potential buyers wouldn’t notice that small detail.
• SKY is denying reports that it has agreed to a merger with Avianca. The carrier said the report earlier in Airline Potpourri is premature, and that its CEO buying a new house in Bogota was only a coincidence and shouldn’t be read into.

All my clothes had a competition to see which one is the coolest.

It ended up being a tie.

Australia to Lift Travel Ban; Qantas to Resume US & UK Flying Early

With the news that Australia will lift its international travel ban for vaccinated Australians in November, Qantas announced it would resume flying to both the United States and the United Kingdom five weeks earlier than planned.

On November 14, the carrier will resume service to both Los Angeles and London/Heathrow. Both flights will operate 3x-weekly to begin and will be flown by B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, once they dust them off and kick out all the wallabies that have made a home in them over the last year. For the first week of flights, the entire plane will be available at Qantas’ lowest award price – the Classic Award Flight rate.

This comes in at 144,600 points for one-way to LHR in business and just 55,200 in economy. A Delta SkyMiles spokesman was confused upon hearing this, believing 144,600 points should only be enough for a one-way economy award from El Paso to Salt Lake City in basic economy.

Travelers will need to be fully vaccinated Australians, except for children too young to receive the vaccine who must, however, still be Australian. Every passenger will also be required to show proof of a negative PCR test taken with 72 hours of departure, and on return to Australia, a seven-day home quarantine is required along with a Vegemite-only diet for the duration of the quarantine. There is still no date for when foreigners can come to visit.

Virgin Atlantic Rethinks IPO Plans

Virgin Atlantic has slowed its roll on plans to go public, deciding it should focus on rebuilding its core business instead of the public offering which is corporate speak for “figuring out another cash grab while trying to not lose a bunch of money all the time so an IPO would actually work.”

It was reported in August that the carrier was looking to raise cash through an IPO since it has not figured out a way to ask Delta for more money without appearing more desperate than it already does. There is optimism within the airline that the easing of travel restrictons to the United States will strengthen its position when taking itself to market.

The carrier ramped up its flying to the Caribbean earlier this year, with U.S. flying expected to grow in the coming months. It does not intend to return to Asian flying until at least next year. The carrier’s CCO Juha Järvinen blamed the UK government in part for its trouble, borrowing British Airways’s boilerplate language about the government taking airlines for granted and not caring as much as other European countries.

Florida Man Arrested for Wanting Some Fresh Air

American Airlines passenger Christian Segura was taken into custody by Miami police after he helped himself to the over-wing emergency exit once his flight had landed and taxied to the gate Wednesday night. AA920 had arrived safely and on-time from Cali, Colombia when Segura opened the emergency exit and hopped onto the wing of the B737.

In his defense, sitting in row 33 watching people in front of you take forever to get off the plane after a long flight can be very frustrating, and perhaps Segura should be applauded for taking matters into his own hands. He also received a thorough and personalized screening from US Customs and Immigration, finding a loophole to skip the line to be admitted into the country as well.

After being detained by CBP staff, he was transferred to Miami-Dade County police. AA officials referred all questions to Miami CBP staff with regards to the incident, except to point out that the plane arrived on-time and without mechanical issues, a rare occurrence for the carrier.

• Air France plans to initially operate its new A220 aircraft on five routes from Paris: Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Milan/Linate, and Venice. A220 service will begin for the carrier on October 31.
• AirAsiaX is applying for a $120 million loan backed by the Malaysian government.
• Frontier is delaying its plan to require staff to be vaccinated or be tested regularly. The policy was supposed to go into effect today.
• Icelandair completed a sale and leaseback of three aircraft that are scheduled for delivery in December and January.
• Lao Airlines and Lao Skyway have suspended all domestic flights due to a mandated shutdown of all domestic flights within the country.
• Ryanair plans to base five additional aircraft in Vienna next summer and it will operate nine new routes from the airport to six countries.
• TUI fly and Ryanair both had cased dismissed at the European Court of Justice over an order to return subsidies from 2018. Shockingly, Ryanair plans to appeal.

