Author: Andrew Bashuk

Allegiant Throws Darts at Map; Adds 22 New Nonstop Routes

Allegiant is taking advantage of its status as one of the ULCCs in this country that completed flights over the last week to add 22 new nonstop routes, with its base at Phoenix/Mesa (AZA) airport the big winner with seven new destinations.

Allegiant is one of three — and by far the most dominant — commercial airlines to operate to AZA. Of the seven new routes, several are to places people want to go, and also to Flint, MI (FNT).  Other new destinations from AZA are Amarillo, Springfield, IL (SPI), and Tulsa (all three plus Flint begin November 18), Orange County (begins November 19), Spokane (begins November 22), and Minneapolis (begins November 24, which just happens to be the same date Sun Country begins the route).

Two airports are adding three nonstops: Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdale. New service from Palm Springs includes Des Moines, Indianapolis, and Provo while Fort Lauderdale adds Sioux Falls, SD, Harrisburg, PA, and Peoria, IL.

Punta Gorda, FL will add flights to Northwest Arkansas and Austin, while Sarasota will get Cedar Rapids and Tulsa. For a complete listing of Allegiant’s new routes visit Allegiant.com or throw two darts on a map of the United States, and if one is a warm-weather location and the second is anywhere randomly in the Midwest, it will be likely you pinpointed a new Allegiant route.

SkyWest and Delta Announce Agreement for 16 New Airplanes

SkyWest announced an agreement with its partner Delta Air Lines to purchase and operate 16 new E175 aircraft under a multi-year agreement. SkyWest will fly the new planes on behalf of Delta under its Delta Connection brand. The new planes are scheduled to begin flying in the first half of next year once Delta figures out how many Biscoff can be safely catered on each aircraft.

SkyWest is purchasing the aircraft directly from Embraer and will receive them direct from the factory so it can enjoy that new plane smell. SkyWest is the largest owner and operator of E175 aircraft in the world, and its lead will only grow as it uses this aircraft to replace 16 CRJ900s as their leases expire in late 2022 through early 2023.

The contract is valued at $798.4 million — though it certainly paid less than that — a discount from the sticker price of an even $800 million. SkyWest was able to knock the price down by $1.6 million when it agreed to remove the seat belt from each seat in the second-to-last row of each plane, identifying those for Basic Economy passengers.

United Updates Employee Appearance Standards

United Airlines released its new appearance and grooming standards for uniformed, front-facing employees including flight attendants which will take effect at the end of this month.

Beginning September 1, staff will be permitted to display visible tattoos as long as they’re smaller than the size of their work badge and don’t have the letter A repeat in the text anywhere.

All employees will be permitted to wear their hair down, as long as it’s shoulder length or shorter. Finally, employees will be allowed to wear nail polish going forward, but United does request that employees not choose Spirit’s yellow to avoid making people think their flight won’t operate.

The relaxed guidelines will extend to other employees such as below-the-wing staff and pilots later this year. While Scott Kirby is not expected to get a tattoo to celebrate the new guidelines beginning next month, there are rumors he will grow his hair out by one extra inch in solidarity with United’s employees.

Rex Forecasts Heavy Loss Coming from Latest Lockdown

Rex will lose A$18 million, the equivalent of $13.3 million US dollars for the 2020-2021 fiscal year because of lockdowns and shutdowns in Australia according to Rex. According to everyone else, it’s from trying to be a third wheel on routes dominated by Qantas and Virgin Australia instead of sticking to more profitable regional routes.

Due to the downturn, the airline plans to furlough an unspecified number of workers in the coming days. This comes after Qantas was forced to stand down 2,500 staff, resulting from effects of the Sydney lockdown. Virgin Australia has not announced any personnel changes, likely because its new ownership and management groups are still trying to figure out how the airline lost so much money the last two years.

Rex suspended all B737 services last month while reducing the frequency of its regional services. It will not resume flying the larger aircraft until the pandemic subsides in Sydney and the rest of the country — so maybe 2035.

Norse Atlantic Delays Start

Norse Atlantic Airways, the airline started by three guys named Bjørn, revealed its aircraft livery on Tuesday but buried the lead as it slipped in the fact that it is delaying its launch for at least six months.

Founder Bjørn Larsen said the airline reassessed its launch date because of uncertainty over travel restrictions, which might be true, but the airline is trying to copy Norwegian’s failed transatlantic strategy which will come with all sorts of obstacles.

The new launch date of early next year aligns with its proposed business model to attract leisure passengers as it would put it in service just in time for summer. By beginning to operate in time for summer, the airline can expect to lose just some money, as opposed to the buckets of cash it is likely to hemorrhage in the winter. Those massive losses will now have to wait until the next winter to materialize.

What the airline wanted you to pay attention to was that it introduced its livery on Tuesday, showing off the image of an airplane with NORSE across the fuselage in bold, blue capital letters that look sharp and will be relatively easy to cover up when its fleet of 15 aircraft are sold at a discount to a new carrier when this one goes under.

• Air France will return to Seattle with 3x-weekly service beginning November 8.
• Contour Airlines will begin daily flights from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Greenville, MS (GLH) beginning October 2.
• Copa is adding its first new destination since the pandemic – the airline will begin flying from its Panama City (PTY) hub to Armenia, Colombia (AXM) on December 2.
• EasyFly of Colombia settled a trademark lawsuit with easyJet’s parent company easyGroup Holdings in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The case was heard at the courthouse on Easy Street.
• EGO Airways is being sued by U.S. aviation broker Air Exchange for having the audacity and arrogance to allegedly breach a contract.
• Etihad posted a loss of $400 million for the first half of 2021, an improvement over the $800 million it lost in the first half of last year.
• Hawaiian is the next airline to require its employees be vaccinated, as it is mandating its U.S.-based staff be vaccinated no later than November 1.
• Interjet will know whether it will need to declare bankruptcy sometime in October, but it still isn’t flying nor will it.
• Legends Airways acquired six Saab 340 freighters.
• JetBlue announced several promotions amongst senior management including Ed Baklor to head of customer care and programs – he’s now in charge of on-board Dunkin’ Donuts. Alex Battaglia was promoted to head of airports and system operations – his job is to study what Spirit did the last week and always do the complete opposite, while Allen Huang was named JetBlue’s new VP and Associate General Counsel. Lastly, Cirpian Acatrinei was promoted to senior head of technology for JetBlue Travel Products.
• Royal Air Maroc and Air Arabia Maroc will begin service to Israel later this year.
• Ryanair is closing its base at London/Southend (SEN) on November 1.
• Shree Airlines received approval from the Nepalese government to grow its Dash 8 fleet.
• Super Air Jet of Indonesia has begun scheduled commercial operations and so far it’s going super.
• TAG Airlines tagged Mexico to begin flights on August 13 from Guatemala City to Tapachula (TAP), and then on August 19 from Guatemala City to Cancun. Despite the rumors, TAP has no intention to begin service from Tapachula to Lisbon.
• Titan Airways Malta applied for permission from the DOT to operate cargo flights to the United States.

Where do bad rainbows go?

Prism.

Virgin Atlantic Looks to Go Public

Sir Richard Branson’s controlling stake in Virgin Atlantic is in jeopardy as the airline’s plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange were revealed over the weekend.

The news comes just a few months after Virgin Atlantic was the beneficiary of a £160m capital injection, and would be the first time it has sold shares to the public since 1984. The airline is currently majority-owned (51%) by Sir Richard’s Virgin Group but would see that change in the potential IPO. The remaining 49% of the airline is owned by Delta, which would see its ownership stake reduced as well despite its offer of 2 billion SkyMiles to retain its full 49% ownership share. Unfortunately for Delta, the cash value of the 2 billion SkyMiles came out to just $47.

