Author: Andrew Bashuk

Alaska Says Goodbye to LAX-JFK

Alaska Airlines announced over the weekend that the airline is leaving the Los Angeles-New York/JFK market, likely due to the Eskimo on the tails of it planes being uncomfortable around the movie stars that frequent the route.

Alaska is adamant that it is not abandoning LAX, and it’s not abandoning JFK. In fact, it’s not even abandoning the Los Angeles-New York market, instead opting to grow up to 4x daily in LAX – Newark. Newark — the official NYC airport of Cranky Daily — will also keep 4x daily to Seattle, 3x daily to San Francisco, and 1x daily to both Portland and San Diego.

From JFK, meanwhile, Alaska is going to run 12 daily flights with 4x to Seattle and San Francisco along with 2x to Portland and San Diego.

The final day for LAX-JFK will be October 6. To read more about Alaska’s changes on the route and all the latest news and intrigue around Airlineville, visit today’s post on Crankyflier.com.

United Expects to Make Money Next Month

In its most recent 8-K filing with the SEC, United Airlines disclosed it expects to generate positive adjusted pre-tax income for July 2021, making it the first month the airline would be in the black since January 2020. United CEO Scott Kirby also announced that today would be the airline’s first single day turning a profit since the onset of the pandemic last spring.

The filing comes one day before United is expected to announce a large aircraft order that will likely wipe out any profit earned by the airline today and into the next month.

The airline is still receiving government assistance to cover its payroll through the CARES Act which makes it easier to show a profit. That money is still available to the airline through the end of September, but after that, United and other airlines will be fully responsible for paying their employees without government assistance. They’ll also be required to to pay them with cash, as putting together care packages from unused Polaris amenity kits will no longer be acceptable as a cash replacement.

Boeing 777X Unlikely to Receive Certification Until 2023

The FAA informed Boeing that its upcoming 777X aircraft is not ready for certification, warning the manufacturer that it realistically will not be certified for another two years.

On May 13, the FAA sent a letter to Boeing citing several issues in its rejection of a request to issue a Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) Readiness. The government responded to Boeing like a teacher to a student who hadn’t studied for the test, telling the manufacturer it wasn’t mad, just disappointed.

Boeing has been developing the jet since 2013, and at one time expected it would take to the skies by 2020. When it does get approved, the 777X will be the first major jet to be certified since the discovery of flaws in the software of Boeing’s 737 MAX. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said he is still confident the plane will be certified in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In entirely unrelated news, Boom still thinks it will be certified to fly passengers supersonically by 2029.

United Shuffles Its Domestic 777s Out of Hawaiʻi

United Airlines is replacing the domestic-configured 777 aircraft it planned to operate on eight routes to the Hawaiian Islands this fall, repositioning mostly nicer planes to the location that’s receiving the most demand. This, we assume, is due to ongoing problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines which power the domestic 777s. You may recall that one of them decided to rain parts on a Denver neighborhood earlier this year.

There are five cities from Honolulu receiving the new aircraft and three from Maui. For Honolulu, the equipment changes are:

• Chicago/O’Hare 1x daily B787-8 Dreamliner
• Denver 1x daily B777-200, 1x daily 767-300
• Houston/Bush 1x daily B777-200
• Los Angeles 1x daily B777-300
• San Francisco 1x daily B777-300, 2x daily B757-300

And from Maui:

• Denver: B777-200 and B767-300 depending on day
• Chicago/O’Hare 5x-weekly B787-8 Dreamliner
• San Francisco: B767-200 and B757-200 depending on day

Except for the B757-300, these planes have been outfitted with United’s Polaris business class in the front. The seats in the back remain packed as tightly together as ever, but at least passengers will see flight attendants wearing leis when they board the aircraft.

SWISS Unveils New Premium Economy Seats

SWISS showed off its fancy new premium economy seat on Monday, a year and a half after it announced its plans to add premium economy to its airplanes.