I’m writing a book about all the things I wish I had done in my life but hadn’t yet. It’s an oughtobiography.

United’s Vaccination Rate Exceeds 99% for U.S.-Based Staff

In the last 48 hours since United began the process to terminate its 593 employees who remain unvaccinated, that number has dropped down to 320, meaning 99.5% of United’s U.S. employees are vaccinated.

Much of the increase in vaccination rate comes from late vaccination card uploads, indicating that the actual number of vaccinated employees might be higher than the 99.5% rate. In addition to termination, unvaccinated employees were threatened relocation to Newark as part of the carrier’s strategy to encourage vaccinations.

UA’s HR team will be beginning individual meetings with the 320 unvaccinated staff members to initiate the termination process, and the airline expects to find that a portion of those 320 are actually vaccinated, somehow failed to tell the airline despite the entire world knowing this was a thing, and will not need to be terminated.

American Confirms Seattle as AAsian Gateway

American Airlines still plans to turn Seattle into its gateway for flights to Asia, with the airport becoming a secondary international hub behind Dallas/Ft. Worth at the expense of Los Angeles which will still have a few flights.

AA’s VP for Network Planning Brian Znotins made remarks during a recent staff call about the carrier’s plans for Seattle. The move makes sense, and gives AA the opportunity to take advantage of Alaska’s extensive feed at the airport. Alaska joined oneworld earlier this year and is always looking for new ways to poke at friend turned foe Delta at its home airport.

In Los Angeles, AA competes with 14 Asian carriers including Korean and Cathay Pacific which each hold more than 2% of LAX’s weekly market share. LAX will keep Tokyo, Sydney, London and other domestic flying, but most Asian routes including Shanghai will shift to Seattle where it will compete with just seven Asian airlines (ANA and JAL to Tokyo, Asiana and Korean to ICN, Hainan to PEK and PVG, EVA to TPE, Singapore to SIN), plus Delta which operates from SEA to Beijing/Daxing, Seoul/ICN, Shanghai, and Tokyo/Haneda.

ITA Announces Fleet Plans

Alitalia’s successor, Alitalia 134.0 ITA announced its fleet plans today for the “new” carrier that will begin flying in a couple weeks when the current version of Alitalia ceases to exist on October 15.

The “new” carrier will begin flying with 56 Airbus aircraft that the current Alitalia put in a hangar in Rome with the keys “accidentally” left in the flight deck. ITA is buying 10 A330s, seven A220s and 11 A320s, and it is then going to lease 31 to give it a total of 56. Of the leased aircraft, it will take delivery of A350-900s for long-haul flying to overseas destinations that will regularly lose money for the airline.

The simplified fleet structure is expected to lower training and operational costs and make it easier to flip the planes at a loss when Alitalia 135.0 is born.

• Aer Lingus is growing in Belfast, adding two weekly flights to Heathrow, going from once-daily to twice-daily to Manchester, and increasing to 11 weekly flights to Edinburgh. All three cities will see increased frequencies beginning October 31.
• Air Mauritius exited voluntary administration with a $280 million government loan.
• American was forced to divert a Miami – Boston to Norfolk Tuesday morning when “mystery fumes” entered the flight deck. The pilots donned their oxygen masks and requested emergency services to meet the plane in Norfolk. It turned out to be an idiot passenger smoking in the forward restroom.
• Delta did a thing that has to do with Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
• Emirates and South African reactivated their codeshare partnership now that SAA is flying again. Emirates officials found the partnership far less valuable for the 18 months SAA was grounded.
• Etihad announced three new destinations this winter — Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Zanzibar.
• Eurowings will begin Sunday-only service from Hamburg to Beirut beginning November 7. The carrier will add flights on Fridays beginning December 17.
• Frontier will begin weekly, seasonal service from Atlanta to Punta Cana beginning December 18.
• JetBlue is moving most of it operations at New York/LGA to Terminal B, beginning October 31, but its flights to Boston will remain at the Marine Air Terminal.
• Jetstar Asia will resume flying between Singapore and Darwin with 3x-weekly service beginning December 20.
• La Compagnie is delaying its plans to launch service between Milan and Newark which was supposed to begin in April 2022.
• Lufthansa is seeing a 300% increase in booking to the United States since the government of the United States ended restrictions for most Europeans to travel to the United States.
• Pakistan International Airlines‘s former managing director and former spokesman were both arrested on corruption charges.
• Smartwings will begin 4x-weekly flights between Prague and London/Heathrow today.
• Starlux delayed delivery of A330neo and A350 aircraft it had on order to 2022.
• TUI Fly Nordic took delivery of its first B787-9 aircraft.