The airline is considering the IPO to open more future capital raising opportunities while also taking advantage of the pent-up demand for international travel, especially between the United States and UK.. The airline needs the cash from the IPO to build a Virgin Clubhouse on the moon for passengers hoping to connect to Virgin Galactic for outer space travel, but still insist on elite benefits even in another galaxy.

Frontier Next to Require Staff to be Vaccinated

Frontier Airlines announced it will require all full-time employees to be vaccinated by October 1, but unlike United’s announcement, it will not threaten non-vaccinated employees with termination. Employees who decline the vaccine (regardless of reason) will be subject to regular COVID-19 testing and will be responsible for photographing animals in their natural habitat who are auditioning for the tail of a future Frontier aircraft.

The airline says most of its staff are vaccinated but declined to give specific numbers – similar to its fare buying process.

Frontier is also promoting vaccinations to its passengers – sort of. The airline amended its “Friends Fly Free” companion pass program to “Friends with Vaccines Fly Free,” with the only catch being that the promotion is on the honor system. The discount code produced for the promo is available to all of Frontier’s Discount Den members regardless of vaccination status.

Delta Makes Same-Day Standby Free

Delta Air Lines will now permit flyers to stand by for an earlier flight on the same day as originally booked for free, regardless of status with the airline. Previously, same-day standby cost $75 for non-status and Silver Medallion customers – which makes sense because having silver status on Delta is basically the same thing as non-status.

To take advantage of the new policy, passengers can request to stand by if same-day confirmed is not available and provided it’s within 24 hours of your departure time. New flights must depart on the same day as your original flight and must be prior to the original departure time unless you’re gold or above.

Both same-day standby and confirmed are available in the Delta App, at the airport, or by calling Delta and waiting four to eight hours for an agent. Unfortunately, for those who call in to stand by, it’s likely that both the earlier flight and their original flight will both take off and land in the time it takes to get an agent on the phone.

Same-day confirmed changes will still cost $75 for Silver Medallion and non-elite members on the airline.

Cathay Pacific to Introduce Economy and Business Light Fares

Cathay Pacific will introduce a new fare structure that “enhances” customers purchasing options with Basic fares in both economy and business class. The fares will be rolled out at different times in different markets – the airline was tight lipped about any other details on when the new fares would be implemented because it knows if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.

Despite the silent treatment, the new fares are expected to eventually make their way to all of Cathay’s routes with the exception of flights to New Zealand and the Americas.

Economy light – previously known as Economy Save – will see its checked bag allowance drop from 66 pounds to one single bag that cannot exceed 50 pounds. The light fare will not include seat selection or upgrades payable with Asia Miles. Business Save fares will be rebranded as Business Light, but will actually see an increase in baggage allowance – to two bags at 50 pounds each while they will also come without pre-flight seat selection or access to an on-board restroom. They will also only be permitted to eat the western meal.

BA’s Mexico Flights Beat Red List Deadline Just in Time

Last Tuesday, UK Transport secretary Grant Shapps announced that Mexico would be added to the UK’s red list, requiring 10 days of quarantine for anyone returning to the UK from the country, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status.

The policy was set to be enforced beginning at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, August 8. This left just four days for Brits in Mexico to race home, and for BA to match the demand with flights to operate.. There was no warning that Mexico could be added to the UK’s red list, catching travelers by surprise – all while they were thousands of miles from home.

BA began extra flights to get customers back to the UK as quickly as Thursday, and it moved up its Saturday departures from both Mexico City and Cancun by several hours to arrive prior to the 4 a.m. deadline. Several cut it very close, with one flight being forced to divert to Gatwick due to Heathrow’s curfew. BA2202 from Mexico City was originally scheduled for a 9 a.m. arrival into Heathrow, but ended up landing six hours early at 2:40 a.m., just 80 minutes before the change in rules.

Had the flight landed after the 4 a.m. deadline, UK citizens and permanent residents on the flight would have been subject to a 10-day quarantine — which shows the pure ridiculousness of it all — while non-Brits would be deported back to Mexico, which, if they came from a resort wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

• Air Astana is being investigated by Kazakhstan’s consumer watchdog agency.
• Air Mauritius is laying off 18 pilots, and an additional 1,300 jobs are currently at risk.
• China Southern is divesting itself of its B747 freighter fleet.
• Delta is ending domestic SkyClub access for Virgin Velocity Gold and Platinum members effective September 1.
• French Bee will move the technical stop on its flights between Paris/Orly and Papeete (PPT) to Toronto/Pearson through October 4. After that date, the stop will return to Vancouver.
• Iraqi Airways is suspending flights to Minsk but not for the reason you think… it’s due to a surge of illegal migration to Lithuania and other countries via Belarus.
• Philippines AirAsia is leading all Philippine airlines in requesting a waiver extension exempting carriers from airport and landing fees.
• SpiceJet is having to dill with legal actions after the airline defaulted on paying its fees to the Airports Authority of India, missing the payment deadline thyme after thyme.  The airline mint to meet its obligations, but didn’t caraway enough to get it done.
• TAP and the Portuguese government have been given one month to defend the $3.7 billion in aid given to the airline which does not meet EU regulations. Ryanair is somewhere smugly reading the decision while nodding its head.

What did one eye say to the other eye?
Between you and me, something smells.

United to Require All Employees to be Vaccinated

United Airlines is the first, but likely not the last, U.S. airline to require its U.S.-based employees be vaccinated or risk termination. The airline is requiring its staff to be fully vaccinated five weeks after the FDA fully approves a COVID-19 vaccine, or five weeks after September 20 – whichever comes first.

United CEO Scott Kirby has been vocal about wanting UA’s employees to be vaccinated, discussing the possibility of mandating the jab as far back as January. United has a strong track record of vaccinations for its employees to protect them from the many unknown smells and orgnaisms that live at its hub in Newark.

Airlines have been using the positive reinforcement route to encourage vaccination amongst employees, offering extra paid vacation days, cash bonuses and “get out of basic economy free” cards. But the rates have not progressed as far as some have hoped, leading United to be the first to now go the opposite route and potentially fire staff who refuse the vaccine.

Employees will be required to upload proof of vaccination, and the airline will offer rare exceptions in extreme cases for health or religious concerns. The mandate applies only to United employees, not staff of its regional carriers or other third-party vendors.

Spirit’s Hell Week Rolls On

Spirit’s operational meltdown will not end anytime soon as the airline canceled about half its flights today and expects to continue canceling flights into the middle of next week.

Spirit CEO Ted Christie told ABC News this morning that weather issues from late last week combined with staffing shortages led to the breakdown in service, as the airline had crews and aircraft in the wrong places all over the country. When crew tried to call in to get guidance on where to go next, the airline’s systems were overloaded because it only staffs one person a time in crew scheduling and that person can only be reached by calling collect – the airline does not pay for outbound phone service for its crew scheduler.

Spirit’s cancellations for this week have exceeded 1,700 and are expected to surge past 2,000 today or tomorrow. The airline hopes to return to normal by the middle of next week with all of its flights not being canceled but just delayed for hours for vague reasoning while angry people get restless in gate areas across the country.

The airline sent $50 vouchers to all customers from the last week – whether their flight was impacted or not. The good news is that the voucher is enough to cover the base fare for several flights on the airline. The bad news is it comes with a $59 fee to redeem via Spirit.com or over the phone with an agent.

Alitalia Selling Tickets for Flights It Won’t Fly

Alitalia is supposedly flying off into the sunset on October 14, and will no longer exist after that day, as its successor airline ITA begins flying the next day on the 15^th. Despite this, the airline is selling tickets for beyond the 14^th of October and most amazingly – people are buying them.

The new airline (which we all know is really the same airline) has said it will recognize the tickets sold beyond October 14 even though technically it will not be responsible for them. The Italian government says it will guarantee the value of all tickets on Alitalia beyond its expiration date which is all well and good, but that liability could be lessened if it just stopped selling them.