The new seats will be installed on all 12 of the airline’s B777-300 fleet, but the first plane to be outfitted with the new cabin won’t be ready until April. As the new cabin is gradually worked into service, it will be made available on several SWISS routes including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, and Singapore.

The seats have a fixed back shell that is designed to prevent intrusion to the passenger behind. It does not, however, stop passengers from turning around and berating the passenger behind the old-fashioned way if they’re being kicked from behind.

Each seat is between 46 and 48 cm wide and have a pitch of 39 inches and a USB port for charging, but no 100v outlet. Each passenger will be offered a pre-departure beverage which will be missed during late boarding causing outrage on certain message boards. The seats will feature a 15.6-inch screen, personal reading lights, noise-cancelling headphones, and a SWISS army knife.

• airBaltic took delivery of its second A220-300 aircraft today.
• Air France operated its first direct flight to Chennai (MAA) today.
• Cathay Pacific will require COVID vaccines for Hong Kong-based airline crew by August 31.
• Fiji Airways was granted approval for the return of the 737 MAX into New Zealand.
• Icelandair has sold a 16% stake in the airline to Bain Capital. The deal is contingent on a Bain Capital representative being appointed to Icelandair Group’s board of directors and Bain not looking at its balance sheet with Virgin Australia long enough to try and get out of the deal.
• JetBlue’s inaugural flight from Hartford to Miami operated this morning. As part of the inaugural celebration, passengers in Hartford had their returns canceled, so they never have to go back.
• Korean plans to float “green” bonds to raise $176 million for the airline to fund its B787 aircraft purchase.
• Play is planning on playing in London this summer as Iceland’s newest airline operated its first flight from Reykjavik to London/Stansted last Thursday.
• Qantas operated a 10,000-mile nonstop flight today from Brisbane to St. Lucia (UVF) to deliver Australia’s men’s national cricket team to the island for an eight game series against St. Lucia and Barbados next month.
• Qatar is not planning to begin service to Mexico City. Seriously. No matter what they tell you. Not from Doha, not from Abu Dhabi, not from Milan and not from Cancun.
• Scoot took delivery of its first three A321neo aircraft and all three have scooted their way into regular passenger service.
• Smartwings filed a lawsuit against Boeing for damage done to its business and reputation as a result of the two 737 MAX crashes. The airline filed the suit in Chicago but saw it moved to Seattle’s King County Superior Court. The airline is considering retaining Ryanair executives as consultants for the lawsuit.
• Super Air Jet, the newest and most super airline in Indonesia received its AOC today. Super.
• Sun Country is adding two new B737-800s to its fleet.
• TAP has tapped former Flybe CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener as its new CEO.
• WestJet is resuming 10 new routes across Alberta while also launching new flights from Edmonton to Penticton (YYF), Kamloops (YKA), and Nanaimo (YCD).

I hated to do it, but I fired the kid who was supposed to be mowing my lawn. He just couldn’t cut it.

Hawai’i Loosens Travel Rules Next Month

The state of Hawai’i will end most COVID-era testing restrictions for fully-vaccinated travelers to the islands. The islands are approaching a 60% vaccination rate – the figure governor David Ige said was the target for reducing restrictions – and are expected to get to 60% on or before July 8.

Fully vaccinated U.S. travelers arriving to Hawai’i on domestic flights will be allowed to bypass the state’s quarantine and pre-travel restrictions starting that day. Travelers will need to upload their vaccination records to the state’s Safe Travels website and bring the hard copy of their vaccination record with them when visiting Hawai’i. To prevent travelers from uploading false vaccination cards to gain admittance to the state, visitors will also be asked a one question quiz on the Safe Travels site – Who is currently the president of the United States? Those who answer correctly will be welcome into Hawai’i, and those who don’t will be put in a row boat and cast out to sea.