My neighbor came rudely banging on my door last night at 3 a.m. He’s lucky I was still up playing the drums or I might have been even madder.

Over 99% of Non-Exempted United Employees Vaccinated, Nearly 600 Face Termination

More than 96% of United’s 67,000-person workforce is vaccinated as the carrier’s deadline looms for unvaccinated staff to be terminated. That leaves 593 UA staff non-compliant with the mandate, and about 2,000 have received a religious or medical exemption to remain unvaccinated.

Those who receive the exemption will be placed on unpaid leave for the time being while also being forced to fly a connection through Newark in basic economy once a month to keep their active status with the airline. The 593 staff with their jobs on the line include just 20 pilots, down from over 900 unvaxxed pilots just three weeks ago.

The bulk of the unvaccinated staff is concentrated with just under 400 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. United says those fired for being unvaccinated will be let go on the grounds of violating a company safety policy, which could make them ineligible for unemployment benefits. The Machinists and Aerospace Workers union plans to file for wrongful termination if any of its members are fired for being unvaccinated.

ExpressJet’s aha! Moment

ExpressJet’s relaunch under the aha! brand took a step forward today as the carrier announced eight launch destinations it will fly from its base in the entertainment capital of northwestern Nevada – Reno.

aha! — along with its obnoxious flouting of capitalization and punctuation norms — will fly three-weekly flights to all eight destinations with its 50-seat ERJ145 regional jets. The airline says it will expand to as many as 20 destinations in the coming months. The launch destinations are:

• Pasco/Tri Cities, WA (PSC) – begins October 24
• Bakersfield, CA (BFL) – begins October 25
• Medford, OR (MFR) – begins October 31
• Eugene, OR (EUG) – begins November 1
• Ontario, CA (ONT) – begins November 4
• Redmond, OR (RDM) – begins November 5
• Eureka, CA (ACV) – begins November 9
• Fresno, CA (FAT) – begins November 10

The aha! name supposedly stands for air-hotel-adventure, which makes almost no sense. The airline says it will combine value-priced fares and nonstop flights to underserved communities. These are all cities that do not currently have nonstop flights to Reno, which typically is lacking for a reason. But if ExpressJet’s aha! moment works out, the carrier will finally be the one to connect the world to Reno, and Reno to the world.

Frontier Opens New Frontiers, Mostly from Tampa and Cancun

Frontier Airlines is at it again, adding 11 new routes, six from Cancun and five from Tampa.

The carrier’s six new destinations from Cancun will give it a total of 19 from the airport, including the 12 it already serves plus previously announced service to Atlanta which will begin in November. The new cities are:

• Baltimore (4x-weekly, beginning Dec. 17)
• Boston (daily, beginning Dec. 16)
• Columbus (twice weekly, beginning January 21)
• Detroit (3x-weekly, beginning Dec. 16)
• Minneapolis/St. Paul (daily, beginning December 16)
• Raleigh/Durham (Saturday-only, beginning January 29)

These six destinations are new for Frontier from Cancun, but they’ll hardly be the only carrier on each route. All six are served by at least two other airlines, with Boston-Cancun served by three (American, JetBlue, and Delta)… assuming you still count American and JetBlue as separate airlines, right DOJ?