It’s expected that AZ will have about 255,000 outstanding tickets and vouchers on its books when it closes up shop at a cash value of about $40 million. The government will back up to $118 million worth of outstanding tickets but will only cough up the cash if there are no alternatives on other carriers, although someone – Alitalia, ITA, or the Italian government would have to buy the new tickets.

In addition to outstanding tickets, it’s unclear what will happen to miles that people have been dumb enough to horde in AZ’s MilleMiglia program. As part of its agreement with the EU, ITA cannot buy the loyalty program including its members and their account balances. One rumor is that Spirit is considering buying the program and managing it with its own, that way members can be affiliated with both Alitalia and Spirit – both airlines that don’t operate flights anymore.

Austrian Airlines Cuts More Jobs

Lufthansa Group member Austrian Airlines is cutting another 500 jobs – approximately 20% of its current workforce – after the airline posted a $112 million loss in its mid-year financial report.

CEO Alexis von Hoenbroech said the company would be cutting a total of 1,350 jobs, 850 of which are open jobs that will not be filled, plus the 500 it will cut in the coming weeks. The job cuts will effect all aspects of the airline’s operation including flight crew, below-the-wing employees, and administrative staff.

While the airline’s $150 million revenue figure from Q2 represented a 260% jump from a year ago, it also marked an 80% decline from 2019. The airline flew 1.1 million passengers in the year’s first six month, a drop from the 2 million it flew last year and the 6.7 million from 2019. Austrian has reduced its fleet from 85 planes to 73. If it finds it needs more, it’s likely Lufthansa has a subsidiary or two it killed off in the last few years but forgot about that likely has planes Austrian can borrow.

Are You Ready For Some Football? United Adds Pigskin Flights

United Airlines announced an addition of 74 flights, including 52 new routes to shuttle fans to and from prominent football games (and one involving the New Orleans Saints) this fall. Of the additions, 58 flights are between college towns including 44 unique point-to-point flights.

Added flights will be a benefit to fans headed to both major college and NFL games this fall, with unique city pairs such as State College, PA (SCE) to Cedar Rapids, IA (CID) and Lincoln, NE (LNK) to Lansing, MI (LAN). United is also offering unique flights to games that are not expected to be remotely watchable, such as Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP) to Syracuse for Clemson and Syracuse.

The airline is adding 16 new flights for four NFL games this fall. It will fly from Green Bay (GRB) to New Orleans on opening weekend for the matchup between the Packers and Saints, plus between Tampa and Boston when Tom Brady returns to New England on October 3.

• Air Atlanta Europe added its first B747-400.
• Air New Zealand is extending its gold status match qualification period through the end of 2021 for elite members from both Qantas and Virgin Australia. Rex is expected to sue NZ to have its elite members included in the status match and for adding too much elite member capacity in Oceania.
• easyJet is undergoing a capital restructuring review amid speculation that it will be taking on new ownership.
• Nok Air’s proposed fiscal rehabilitation plan was approved by 76.7% of its creditors. The plan will now be presented to Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court.
• OWG took delivery of its first B737-800.
• Volotea is wet leasing a B737 for the summer. It’s like summer camp, except for an airplane.
• Wingo received its foreign air carrier permit from the DOT.

What do you call security guards working in Samsung shops?

Guardians of the Galaxy.

US Government Nears Plan to Reopen Borders… Someday

Despite no official announcement – yet – the federal government is moving towards a plan to reopen the border to visitors from most countries, provided the traveler has been fully vaccinated. The requirement to be vaccinated would only apply to foreign visitors, not American citizens or permanent residents who are, at last check, still allowed in as long as they don’t test positive for COVID.

Few details have been released about the potential plan, leaving several questions that will need to be answered in the coming weeks. There’s no guidance yet about what the government will require for unvaccinated children traveling with vaccinated parents; what vaccines would be approved for entry into the United States; if pre-travel testing will still be required prior to entry; and if visitors from countries that do not put ice in their drinks will be admitted.

The current discussions at the White House center around visitors arriving by air; its unclear if different protocols will be in place once land borders with Mexico and Canada reopen for non-essential travel. In the meantime, visitors hoping to travel to the United States can be optimistic that they’re closer to visiting than before, provided they book travel on any airline but Spirit.

Spirit Operates a Handful of Flights as Scheduled

We’re going to take a more positive approach towards Spirit’s operational, shall we say, challenges today. The airline completed at least one flight as it was originally scheduled for the fifth consecutive day today, getting dozens of passengers where it is they were hoping to travel.

The airline continues its proactive approach in supporting its customers as it went ahead and began canceling flights for Friday before 8 a.m. on Thursday. It expects to cancel over half its flights again on Thursday, proudly giving its customers more time at their vacation location or at home with loved ones. This comes one day after it gave passengers on 60% of its flights an extra day at home or on vacation.

Despite obstacles that Spirit and Spirit only must deal with, such as poor weather and staffing issues, the airline managed to rebook a few of its customers on new flights that are likely to operate sometime in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, the airline is proud to offer accommodations for its passengers on the floor of its gate areas and terminals across the country. The accommodations, which are free of charge to the passenger, come with access to a hard linoleum floor, bright florescent lights that never turn off, overpriced retail outlets, and quasi-clean restroom facilities.

Frontier Reports Second Quarter Earnings

Frontier’s Q2 earnings are in and the carrier brought in $550 million in gross revenue, a 184% improvement from a year ago. Total expenses for the quarter were $532 million, as Frontier nosed out an $18 million profit when accounting for the $87 million in CARES Act cash it received to offset payroll expense.

The airline operated with a load factor of 80% during the quarter and its 6.93 million ASMs exceeded the 6.87 million ASMs it operated in Q2 2019. It expects to operate approximately 2-4% greater capacity during Q3 compared to Q2 and it plans to break even or sustain a small loss overall. It also expects to operate most of the flights it scheduled for the quarter and not cancel a week’s worth of flights in one swoop like one of its ULCC competitors.

Frontier closed the quarter with $936 million cash and cash equivalents, of which $266 million came from proceeds from its IPO, with the rest coming from animal enthusiasts who donated cash in support of the furry creatures on the tails of Frontier’s fleet.

Canada’s Border Staff Plans Strike as Border Reopens

Canada is slated to reopen to fully vaccinated Americans on Monday, and to visitors from other countries on September 7, but the reopening is not looking as if it will be smooth with Canada’s border guards planning to strike beginning tomorrow, August 6.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) plan the strike to take place at airports and land border crossings in the country. The CBSA says the strike is a result of pay issues, a toxic work culture, generic coffee at border stations instead of Tim Horton’s, and yet another American team winning the Stanley Cup this year.

The union says its groups would perform their jobs during the strike, obeying all of the policies, procedures, and laws applying to their work, and perform their duties to ‘the letter of the law’. The group says this will likely lead to long and unavoidable delays as its members carry out their jobs exactly as they were trained to do and nothing else.

A negotiation session is scheduled for tomorrow, likely at a frozen pond in the Yukon, but the job action is set to begin at 6 a.m. ET on Friday morning if a deal is not struck prior.

Qatar Grounds 13 A350s

Qatar Airways’s spat with Airbus over the degradation of the paint job on its fleet of A350 aircraft is growing as the airline is grounding 13 of its A350 aircraft indefinitely. As an interim stopgap, the airline is returning its previously mothballed fleet of A330s back into service to pick up the slack.

Qatar has been noticing a condition on its A350 fleet where “the fuselage surface below the paint is degrading at an accelerated rate.” It stopped taking delivery of new A350s earlier this summer until the issue could be fixed, which has clearly not happened. Airbus’s original fix was to deny a problem existed and then suggest each passenger be given a paintbrush prior to boarding so they could touch-up wherever the paint had started to cause issues.