Not all restrictions are going away yet — masks, for example, will still be required indoors. When the state reaches 70%, which is expected in the next two months, all restrictions are expected to be lifted except for capacity limits in ABC Stores which have been exempt from capacity restrictions the whole time, because nothing – even a global pandemic – will deny people the greatness that is their inventory selection.

Amber Waves of Grain Continue to Cause Issues for UK-Bound Americans

The United Kingdom announced updates to its traffic light system of border management, adding Malta, five Caribbean Islands, and eight British Overseas Territories to the green list. The country relegated six countries to the red list, whose residents are prohibited from traveling to the UK. They are: Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Haiti, Mongolia, Tunisia, Uganda, and Wakanda. The latter is particularly confusing since everyone knows Wakanda, being fictional and all, has the lowest infection rate globally.

Most notably was the United States remaining on the amber list instead of being promoted to green. The EU added the United States to its equivalent of the green list earlier this week, but its former member declined to make the same move. Despite pleas and actual begging from the UK travel & tourism sector, the United States was not cleared for quarantine-free travel to the United Kingdom.

The UK Transport Ministry said its plan to allow fully-vaccinated people from amber list countries, including the United States to enter the country without quarantine is expected to take place in phases, starting first with UK residents and followed by those who know what a Pimm’s Cup is.

Milwaukee in High Spirit After First Day of Service

On its first day operating from Milwaukee, Spirit Airlines announced five new nonstop destinations from the Midwest airport. This is becoming a trend after Spirit did the same “surprise announcement” strategy on launch day in St Louis and Louisville. We’re told Manchester is getting giddy, hoping a new nonstop flight will be announced on its launch day. Top requests are Honolulu, Fresno, and Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Spirit launched its Milwaukee operation this week with flights to three cities: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Orlando. Beginning November 17, the airline will add Cancun, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Phoenix, and Tampa from Milwaukee. Those five cities all have one thing in common – they’re warm weather destinations primed for visits this winter from those escaping the harsh Wisconsin winters.

Adding Ft. Lauderdale opens up one-stop connections for Spirit flyers in Milwaukee via the airline’s hub to Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of its commitment to Milwaukee, the airline announced a donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin. In order to fund the donation, Spirit is adding a $9.99 donation fee to all itineraries in and out of Milwaukee until Spirit has been reimbursed for 150% of the donation’s value.

Belarus Tells Ukraine It’s Taking its Ball and Going Home

Belarus is not making a lot of friends in the international community these days, and it can add Ukraine to the list of nations it’s no longer going to be exchanging Christmas cards with.

Belarus’s Russian Puppet President Alexander Lukashenko has denounced Ukraine for joining with its EU neighbors to deny Belarusian aircraft the right to use Ukrainian airspace and has banned Ukrainian aircraft from using Belarusian airspace in retaliation.

This guy really can’t catch a break. So you shadily force a civilian passenger airliner with 126 people on-board to land illegally in as part of a hostile action to take a guy into custody who’s said mean things about you on the internet, and you just do it once… the whole world turns on you.

LAS: McCarran is Out, Reid is In

The FAA approved the formal renaming of Las Vegas’s airport after the former United States Senator from Nevada, Harry Reid.

The FAA said it has “finished the necessary processing steps” after Clark County formally requested the change in April. The FAA made the change in flight charting and navigation databases, but that’s just the start of the name changing process.

The complete changing of the airport’s name will be divided into three phases and cost $7 million. The money is coming from two sources – private donations and a tightening of the slots on the airport grounds. An airport spokesman declined to put a timeline on the project but did say he’d lay -200 odds that it was done by January 1, 2022.