Tampa’s five new destinations on Frontier will give the carrier 28 cities from the central Florida airport. The newest additions are:

• Bloomington-Normal, IL (twice weekly, beginning Dec. 17)
• Columbus (3x-weekly, beginning Dec. 17)
• Green Bay (twice weekly, beginning Dec. 16)
• New York/LGA (3x-weekly, beginning Dec. 1)
• Rochester (4x-weekly, beginning Nov. 30)

Tampa became a base earlier this year for Frontier and these new routes will see the airline continue to grow at the airport. Frontier has competition from three of the new routes it’s adding from Tampa including Southwest on the Rochester route, JetBlue, Delta, Spirit, and Southwest to LGA, and Breeze (for now), Spirit, and Southwest to Columbus.

• Air Canada will begin freighter operations later this year.
• American will suspend flying from Los Angeles to Sydney until January 6.
• ANA is introducing more alternative meal options on international flights, and on October 1 it will offer four different diabetic, low fat, low calorie, and low salt options.
• Austrian is adding service to Cancun, Mauritius, and the Maldives this fall. Malé, Maldives will see 3x-weekly service beginning October 21, Mauritius will see three flights a week beginning October 23, while Cancun will be served from Vienna twice-weekly, beginning October 24.
• Connect Airlines parent company Waltzing Matilda Aviation clarified its ownership structure to the DOT after the government told it to get its act together with regards to the carrier’s initial application.
• Delta is adding seven new booze options to its in-flight drink menu. Continue to monitor Cranky Daily for more hard-hitting and crucial breaking news like this.
• Hainan Airlines parent company HNA Group plans to merge all 11 of its airline-related brands into one single until during its current corporate restructuring. We understand the new airline will be called “Bankrupt.”
• LATAM obtained up to $750 million for Tranche B of its debtor in possession financing. After the news was released, Delta officials were seen feverishly checking their bank accounts to see if they offered the cash without even realizing it.
• Lufthansa Cargo put two more B777F into service this week.
• Qatar plans to put its fleet of A380 aircraft back into service as soon as this November.
• SAS is introducing two new brands — SAS Connect, which is a renaming of SAS Ireland — and SAS Link which will function as a regional carrier for the mainline brand.
• Swoop announced plans to swoop into Punta Cana (PUJ) beginning December 5 with 2x-weekly flights from Toronto/Pearson.

I remember the first time I used a universal remote control. I thought to myself “well now this changes everything”

Norse Atlantic Identifies U.S. Destinations

Norse Atlantic Airways, the Norwegian startup launched by three guys named Bjørn that’s nearly a carbon copy of Norwegian despite what it claims, plans to begin flying next spring with 15 B787 aircraft and we now know where it’s planning to go at launch.

The carrier filed for permission from the DOT to fly to three U.S. destinations from Oslo: Fort Lauderdale, New York/Stewart (SWF), and Ontario (ONT). The first thing to jump off the page is the airline’s plan to lower costs by flying into alternative airports and not Miami, New York/JFK, or Los Angeles. If these routes do launch, it will be Ontario’s only transatlantic service, and SWF’s first since –guess who – Norwegian left the airport before shutting down its longhaul operation.

Everything about this airline is a little off, and this news doesn’t change that. The carrier has not announced fifth-freedom flights within Europe, with the three U.S. destinations the only dots on its route map for now. The carrier previously announced London/Gatwick and Paris as European gateways, but for now, it’ll be Oslo or bust for Bjørn, Bjørn, and Bjorn.

AA, Southwest Pilots Union Seek Vaccine Exemptions

Both the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents 14,000 American Airlines pilots and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) have come out in favor of exemptions to vaccine mandates for their members. Just under a third of the APA’s 14,000 members remain unvaccinated, while Southwest’s union said it couldn’t say how many of its pilots were unvaccinated because the carrier’s open seating policy made it impossible to know who was where.

The APA says some of its 4,200 unvaccinated members have rejected the jab due to documented medical concerns, while others have concerns about side effects with the union being caught downplaying the impressive double that many of its members are both qualified pilots and expert virologists.

Both unions say the 60-day timeline for the vaccine requirement from the Biden administration could adversely effect staffing for the holiday season. While true, if the unvaccinated pilots contact COVID-19 and are unable to fly, that will also adversely affect holiday flying.