Qatar says the Qatari government regulators forced the grounding of these aircraft and is requiring they stay grounded until a permanent fix is discovered. The airline is the largest customer for the A350 and has so far taken delivery of 53 of the 76 it has on order.

• AirAsia snagged $56 million dollars from the merger between Fly Leasing Limited (Fly Leasing) and Carlyle Aviation Partners.
• American is expanding access to its flagship lounge for passengers booked in business class on flights between Honolulu and CLT, DFW, and ORD; also DFW to both Maui and Kona.
• DHL Express ordered 12 electric freighters from Evilation. UPS is expected to deliver the aircraft to DHL.
• El Al will test passengers midflight for COVID-19 on its flight from Tel Aviv to New York/JFK, because it seems like a fun party trick that hadn’t been tried yet.
• Lufthansa’s first class terminal in Frankfurt will reopen on September 1.
• Porter signed a major service and support agreement – basically they signed up for the 60,000-mile warranty program – with Embraer.
• PNG Air and Link PNG’s merger was squashed by Papua New Guinea’s Independent Consumer Competition Commission.
• Qantas‘s auction for two old A380 business class seats sold for 2 million Qantas Points – those 2 million points have a dollar value of A$40,000 or nearly US$30,000. The same 2 million miles on Delta would yield someone one Main Cabin seat – and not to take home, but to sit in while flying from Seattle to Spokane.
• RoyalJet Bermuda received an AOC to begin operating as a subsidiary of the UAE’s charter carrier RoyalJet.
• Ryanair is opening a new base in Newcastle next summer. It will base two aircraft at the airport and will operate 63 weekly departures on 19 unique routes.
• SAS will begin service to the Canary Islands on October 30, offering 17 weekly departures on six routes from four Scandinavian cities.
• South African received its new AOC from the SA government for eight aircraft to fly as part of its restart.
• United secured a slot to operate BOS-LHR this winter from BA in exchange for two reservation agents, a drink cart, and a baggage carousel at an airport to be named later.

How does a cucumber become a pickle?

It goes through a jarring experience.

Spirit: When You Think it Can’t Get Any Worse…

Spirit’s operational meltdown has reached its fourth day, and amazingly, not only is it not getting better, it’s getting worse.

The airline canceled 306 flights – 45% of its schedule before 7 a.m. Eastern this morning with the number of cancellations creeping towards 400 by noon. This is one day after the airline cancelled an astonishing 61% of its schedule and delayed another 19%, meaning just 20% of its schedule operated on-time.

It appears Spirit is firmly in the rare doom spiral when almost nothing can help short of shutting down and resetting the airline. It’s even worse thanks to customers revolting in terrifying ways. How bad is it? Well, it seems some staff in San Juan were hiding after travelers began rioting, according to some reports.

It’s bad for passengers, but just imagine being a frontline employee working for Spirit with no ability to help at all. Whenever they get those airplanes flying again, they’ll need to fill an A321 up a third with therapists, a third with Zoloft, and a third with BuzzBallz because this experience will not be forgotten easily.

Home is Where the Best Deal from Local Tax Authorities Is: JetBlue Stays in NYC

JetBlue Airways announced its intention to keep its headquarters in New York and move forward with an expansion of its home at JFK’s Terminal 6 after coming to terms with the city and mayor, New York senator Chuck Schumer, and New York governor (for now) Andrew Cuomo.

JetBlue’s current lease in Long Island City ends in 2023, and the airline flirted with moving its HQ and the hundreds of jobs that come with it to South Florida. The city and state government, led by Senator Schumer, were vocal that the airline – and its jobs – stay in New York beyond 2023 when its lease expired.

The airline is also going ahead with its plan to renovate its home in Terminal 6 at JFK, also a top priority for Governor Cuomo and the Port Authority. The project is slated to cost nearly $4 billion and will be primarily privately financed. Groundbreaking is expected next year with opening scheduled for 2025. The Port Authority is said to be focused on the terminal expansion and renovation as its second top priority after it fixes the price of beer and fries at LaGuardia. The rats over there have a lot of political sway, and the high prices mean fewer leftovers for them to get out of the trash.

The airline says it plans to add jobs at its Queens headquarters on top of the 1,300 that work there now. It also expects to add hundreds of jobs at its three NYC-area airports to coincide with increased flying from its Northeast Alliance with American.

Air France Grows in North America

Air France is adding two new routes from the Caribbean this winter, but they won’t fly where you might first think. The airline is adding service from its mini hub at Guadeloupe (PTP) in the Lesser Antilles to both New York/JFK and Montreal. Both routes will operate twice weekly with afternoon flights departing northbound and a southbound return the next morning.

The airline won’t be alone in operating these two routes. The PTP-JFK route was operated by Norwegian for several years beginning in 2015 but was presumably stopped during one of the airline’s dozens of bankruptcies. JetBlue began flying the route in early 2020 but stopped at the beginning of the pandemic. It plans to resume the route this November. Both Air Canada and Air Transat will offer service on the YUL-PTP route this winter, giving AF two competitors on the city pair.

In other news, Air France is adding daily flights beginning on October 31 from Paris/Orly to both Berlin and Munich for Wheneverfest aficionados. It’s also adding twice-weekly winter service from CDG to Tenerife (TFN) in the Canary Islands and twice-weekly winter service beginning December 4 to Rovaniemi, Finland (RVN) for those who want to go visit Santa and/or freeze to death.

Emerald Airlines Signs on as Aer Lingus’s New Regional Partner

Emerald Airlines signed with Aer Lingus to enter into a franchise agreement effective January 1, 2023. The agreement is for Emerald to operate Aer Lingus regional flights for ten years, through the end of 2032. Aer Lingus chose Emerald because Leprechaun Airlines, Guinness Airlines, and South Bend Aviation failed to proffer a bid.

Emerald will operate ATR turboprop aircraft on the regional flights. It will fly between Ireland, regional airports in the UK, the Isle of Man, and Jersey (the old one, not the new one). Emerald has recently taken delivery of two planes and is in negotiations for four more. It expects to have a fleet of 14 by the time the contract begins.

Aer Lingus has been looking for a new regional partner since Stobart Air went out of business earlier this year. Stobart’s contract with Aer Lingus would have expired at the end of 2022. BA CityFlyer stepped in this summer when Stobart ceased flying and will continue to do so for the next 16 months because it beats the alternative of furloughing everyone.

EU Adds Travel Fee for Health Screening

The EU agreed to levy an $11 fee on non-EU citizens traveling to the Schengen area from countries that are exempt from visa requirements. The charge is for a health and security check that is expected to be operational by the end of next year.

The new fee will come with an online screening form for travelers to fill out prior to travel. It will aim to identify health risks posed by travelers in addition to ensuring that they feel confident and secure about their decision to travel with a special pamphlet entitled “So you wanna visit Europe?”

The fee and screening system had been first proposed in 2016 but was held up, along with everything else in Europe, by Brexit. With the UK firmly out of the EU and never coming back, the bloc has returned its attention back to the fee. The UK is in discussions about launching its own screening system but nothing it proposes will come into being until 2024 at the earliest.

Visitors subject to the authorization will only have to fill the form out once every three years. Authorizations will also be valid for multiple entries into the EU.