• Aeroregional added its first B737-400 aircraft.
• American will bring booze back to its flights in economy on September 13.
• Eurowings Discover received permission from the DOT to be a part of Lufthansa’s and United’s transatlantic JV.
• ITA (the Brazilian one) is emulating its fellow Italian airline with the same name as it cancels dozens of flights before it operates its first. The airline dropped its initial schedule from 399 weekly frequencies to 317.   
• LATAM‘s creditors are planning to sue Delta and Qatar claiming the two airlines backed out of commitments to buy or lease aircraft from the airline just prior to it declaring bankruptcy. This would be worth it just to see if Delta and Qatar can manage to work with each other to put a defense together.
• Lufthansa will bring back five A340-600 aircraft that had been mothballed to operate this summer due to growing premium class demand. The airline has also confirmed its next generation of A350s, expected to arrive in mid-2023, will have first class.
• Qatar has revealed its newest business class seat on the 787-9 Dreamliner. Spoiler: it has a seat belt, tray table, TV screen, place to put your bag, and an outlet to charge your phone.
• ZIPAIR is planning to begin zipping to the mainland United States this winter.              

Therapist: “So what brings the two of you in here today?”

Wife: “He’s become impossible to live with. He’s always so literal.”

Husband: “Our Hyundai.”

Frontier Has Recovered from COVID-19

Shortly after embedding an inane COVID Recovery Fee into its fares, Frontier Airlines has quickly recovered from the disease, rescinding the fee from its normally-unbundled fares. The airline should be commended for overcoming the global pandemic in such a short amount of time, becoming a beacon for others around the world.

Frontier began charging $1.59 per person per one-way flight last month, and the fee was unearthed this week which led to extensive criticism of the airline beyond the normal criticisms for things like delayed flights, long check-in lines, and tight pitch onboard its aircraft.

Zach Kramer, a spokesman for the airline said the charge was never considered a fee, which is totally fair since Frontier on its website called it a “charge.” Totally different. He said the $1.59 was in the total fare, and supposed to go to COVID recovery including repayment of Frontier’s CARES loan to the federal government. You say potato, Frontier says $1.59 COVID fee charge.

Now the airline will presumably just raise one way fares by $1.59 each way and get the same exact end result without the PR black eye.

United Shows Basic Economy Fares Some Love

United Airlines is removing a major restriction on its basic economy fares, making it possible for customers to make changes to a basic economy itinerary if they are willing to pay the price. United is now offering a “switch to economy” upgrade that will be non-refundable.

When paying for the upgrade, the new ticket is considered a main cabin offering and comes with the “benefits” of main cabin seating which includes:

• Fee-free changes after paying any applicable fare difference
• Full-size carry-on permitted
• Free seat assignment prior to check-in
• Ability to pay (again) for an Economy Plus or First Class seat
• If an elite member, the right to use elite benefits
• Earn elite qualifying credit
• Avoid being pelted with batteries and ice upon boarding with other basic economy passengers

The price to upgrade will be opaque, similar to the price to purchase Economy Plus seating and when United plans to ever finish its Polaris installs, meaning customers will need to check the rate each time knowing it could change depending on demand and other factors.

United Expected to Announce Large Jet Order Next Week

United Airlines is expected to make an announcement for a new jet order next week – potentially the largest order ever. The airline reportedly plans to make the announcement Tuesday when it has an investor presentation scheduled since it was able to get a discounted rental rate on a venue in New Jersey.

American placed a 460-jet order in 2011 – 200 B737s and 260 A321s. That’s currently the largest order by volume with the Emirates 2013 order for 150 B777X aircraft considered the most valuable at a cool $76 billion at list prices.

United is expected to order a mix of Boeing B737 MAX and Airbus A321neo aircraft, possibly with a B787 sprinkled in here and there. It’s unclear how this would be the largest order ever, but we’ll all find out soon enough. The airline is finishing negotiations with both manufacturers on price and delivery deadlines while also trying to get the rust-proof undercoating thrown in.