Terminal Closure to Make Newark More Unpleasant than Usual

Newark Airport, a challenging passenger experience on its best day, is about to get more complicated as the airport closes one of three piers in Terminal A on Thursday. The closure is to allow for the continuing construction of the new Terminal A, a project guaranteed to be over budget, underwhelming, and line the pockets of both contractors and Port Authority officials.

The first pier to go contains six gates and is home to Air Canada, JetBlue, Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge, and dozens of unpleasant odors and strange sticky stuff on the floor. Air Canada will shift to other gates in Terminal A, while JetBlue will split between Terminal A and B. While JetBlue does not offer many connections at Newark, those who are connecting on flights split between the terminals will have the privilege of leaving the sterile area, taking the AirTrain to the new terminal, and clearing security again.

The other carriers in Terminal A – American, Alaska, and United Express – will continue without being displaced. The new terminal is slated to theoretically open next spring with 21 gates. Another 12, bringing it to a total of 33, are expected to be operational by the end of 2022.

• Air Busan raised $193 million in a capital increase.
• Air Canada is resuming service to India after the Canadian government lifted its restriction on nonstop flights to the country. Flights from both Toronto and Vancouver to Delhi resume today.
• Aegean is accelerating its A320neo delivery schedule, telling Airbus it’s fine taking the planes with unfinished restrooms if that speeds up delivery
• Air France plans to take delivery of if its first A220-300 tomorrow morning. The aircraft is going through final preparations including being given a snooty attitude and a chain smoking habit.
• Alaska took delivery of the first of 13 B737 MAX 9 aircraft that the carrier ordered last November.
• American announced a codeshare agreement with Indian LCC IndiGo. The AA code will be placed on 29 of IndiGo’s domestic routes within India.
• British Airways says it won’t layoff anymore workers — until it changes its mind.
• Emirates will resume flying to London/Gatwick with daily service beginning December 10.
• Finnair completed a sale and leaseback of four A350 aircraft, raising over $400 million in the process.
• Pakistan International Airlines and the Pakistani government are demanding that PIA be granted access to operate in Kuwait by October 1 or it will restrict Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways from operating in Pakistan. Kuwaiti officials plan to respond as soon as they stop laughing.
• Qantas plans to resume flying to Bali, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Johannesburg in a second wave of international restarts on Sunday, March 27.
• Qatar is looking for 40 BA pilots to fly on its behalf this winter.
• Republic Airways has no intent to go public anytime soon.
• Ryanair will resume Cork’s full complement of 20 pre-pandemic routes in the summer of 2022.
• SAA and Kenya Airways have announced their intention to form an African airline group to support each other and take a long-term view together. Considering that neither airline makes any money, this seems like a match made in heaven.
• SAS signed an LOI to add the E195 to its fleet provided the planes have working heaters.
• Singapore will once again make its flights available for partner award redemption after 14 months of wandering in a vast, cold desert.
• Spirit has an unlikely ally in its bid to win Newark slots from the government — Visit Oakland.
• United found someone else in New Jersey to talk about how great it is.
• Volotea offered furloughs to all of its employees and apparently also some people who don’t work there but just hang around the office sometimes.

People ask how I always manage to sneak candy into the movie theater. I tell them that I always have a few twix up my sleeve.

Qatar Posts $4.1 Billion Loss

Qatar Airways released its annual report for its 2020-21 fiscal year which ended in March, and the carrier posted a loss of a whopping $4.1 billion, more than double the $1.9 billion it lost a year ago.

This is the fourth consecutive year Qatar posted a loss, but this year’s loss is more than the previous three combined. Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker blamed much of the loss ($2.3 billion) on the charge related to the grounding of its A330 and A380 fleets. It should also blame flying way too many flights to places where there’s not enough demand, but that would be too easy. Besides, that’s been Qatar’s game plan since the beginning of time, so it’s nothing new.

Qatar was down to just 33 destinations at the pandemic’s worst point but is back operating to 140 destinations around the world. The carrier flew 5.8 million passengers earning $8 billion in revenue. It also received $3 billion from the Qatari government, paid as a combination of cash and BOGO coupons at Doha-area KFC locations.