• Air Tanzania is asking the Tanzanian government for assistance in revamping its fleet and clearing some of its debt off the books.
• American is splitting its operation at London/Heathrow between both T3 and T5. JFK flights will operate from T5 with all other destinations operating from T3 except for those which don’t operate which will just park on the ramp on the other side of the airport.
• British Airways extended its contract with Lufthansa Technik in Manila to serve as a maintenance base for its 12 A380 aircraft.
• Connect Airlines connected with Chorus Aviation to lease Dash 8-400 aircraft with an expected delivery date this fall.
• Contour Airlines announced three new regional routes out of Indianapolis to Nashville, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh.
• Delta is considering making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for employees when the FDA gives the shot full approval.  It’s planning an incentive of 100,000 SkyMiles to each fully-vaccinated employee which should be about halfway to a one-way reward in coach.
• GlobalX received its AOC from the FAA giving it the A-OK to begin passenger operations.
• GOL announced its agreement for 28 additional B737-8 MAX aircraft. Delivery is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
• Mango’s business rescue case in South African bankruptcy court was postponed until Friday.
• TUI is pulling an anti-Lufthansa and consolidating the five airlines under its brand into one entity.
• Turkish put tickets on sale for its new route to Dallas/Ft. Worth.
• United took delivery of the first of 13 B737 MAX 8 from its sale and leaseback with CDB Aviation.

There’s a 95-year old man on my street and I asked him “After 75 years or marriage, you still call your wife ‘honey,’ ‘sweetheart,’ ‘darling,’ or ‘love.’ What’s your secret?

He said: “Goodness, I forgot her name 10 years ago, this is the best I can do.”

American & Spirit’s Operational Meltdowns Continue

A bad Monday for American and Spirit turned into a bad Tuesday as both airlines canceled hundreds of flights across the country due to crew being in the wrong places at the wrong times due to staff shortages and cascading effects from bad weather in previous days.

American had already canceled just over 300 flights Tuesday morning, representing about 10% of its scheduled flights for the day. This comes after 850 flights were canceled between Sunday and Monday with nearly 2,000 delayed. About half of AA’s cancellations on Tuesday were due to a lack of a flight crew to operate the flights.

Spirit canceled over 250 flights as of Tuesday morning, a staggering 38% of its scheduled ops. The ULCC which cancels and delays flights regularly if passengers won’t pay an on-time operating fee in the gate area is accustomed to some irregular operations, but this is a lot even for Spirit.

The TSA screened 2.24 million passengers on Sunday, a post-pandemic high, and the most it has seen in a single day since February 28, 2020. So these operational failures are well-timed to ensure the maximum number of people are impacted.

Delta and LATAM File Updates to JV Request

Delta Air Lines and its current BFF LATAM, filed updates to their DOT JV application requesting greater coordination, antitrust immunity, and more flights to and from Miami as they look to take the battle right at American and its Latin American hub.

The JV request included nine new nonstop routes between the United States and South America, a 68% increase in capacity between the United States and South America, and more frequencies and longer seasonal flying on at least nine nonstop routes. The two airlines also requested antitrust immunity to create a fully metal-neutral operation and work together on revenue management, network planning, joint Secret Santa programs, and a combined canned food drive during the holidays.

Delta plans to add at least 20 domestic flights to Miami to feed its burgeoning Latin America network out of the airport. The airline says once the JV is put in place, it will result in a 33% increase in capacity and a 57% increase in flights out of Miami from prior to the pandemic.

The JV has been approved in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay but remains pending in the two counties that matter the most – Chile and the United States.

Frontier Continues to Grow – Adds 15 New Nonstops

Frontier Airlines is adding 15 new nonstop routes with Miami being the largest beneficiary of this particular route addition, as the airline will operate to nine new cities from the airport:

• Memphis (3x-weekly, beginning November 1)
• Portland, ME (3x-weekly, beginning November 1)
• St. Louis (3x-weekly, beginning November 1)
• Syracuse (2x-weekly, beginning November 1)
• Norfolk (3x-weekly, beginning November 2)
• Albany, NY (2x-weekly, beginning November 4)
• Rochester (2x-weekly, beginning November 4)
• Aruba (once weekly, beginning November 20)
• Providenciales (once weekly, beginning December 18)

In addition, Newark will see flights to three beach destinations: 3x-weekly to Montego Bay beginning December 17, once weekly to Providenciales in Turks & Caicos beginning December 18, and 3x-weekly to Nassau beginning December 19.

The one-off additions from the other three cities are Denver to Los Cabos 3x-weekly beginning October 9, Jacksonville to San Juan 3x-weekly from November 1, and Philadelphia adding 3x-weekly flights to Nassau starting November 2.

Allegiant Adds Ten Airplanes

Allegiant Air signed an agreement with Air Lease Corporation to add ten certified pre-owned A320-200s to its fleet.

Allegiant’s fleet planning team was killing time over the weekend and stopped by Air Lease Corp’s lot “just to look” with no intention of buying but were sucked in by the can’t miss deals on the gently-used aircraft. The airline still wasn’t going to commit to the planes, but when the salesman told them that someone else had been by to look at the planes that very morning and seemed “very interested,” the fleet planning team was convinced they better go inside and sign the paperwork before someone else did.

Despite already operating 35 A319-100s and 78 A320-200s, this was a deal too good to pass up. Air Lease Corp only runs its summer lease-a-palooza once a year, and Allegiant did the right thing to take advantage of the sale. The airline owns most of its planes, leasing just 21 of the 114 planes in its fleet before this deal, but was convinced of the economic benefits of leasing by the salesman, and are even considering going down the lease-to-own path, especially if they end up going over the 30,000 annual miles each plane was allotted for the life of the lease.

Qantas to Offer Unlimited Travel for Some Vaccinated Australians

Qantas is launching a vaccination contest later this year with fully-vaccinated Australians eligible to enter the drawing to win great prizes including unlimited free travel on the airline for a year.

Ten grand prize winners will receive unlimited travel on Qantas and Jetstar for themselves and their family of up to four people – albeit in economy class – for Qantas’s entire network. While flights to New York and London are available for the grand prize winners, after enduring those long flights in economy multiple times, winners may not feel so lucky anymore.

Runner-up prizes will include discounts on regular flight bookings, Qantas points and status credits, and a million loyalty points from hotel chain Accor. To be eligible for the drawing, one must be an Australian resident and be fully vaccinated. Those who are not fully vaccinated will be eligible for the alternate drawing of which all names drawn will be chosen to work as a check-in and gate agent for Spirit in San Juan for the next week.

• Air Canada’s Aeroplan is now an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner. There’s probably one or two sites that will offer a detailed breakdown on this news and offer you a few credit cards for your time.
• American will be able to place Alaska’s AS code on its flights between Seattle and Beijing when they launch.
• Delta resumed serving Johannesburg from its Atlanta hub on Monday. The airline is operating the route with its four-class A350-900neo aircraft.
• Emirates announced a new interline agreement with Aeromar.
• IAG is putting four slots up for bid at London/Heathrow for summer 2022, because they have to. But airlines bidding for the slots should know that IAG doesn’t want to give them up and may not have to if they can convince a court that they really, really don’t want to do it.
• LOT’s €650 million state aid from the Polish government is being challenged in court by – guess who – Ryanair. The challenge to LOT’s payment makes it an even 20 airlines that Ryanair has taken to court over aid packages. If it gets to 25, it gets the next two thrown in for free.
• Oman Air is offering voluntary early retirement to its Omani employees in an effort to cut personnel costs.
• Qantas is furloughing 2,500 employees, including pilots and cabin crew, for at least two months.
• Qatar has begun returning some of its A330 aircraft to service for the first time since the pandemic, but is only using them on cargo flights for the time being.
• Royal Jordanian is adding its SkyConnect IFE system to its E-175 and E-195 aircraft.
• Ryanair plans to end service to Stockholm/Skavsta (NYO), Sweden this winter, but isn’t ruling out returning in the future when it’s not so cold.
• TAROM is implementing a staff restructuring to reduce personnel costs.
• Thai Air Asia and Thai Lion Air extended their indefinite flight suspensions as the domestic travel ban in Thailand continues.

I was at the zoo today and there was a chameleon who wasn’t able to change his colors. I asked the zookeeper what the issue was and she told me that the chameleon had a reptile dysfunction.