Aer Lingus Short on Cash

Aer Lingus needs several hundred million euros according to Lynne Embleton, the airline’s new CEO. Embleton took over the airline in April and did so under the impression that it had been nothing but positive for the airline industry in the previous year. She expected gold at the end of the Aer Lingus rainbow and was astonished to find a spoiled glass of milk and a half-eaten, stale box of Lucky Charms as the airline’s largest asset when she took over.

The company recently announced layoffs and closed its crew base in Shannon – one of four at the time – much to the chagrin of the Irish legislature. Aer Lingus has lost $1.1 billion since travel restrictions began last spring which has depleted its cash reserves. It’s currently deep in discussions with the appropriately named Emerald Air to take over as its regional carrier after the demise of Stobart Air earlier this month. The two have signed an MOU for a 10-year contract, but the deal has yet to be formalized.

Embleton joined everyone else in Europe in being critical of both the UK and EU’s travel restrictions. Ireland is currently slated to adopt the EU’s reduced restrictions for vaccinated travelers on July 19. While that will help the airline, it’s expected to be too little, too late to save the 2021 summer travel season. That leaves EI with no choice but to raise several hundred million euros through government funding, a capital funding round, or stealing gold from leprechauns across Ireland.

Cathay Pacific Threatens to Fire Unvaccinated Pilots & FAs

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is requiring all flight crews to be vaccinated by August 31 or the airline will consider firing them from their jobs. The airline says it will consider accommodations for those who cannot take the vaccine in the near-term, but eventually everyone will need to be vaccinated.

Ninety percent of its pilots and over 65% of its flight attendants are vaccinated or have appointments to be vaccinated. The number of staff that are vaccinated has increased around 15% this month since the airline began offering incentives to employees to receive the jab.

Cathay also is offering pre-vaccination consultations at no charge to its staff to relax fears and answer questions anyone might have about the vaccine. It will offer anyone who still doesn’t want the vaccine a further incentive of unlimited positive space seating on any Singapore flight located on the wing.

• Air India is selling six A320-200s to the Indian Air Force. There’s no word if the air force is also interested in the catering carts or safety cards.
• Air New Zealand is beginning to operate a new cargo route between Los Angeles and Melbourne. The flight will operate once per week through October 31.
• Amazon is set to add ATR turboprops to its freighter fleet.
• Belavia is retiring its B737-500 aircraft by the end of the year now that it can’t fly anywhere except for Russia.
• Finnair has extended elite status and the validity of award points in its loyalty program by six months.
• Jet Airways received approval for the revival of the airline. It expects to relaunch with 30 aircraft in about six months.
• Jetstar is beginning Brisbane-Perth service, operating the route beginning this November with 5x-weekly flights.
• Lufthansa is selling access to its first class lounges for €200 to anyone flying on a same-day Lufthansa Group ticket.
• Singapore Airlines new flagship first class lounge and other new business class lounges will open this December.
• WestJet is expanding its cleverly named cargo operation: WestJet Cargo. It plans to add a dedicated B737-800 freighter aircraft to its fleet that can handle a cargo load of 6,540 cubic feet. That sounds like a lot, but we have no idea how much a cubic foot is, much less 6,000 of them.                                                                            

I got fired from my new job at the candle factory after I found out I’d have exclusively work on wick ends.

Welcome to the second TheAirchive.net Cranky Daily takeovers. Like last time, you’ll find images and links that are related to each topic below each of today’s five stories.

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly to Step Down Early Next Year

Southwest Airlines Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly announced today that he plans to step down from his current roles early next year to become Southwest’s Executive Chairman. Kelly will be succeeded in his role as CEO by Bob Jordan on February 1. Jordan currently serves as Southwest’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Services.

Kelly has been at Southwest for 35 years and been CEO since 2004. Prior to joining the airline he was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas, leaving that role because Southwest had a much better selection of honey roasted peanuts to offer in the break room.