The carrier closes the fiscal year with about $600 million cash on-hand, most of which is tied up in gold futures to finish outfitting its premium cabins.

Oman Air Wants to Join Oneworld

Oman Air wants to apply to join oneworld after seeing the fun Alaska has been having at the alliance’s social outings including the summer BBQ in Fort Worth and the most recent retreat in Hong Kong. The carrier is asking Qatar Airways to guide its entry into the club, and hopes to join by the end of 2022.

Oman and Qatar have a lot of overlap in their networks and the two do compete with each other, but Oman is not the threat to Qatar that Emirates is. In fact, AA directed Qatar to tell regulators that Qatar and Oman Air may work together on this one narrow item, but they compete ferociously elsewhere outside of the Northeast Middle East.

Qatar’s CEO, Akbar al Baker is currently the Chairman of oneworld and the self-proclaimed Grand Poobah of the airline industry. Neither Qatar nor its CEO had any comment on Oman Air’s desire to join the alliance other than to say it was just getting used to Alaska being let it in, and it wasn’t sure if there was room in the clubhouse for another member.

United Fined $1.9 Million over Tarmac Delays

United Airlines was fined $1.9 million by the DOT for violating the federal government’s tarmac-delay rule relating to 25 United flights. The carrier will be required to pay half in cash and will receive credit for the other half of the fine through compensation paid to passengers on the delayed flights… and as reparations for having a hub at Newark.

United agreed to pay the fine without admitting any wrongdoing, which is the same mindset of most middle school kids toiling away in detention in classrooms across the country. The 25 flights affected 3,218 passengers between December 2015 and February 2021 which seems to be an awfully arbitrary time period over which to fine the carrier, but the federal government likes keeping everyone on its toes.

• Air Canada‘s Aeroplan is offering a status match for U.S.-based flyers who are elite members of six U.S. programs, sponsored by Destination Canada. To match to Aeroplan, customers are required to visit Air Canada’s website, chug a bottle of maple syrup, and take an online politeness course.
• Alaska elites flying basic economy on American will no longer receive all of their elite benefits. Quite frankly, they’re lucky to receive any benefits and should be thankful they’re still given a seatbelt when purchasing a basic fare.
• Allegiant is leaving Cleveland, with the airline announcing it will stop serving the airport next year. Allegiant currently accounts for about 3% of the traffic at the airport.
• American and JetBlue‘s Northeast Alliance will remain in effect during the DOJ’s lawsuit, according to the FAA.
• Atlas Air will wet-lease two more B747-400 freighters to FedEx Express as part of a new long-term agreement between the two.
• British Airways will resume flying to San Diego with 3x-weekly service from London/Heathrow on October 13. The route will then operate daily beginning December 8.
• flycana is rebranding as Arajet.
• Iberia and Air Europe are both planning for significant furloughs after the Spanish government’s job protection funding is scheduled to expire on Thursday.
• Jazeera Airlines took delivery of a new A320neo — the carrier’s 16th aircraft — on Saturday.
• Qantas will no longer operate between Perth and London when international flights resume for the carrier in December. The carrier will swap Darwin (DRW) in for Perth and operate the flight from the Northern Territory airport until Western Australia reopens.
• Rex will keep its B737s grounded until at least the end of October. Somehow this is Qantas’s fault.
• Singapore is resuming its services from San Francisco to Hong Kong and from New York/JFK to Frankfurt in November. Both will restart on November 2, with SFO-HKG operating 3x-weekly and JFK-FRA operating daily.
• Spicejet made a dill to pay off most of its debts with a sale of its cargo and logistics business. The carrier cayenne ship anything without going through a third-party cargo company.
• SKY Express is beginning A320 service between Thessaloniki (SKG) and Larnaca (LCA) on October 31 with 4x-weekly flights.
• Virgin Australia ruled out the possibility of the B777 returning when the carrier resumes flying to international destinations.

I put together a Powerpoint presentation on why our next family trip should be at a water park. It has several slides.