Spirit Struggles More than it Usually Does

Spirit Airlines is having a bad operational day – even for Spirit – as the airline canceled over a third of its flights today after canceling more than 165 on Sunday. The airline said the cancellations were due to poor weather and operational challenges – but did not specifically identify the operational challenges. It did say it’s working to get its operation back on track and made proactive cancellations to relieve stress on the network.

Lines in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and San Juan were stretched for hours with hundreds of passengers spending the night on the floor of the airport while figuring out a way to get home. Passengers in Orlando said they were in line for more than 12 hours, which is a lot, but not as bad when you remember the normal wait time to see a Spirit agent at the airport is between five and six hours.

Passengers reported a rumor that Spirit pilots had gone on strike, but both the airline and Air Line Pilots Association quashed that rumor, saying there was no strike. Rumors say the pilots did briefly consider a labor action before seeing the $14 fee Spirit would charge them for any disruptive move.

Spirit expects things to improve this week and for most stranded passengers to end where they want to be once they pay Spirit’s $29 irregular ops recovery fee and the $9 automatic rebooking fee to be placed on a new flight.

NYC Airport Prices Come Under Fire

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ordered concessionaire OTG to conduct an audit on its food and drink prices at all three major New York City airports. Apparently the Port Authority just now discovered that $27.85 for a Sam Adams Summer Ale and a $10.90 for an order of fries are a little high – even for New York.

A spokesman for OTG said that the prices at LaGuardia were incorrectly posted – the beer was supposed to be $18.15, and the fries were supposed to be $8.45. The real story here is that OTG (a) claims it was a mistake – ok, sure, and (b) thinks $18 and $8 are reasonable prices for a beer and side of fries.

Airport retailers are not permitted to charge more than 10% above “street price” according to the Port Authority, but it doesn’t specify the street to which it’s referring. Perhaps OTG is running a beer and fry stand in someone’s backyard where they charge $26 for a Sam Adams, keeping the $28 price within 10% of the “street price.”

Norse Atlantic Acquires More Planes, Hopes to Eventually Fly Them Somewhere

Norse Atlantic, the LCC transatlantic startup founded by three guys all named Bjørn, acquired six more B787 Dreamliners from BOC Aviation to bring its fleet size to 15.

The airline has plans to launch in December with low-cost Transatlantic flights from Norway to the United States, which, as we all know, is the absolute best worst time to launch. Initial routes are expected to connect Los Angeles, Miami, and New York with Oslo, London, and Paris — the latter two we confirmed are not in Norway.

The airline is adamant to point out that it is not Norwegian, an airline which previously tried this concept and is now exclusively operating short-haul domestic ops within Europe. This is not the same airline despite most of it planes being Norwegian hand-me-downs, being based at the same airport, flying the same routes with the same price structure, and having an executive team that came from the other airline. That’s all a coincidence, this is not Norwegian in any way, shape, or form.

BA Upgrades Frequencies to United States

British Airways is increasing its frequencies to five American destinations with the loosening of entry requirements in the United Kingdom.

Its flagship flight from London/Heathrow to New York/JFK will increase from 17x-weekly flights to 3x-daily on August 16. Also on August 16, BA will increase to 10x-weekly (up from once-daily) both Los Angeles and Chicago/O’Hare. The airline also reopened its Flagship US Lounge at JFK’s T7 on Sunday after being closed for 16 months.

Los Angeles will remain at 10x-weekly for just that one week, as it will then expand to twice daily beginning Monday, August 23. BA’s flight from LHR to Seattle will increase on August 23^rd from 4x-weekly to once-daily.

In addition to these increased flights in the United States, BA will add frequencies to Berlin, Geneva, and Hamburg.

India’s Ryanair Knockoff Moves Closer to Launch

Former IndiGo Airlines president Aditya Ghosh has joined up with Indian ULCC startup Akasa Air which fancies itself an Indian version of Ryanair. Ghosh spent ten years at IndiGo and will bring his ten successful years of LCC success to the new venture.

Akasa is using Ryanair’s no-frills, low-cost model as inspiration and is being funded by Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala with the expectation he will make most of his money back by innovating new and unique fees to charge customers when the airline begins service. Ghosh will team up with CEO Vinay Dube to run the airline who has a 15% stake in the airline.

Boston-based PAR Capital Management, which also has a stake in Sun Country, will be one of the airline’s investors along with AirBnB which agreed to invest provided the airline would pay its $29 cleaning and upkeep fee.

• Aer Lingus was ordered to pay nearly $10,000 in compensation to a young boy who was denied boarding on a trip to Orlando because the airline would not approve his oxygen machine to fly in business class. This was despite the machine having never flown with its bare feet exposed, nor has it ever brought a screaming baby into a premium cabin.
• American will offer 30 free minutes of TikTok without requiring a purchase of a WiFi package. If you have to ask what TikTok is, this isn’t the promotion for you.
• ANA gave Vietnam Airlines’s staff the right to buy 70 million shares of the airline in what sounds like an airline mad lib.
• Azul expects to begin its electric vertical take-off and landing network in Brazil in partnership with Lilium by 2025. The world waits with baited breath.
• Croatia Airlines is wet-leasing an A319-100 aircraft to SundAir in Germany.
• Nordica will operate its first regularly scheduled flights under its own name today.
• Qanot Sharq received its AOC from the Uzbekistan government and is moving closer to launching scheduled passenger ops.
• Qatar and RwandAir have agreed to a new strategic partnership that will offer an interline option for travelers on both airlines. The interline agreement comes shortly after the two airlines agreed to earning and burning reciprocity on their respective loyalty programs.
• Rex hired a litigation firm to continue its crusade against what it considers anticompetitive actions from Qantas. Rex will not stop until it has all approval over Qantas’s network planning decisions.
• Royal Jordanian received $35 million in federal funding from the Jordanian government.
• SA Express received a stay of execution through January 11 as unions in South Africa were able to postpone the liquidation of the airline for a sixth time.
• Virgin Atlantic has assigned its A350-1000 aircraft to operate daily between London and Hong Kong.

If the forecast calls for 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and tomorrow is supposed to be twice as cold, what will the temperature be tomorrow?

Lufthansa Introduces Sleepers Row

Beginning next week, Lufthansa will offer economy passengers an entire row of three or four seats, pillow, blanket, mattress topper, and goodnight story from a flight attendant as part of a new Sleeper’s Row product it’s rolling out on selected long-haul flights.

The product, which will cost between €159 and €229, will be available on flights of 11 hours or more to destinations in the Far East, Central & South America, southern Africa, and the western United States. The seats can only be reserved at check-in or at the gate – not in advance – and there will be a maximum of three offered per flight.

An average three seat row on Lufthansa is about 54 inches long, so the bed won’t be long enough for most passengers without some high-altitude yoga to fold your body in a way to fit the “bed,” but it is a reasonably priced alternative for more room. By keeping it for sale at check-in or later, Lufthansa can keep the price down by only offering inventory that would otherwise go empty.

JetBlue Defers E190 Retirements

JetBlue Airways is deferring the retirement of 30 E190 aircraft because it sees an opportunity to use the planes as a part of its Northeast Alliance with American.

JetBlue will likely use the aircraft on new routes for the airline out of New York/LaGuardia, made possible because of the agreement with American. JetBlue can use the aircraft on longer regional routes previously flown by American, freeing up AA to utilize its LGA slots for bigger planes and longer-haul flying. JetBlue had planned to retire its E190 aircraft by 2026, but it now has no firm date for their retirement.

The aircraft, which JetBlue operates in a 100-seat, one-cabin layout, was to be replaced by the A220 as it comes online for JetBlue. It will now move ahead only with the the retirement of the E190s it has on lease, with those leaving the fleet between 2023 and 2026.