Jordan has been with Southwest since 1988 and earned his A1 boarding position with regard to the CEO job without purchasing Early Bird. He led Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran and is credited with developing the airline’s Rapid Rewards program which can be viewed as either a positive or a negative. When Jordan takes over on February 1, he will inherit an airline that carries more domestic passengers than any other, has an established brand that most corporations would envy, and more customers that don’t know how to line up in order from 1-60 than any other company in the world.

Atlanta Leads the Way as FAA Doles Out Over $7 Billion to Airports

The FAA has awarded more than $7 billion in airport grants to keep U.S. airport workers employed and to keep construction projects active in the wake of the pandemic. The funding requires that airports continue to employ at least 90% of their pre-pandemic employees.

Money was awarded to all airports that have commercial service, all reliever airports, and some public-owned general aviation airports including the one we just opened in our backyard and deeded to the city for a period of 1 day. Of the $7,391,937,000 that was distributed, almost $6.5 billion of it went to commercial airports. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport led the way, receiving a check from the government for $370 million. LAX was a distant second with $303 million. Most commercial airports received at least $1 million, with the smallest payouts to the smallest general aviation airports going at $22,000 which will help pay for our pool.

Primary commercial service airports will also share an additional $800 million based annual boarding figures to provide relief of rent forgiveness to concessionaires. Due to the pandemic, many of the concessionaires have not been selling as many $8 20-oz. bottles of water, $14 California rolls, and $13 pre-packaged egg salad sandwiches.

Qatar Expands US Network

Qatar Airways is set for a significant increase in its service to the United States, expanding to over 100 weekly flights from its Doha hub to 12 US gateways.

The increased service will begin next week with Seattle increasing to daily service on June 28, New York/JFK increasing to twice daily, and San Francisco to daily the next day on June 29. Chicago/O’Hare, Los Angeles, Washington/Dulles and Dallas/Ft. Worth will also expand to twice daily flights for the summer until September 26. Other additions are Boston, Miami and Philadelphia increasing to daily service and Atlanta going from 4x-weekly to 5x-weekly.

JFK is the only airport to receive more than daily service from the airline in the past, and it will continue to do so beyond September 26 when the other four cities go back to daily. The summer frequencies for the airline will be more than it served prior to the pandemic, so it’s counting on the demand coming back quickly otherwise it may be forced to take another gabillion-dollar payment from the Qatari government to continue operating.

United to Require Vaccinations on High-Risk Routes

United Airlines will require crew members to be fully vaccinated to work long-haul routes to countries it deems high-risk, for as long as the virus rates in those countries continue at their current pace. To begin, the airline will require crew members to be vaccinated in order to travel to India, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Argentina.

United is not requiring that most current on-board crew be vaccinated but is incentivizing them to do so with paid days off and priority to not work flights to or from Newark. New hires to the airline will be required to be vaccinated and based at Newark.

Beginning in August, UA will take away “pay-protection” from flight attendants scheduled to work a trip to one of the listed countries who are not vaccinated. United also said it will consider adding China and Taiwan to the list depending on the result of negotiations over crew restrictions while there.

Turkish Adds Dallas & Denver

Turkish Airlines is adding two U.S. cities to its route map — Dallas/Ft. Worth and Denver — it announced today in a detailed, comprehensive press release. The airline hasn’t yet announced service dates, schedules, aircraft types or frequencies yet for the new destinations, but other than that, it’s a very exciting announcement.

The two new cities give Turkish 12 destinations in the United States. Denver makes sense for Turkish as it’s a hub for United, its Star Alliance buddy, allowing for onward connections. When Turkish begins to fly to Denver, it will be the longest nonstop route served from the airport. This is the second transatlantic flight being added to Denver as Air France will begin flying 3x-weekly from Paris later this summer.

As for Dallas/Ft. Worth, this will be about connections beyond Istanbul, with DFW being a fortress hub for rival AA and oneworld. Both Emirates and Qatar already operate to the airport from the Middle East, plus AA has a JV with BA for flights across the Atlantic.