Qantas Auctions Off Business Class Seats – Literally

Qantas points auctions begin this Monday, August 2, and the airline is offering up impressive #AvGeek options including A380 business class seats, a private plane for a day, and a session in one of the airline’s B787 simulators.

The airline will offer up one premium item a day each weekday next week. The auction will allow the airline to reduce its liability on some large loyalty accounts, getting customers to spend their points on items that cost the airline nothing – or close to it.

The private aircraft auction is access to a Qantas Dash-8 for up to 30 people to fly a one-day roundtrip on one of three itineraries. The flight comes with pre-flight lounge access and full hospitality on-board which means a small soda and mini-bag of peanuts. The starting bid for the trip is 1.2 million Qantas points, which is a good deal when compared to Delta, where 1.2 million SkyMiles would get you a one-way main cabin award between Dayton and Cincinnati.

Alaska Expands Dining Options

Alaska Airlines is expanding its meal options in first class and refreshment options in all classes on flights of at least 400 miles.

It’s offering of freshly prepared, west coast-inspired meals will be served in first class on all flights of 670 miles or more, despite the fact the meals will no longer be freshly prepared by the time they reach the passenger. Flights longer than 1,100 miles will receive hot meals in first which are guaranteed to be at least lukewarm by the time they’re served.

Alaska will add a full beverage service in all cabins on flights of 400 miles or longer. For flights less than 400 miles, passengers are advised to bring their own non-alcoholic beverage on board or get in their damn car and drive.

Brad Airline Struggles to Get Funding

Brad, a new entrant into the airline space in Australia, is badly falling short of its goals to be a crowdfunded startup.

The head of the startup, whose name is – Brad – is attempting to raise A$1 million ($740,000) through crowdfunding for his new airline. Brad (the guy) needs the cash by December 31 to fund the costs of Brad (the airline) and isn’t even close. Brad (the guy) had his hopes up for a fleet of narrow-body aircraft with three classes: Brad basic, Brad +, and Brad. This is real.

An initial investment of A$200 entitles investors to four Brad basic flights under three hours which is ridiculous. It seems the appeal of four Brad basic flights isn’t getting the job done as the fundraising drive has brought in just A$3,821 of the A$1 million it was shooting for. Contributions are non-refundable, although Brad says it will offer refunds (minus credit card fees) on December 31 when if the drive falls short. Whether that’s a real refund or an Air Canada “refund” remains to be seen.

Brad is also seeking investors willing to invest as much as A$100,000 to fund the airline and Brad (the guy) has offered – get this – generous luggage allowances to potential investors at this level for providing funding.

• Air France will be able to keep the €7 billion in aid it received from the French government although the EU did attach more conditions to approve the deal including ensuring Air France is the only beneficiary of the aid package.
• Air India is hanging onto its fleet of 4 B747 jets for the time being, despite previous reports.
• El Al has asked the Israeli government for permission to delay its $105 million share offering.
• Fiji Airways is returning two leased A330-200 aircraft a few months before the end of their lease.
• IAG Cargo reported revenues of €419 million for the second quarter of 2021.
• Regent Airways of Bangladesh plans to restart scheduled operations using ATR Turboprop aircraft only.
• SpiceJet and Go First were granted $20.5 million in state aid from the Indian government between them, with $17.1 million going to SpiceJet and $3.4 million to Go First.
• Ukraine International Airlines will resume flying to Nice with twice weekly service between August 8 and September 29.

How do you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? You will see one later and one in a while.

American Finds New Friend in South AAmerica

American Airlines signed a letter of intent to acquire a minority stake in South American ULCC JetSMART in order to codeshare and offer loyalty program benefits for AAdvantage fliers on the South American carrier.

American is looking for a rebound relationship after its breakup with LATAM in South America late in 2019 and found a potential partner in JetSMART. The ULCC is owned by Indigo Partners, the private equity firm that owns several ULCCs including Frontier, Wizz Air, and Volaris.

AA operates to 17 cities in South America, while JetSMART would provide connectivity to the 33 cities it serves with connecting options through six shared airports: Cali, Medellin, and Bogota in Colombia, Lima, Buenos Aires, and Santiago. American’s loyalty program will also now be useful for those in South American who are looking to travel locally.

For more AA’s new pAArtnership with JetSMART, please visit today’s post at CrankyFlier.com.

Avelo Adds Four from Burbank

Avelo Airlines announced the launch of four new routes from its home in Burbank beginning this fall.

The airline will launch twice-weekly service to two destinations in Utah: Provo (PVU) and St. George (SGU) beginning September 17. On September 30, twice-weekly flights to Monterey, CA (MRY) will begin, and lastly, twice-weekly service to Fort Collins, CO (FNL) will launch September 6.

Fort Collins has not had scheduled passenger service since Elite Airways left the airport in October 2016. Elite operated CRJ service between FNL and Chicago/Rockford (RFD) for about a year. Prior to that, Allegiant flew sub-weekly service from FNL to both Las Vegas and Phoenix/Mesa from 2003-2012.

Avelo will join JSX on the Burbank-Monterey route, while Allegiant is the only airline flying to Provo right now. American, Delta, and United serve St. George through their regional operations, but Avelo’s flight will be the only ones to operate from the Los Angeles area.

Spirit Drops $288 Million in Q2

Spirit’s second quarter earnings report was released today and the airline lost $288 million on revenue of $859 million. The revenue figure is a drop of just 15% compared to Q2 2019, and a huge improvement on the $138 million in revenue it earned last year.

Load factor for the second quarter was 84.4%, just a 0.6% drop from 2019 on 5.1% less capacity. Spirit operated 78.3% of its flights on-time, which means on nearly 22% of its flights, a majority of passengers declined to pay an additional $12.99 to operate the flight on-time.

The airline ended the quarter with $2.2 billion in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents. As is standard from Spirit, of its $859 million of revenue in the quarter, $858,600,240 was from fees while the airline hauled in just $399,760 in airfare.

Allegiant, Sun Country Also Release Earnings

It’s ULCC earnings day, with Allegiant announcing a $95 million profit* and Sun Country showing a profit* of $52 million. With both airlines, the profit comes with an asterisk because 1.) never trust accountants 2.) a profit only appears when adding in federal government PSP funds.

Allegiant reeled in $472 million in revenue for the quarter, just a 4% drop from 2019 and a 254% increase from a year ago. Allegiant operated with a load factor of 70.8% for Q2, a 16% increase from the year’s first three months.

Sun Country earned $149 million in operating revenue for Q2, a 321% increase from a year ago. During the quarter the airline grew its ASMs by 5% from Q1, but it was still down 17% compared to Q2 2019. Allegiant earned $29 million from its charter service — a 12% increase from last quarter — but still down from 2019 due casino flying still not having recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Allegiant ended the quarter with $1.2 billion cash and cash equivalents on-hand, a step-up from the $728 million it had on March 31, with most of the new revenue coming from the airline cashing a huge futures bet from January for the Milwaukee Bucks to win the NBA Championship. Sun Country closed Q2 with just $311 million cash on-hand, forcing it to ask employees to donate any loose change to the company at the end of each workday.

Air Canada Adds from Quebec City

Air Canada announced two new destinations from Quebec City (YQB) along with increased frequencies from YQB to Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Orlando and Fort Lauderdale will be added to Air Canada’s schedule from YQB beginning November 19 for FLL and December 17 for MCO. The flights to Fort Lauderdale will operate 4x-weekly while Orlando will be just once per week. Both flights will come with complimentary sunscreen distributed on-board to protect the traditionally pasty residents of Quebec from the harsh Florida sun. The airline will also resume its service from Quebec City to Cancun and Punta Cana. Both destinations will see twice-weekly flights, with Cancun resuming December 4 and Punta Cana on December 5. These routes, and all Air Canada flights to and from YQB, are operated by Air Canada Rouge on the airline’s A319 aircraft.

At the end of the release, the airline says its new refund policy will apply to all tickets purchased. The new refund policy does differ from the old refund policy in that it claims to be an actual refund policy and not a ruse designed to keep your money from you.  We’ll see.

• Allegiant will receive ten A320 aircraft through a lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation with delivery scheduled to take place this fall through next summer.
• American is finally, mercifully returning mediocre, overcooked, bland hot meals to its first class cabin on domestic flights. We did it, America.
• Condor announced an order for 16 A330-900 aircraft with delivery expected to begin next fall. There’s no sign that the order is tied to the fact that the EU re-approved €525 million in state aid to the airline.
• Norwegian issued 233,550,000 new shares to creditors that are likely very valuable considering the airline files for bankruptcy roughly once every six weeks.
• Qantas will introduce a vaccination passport for international flights via a digital health app. It expects to launch the app when the airline returns to international flying sometime in the next decade.
• Singapore posted a $320 million loss for the financial quarter ending June 30.
• Spirit is the first U.S. airline to announce it will fly to the new Palmerola International Airport. The airport, located approximately 50 miles from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa is scheduled to open later this year. Spirit will fly daily from Fort Lauderdale and Houston/Bush with 4x-weekly flights from Miami. Passengers will be responsible for a mandatory $11.99 new airport fee to be paid at booking.
• United will launch pre-order meals, snacks, and beverages up to five days before travel via its app today. The pre-order will apply to select flights and likely won’t be the one you’re on.

What’s the best way to watch a fly-fishing tournament?

A live stream.

London is Calling…Finally

Travelers from the United States and European Union countries on the amber list who are fully vaccinated will be permitted to visit the United Kingdom without quarantine beginning this Monday, August 2.

The UK government will permit those who are vaccinated using a US or EU-approved shot to exempt themselves from quarantine provided they have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival and pass another PCR test on their second day in the UK.

The remaining exception will be for visitors from France, who will still need to quarantine upon arrival in the UK, regardless of vaccination status, because, well, it’s the French.

United became the first U.S. airline to announce a ramped-up schedule to the UK with the announcement as it adds a second daily flight from Washington/Dulles to London/Heathrow next month. It will operate six daily flights from the US to the UK, with two from Dulles and one a day each from Houston/Bush, Chicago/O’Hare, Newark, and San Francisco.

Delta Extends Medallion Status and Waffles on Basic Economy

Delta Air Lines is the first U.S. airline to extend elite status within its loyalty program beyond 2022. Most airlines announced elite status extensions last year through the end of 2021, and Delta is now the first to take it a step further.

Members with elite Medallion status will maintain their current level through January 31, 2023 which marks the end of Delta’s 2022 Medallion year. The airline is also rolling over all MQMs earned this year to next year, along with regional and global upgrade certificates. Award travel will continue to count towards elite status through the end of the next year – although Delta reports that only nine SkyMiles members have successfully purchased an award ticket this year so this one won’t hurt Delta’s bottom line too much.

Delta is also returning the ability for Basic Economy passengers to change their flights through December 31. Most airlines allowed changes on basic fares last year but returned basic fares to their changeless, seat assignmentless, shame-filled dungeon earlier this year. Delta was one of those but will go back to allowing changes to allow for call wait times while it increases staffing. Because changing policies and added confusion always leads to lower call volumes.

American FA and Pilot Unions Want a Good Night’s Sleep

American Airlines’s pilot and flight attendant unions informed the airline that it is not providing adequate transportation and hotels on layovers, and that it’s leading to crews not receiving proper rest before working flights.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants and Allied Pilots Association formally filed grievances on Tuesday, pointing to the specific example that AA flight attendants were forced to overnight on cots at Glacier Park International Airport (FCA) in Montana on July 17. While the unions acknowledge this is the most extreme case of not having proper accommodations, they say it’s been common practice for crew to arrive at hotels that do not have rooms for them, forcing long waits on hold to find alternate options.

APFA says flight attendants are struggling to get transport to crew hotels and end up having to Uber to the hotel at their own expense to then find out that there’s no room at the inn.

The pilots’ union wants its members reimbursed for lodging expenses when they have to find rooms on their own which seems to be a reasonable request. The airline has countered by offering crew the ability to sleep on the aircraft while it overnights, saying that the “coach lie-flat” option is nicer than most hotels anyway and it comes with nearly unlimited bags of small pretzels and hand sanitizer.

Hawaiian Nudges Towards Profitability in Q2 Financials

Hawaiian Airlines’s Q2 financials showed a loss for the quarter of just $6.2 million, much of which can be accounted for by the increase in POG juice costs due to supply chain issues in the islands.

The $6.2 million loss is a $101 million improvement from Q2 last year when the airline lost over $107 million. Revenue for Hawaiian was $411 million on operating expenses of $392 million. Hawaiian’s $411 million gross revenue is down 42% from Q2 2019 while operating 30% less capacity.

The airline ended the quarter with $2.2 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, macadamia nuts, and leis. It has $2.2 billion in outstanding debt, much of which is in POG juice futures and figuring out what to do with the ukuleles from its recently shuttered ‘Ohana regional subsidiary.

Small Cities Get Big Cash from DOT

The Department of Transportation awarded $18 million to increase flight options to places no one wants to go smaller airports and communities, with American and United ending up the big winners in the cash payouts.

The Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCADSP) may be targeted to small cities and airports, but it does not have a small name. The program aims to offer subsidies to reduce airfare in markets that traditionally are above average. Seventy eight airports applied, seeking a total of $58 million. The $18 million that was awarded will be split between 22 winners – a reminder that when it comes to applying for SCADSP funds, just like in life – we can’t all be winners.

Eleven of the 22 winners identified United and SkyWest as their partner airline, with those 11 splitting over $9 million of the cash with Washington/Dulles seeing the potential new service from seven cities. Airlines listing American as their partner airline won nine awards for a total of over $7 million. Spirit won $425,000 for new service to Manchester, NH, and then promptly charged the airport $18.99 as a government-funded new service fee.

New Haven and Avelo were losers in the process, with the airport applying for $800,000 to boost Avelo’s presence but not getting anything but a year’s supply of DIY New Haven pizza kits as a consolation prize.

• Air Nostrum correctly predicted that the EU would approve its €9 million in Spanish state aid.
• airBaltic paid its second bond coupon to investors for €13.5 million. This coupon was expected to be good for a buy one, get the second half-off, but the airline declined to comment.
• Bulgaria Air will begin service between Dubai and its Sofia hub with 2x-weekly flights on September 19.
• Condor’s new majority shareholder is European asset manager Attestor.
• Delta plans to increase capacity to Canada by 150% in September. Toronto/Pearson will see the greatest increase in service with 10 daily flights including the introduction of daily service to New York/LaGuardia for the first time.
• Ethiopian Airlines will begin 3x-weekly service between its Addis Ababa hub (ADD) and Amman (AMM) beginning August 30.
• flydubai completed a sale and leaseback of two B737 MAX 8 aircraft with Novus Aviation Capital.
• ITA (the Italian one) shareholders approved to light €700 million on fire a €700 million capital increase for the airline.
• LATAM has been granted exclusivity to file a reorganization plan as port of its Chapter 11 restructuring until September 15.
• Malta Air took delivery of its first B737-8200 aircraft.
• Qantas has raised the possibility of making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all staff. Upon hearing the news Rex immediately went to Australian regulators to complain that Qantas is dumping too much vaccine into the marketplace.
• Nauru Airlines will receive a cash infusion worth $1.6 million from the Nauru government.
• S7 Airlines placed an order for 24 A320neo aircraft for a LCC it plans to launch sometime next year.
• Virgin Atlantic will now codeshare with Middle East Airlines on itineraries to Beirut from the United States, connecting through London.

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