• Aeromexico received an extension on its deadline to file a restructuring plan in U.S. bankruptcy court to September 8.
• Air Transat ended its acquisition talks with Canadian media mogul Pierre Karl Péladeau.
• American has finally done it. Its Biscoff packages offered in-flight only contain one cookie and not two. Now we riot.
• Caribbean Air is reducing its fleet and route network to stave off a $26 million loss in Q1 2021.
• EW Discover received approval to operate to the United States.
• Frontier is putting its Covid Recovery Fee to good use, adding five new destinations out of Las Vegas, beginning this August: NW Arkansas (XNA), Bloomington, IL (BMI), Memphis, Madison, and Tucson.
• Finnair and Juneyao Air have entered into a joint business partnership beginning on July 1 where the two carriers will cooperate on the Helsinki-Shanghai route.
• Garuda Indonesia is ending its service to Melbourne and Perth.
• Hopscotch, an airline that never was, withdrew its application to the DOT to operate scheduled passenger service.
• Lao Airlines will begin domestic operations on June 25. We assume those domestic operations will be in Laos.
• LATAM Colombia is increasing its presence at Bogota to serve 15 domestic destinations this summer.
• Pivot Airlines is shifting to begin Dash 8-100 ops.
• Rex is again asking the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate Qantas and Virgin Australia for increasing capacity on routes it competes with Rex on. The airline is also asking the government to investigate the koalas in the country who are eating all the eucalyptus that some Rex employees had their eye on.
• Ryanair must be annoyed with someone in Finland, because the airline announced an expansion from Helsinki, growing to 29 weekly flights to eight destinations.
• T’way Air is r’estarting i’nternational flights this f’all.

Today we have a very special moment of levity from Airchive founder Chris Sloan’s son Caleb.

What do forks, knives, and spoons dress up with? Silverware!

Today’s takeover sponsored by:

Alaska’s Fortunes Improve

Alaska Airlines raised its Q2 cash flow expectations by $100 million dollars in its 8-K filing with the SEC this week. The airline now expects anywhere from $650 to $750 million during the quarter which ends on July 31. That figure is up from a previous expectation of $550-$650 million.

The positive outlook comes from “ongoing strength in demand” for its product and greater revenue from its partnerships. It says in the filing that consumer spend levels have surpassed 2019 and that load factors are expected to nudge up slightly, with a forecast of 74-76%, up from its previous thought of 70-75%.

In more good news, Alaska will realize a savings of about $10 million through SkyWest’s CARES Act funding which will allow it to offset some staffing costs. It will also get a $5 million reduction in rates it pays an unnamed vendor which we can only assume is payment to American for “protection” any time it has to land in Philly.

The filing closes with Alaska saying it expects its Q3 pre-tax margin to be in the black, that Pumpkin Spice Latte season will start earlier than ever at Starbucks, and that the airline is eager for fall weather as many of its employees have new fall clothes they’ve been dying to debut.

Frontier Channels Inner Spirit with New Surcharge

Frontier Airlines is adding a “Covid Recovery Charge,” a fee that will come bundled with its fares. It is not an optional fee, even for those travelers who are not interested in recovering from COVID. The airline says this will offset costs due to COVID-related measures such as increased sanitation, shields at ticket counters, and PPE for staff.

The new charge certainly comes with odd timing – 15 months after the onset of the pandemic and at a time when we’re much closer to pandemic-era precautions being removed than new ones being added. Hasn’t Frontier been providing PPE for employees for over a year? If they haven’t, maybe that’s the real story.

To add this mandatory surcharge just as domestic travel is recovering feels dirty at best, even if it will be bundled in the fare as required by law. Frontier is certainly not going to win any friends… except for Spirit which we assume is taking notes and probably kicking itself for not coming up with this idea first.

Delta Expects to Add 1,000 Pilots

Delta Air Lines told employees on Monday that the airline intends to hire as many as 1,000 new pilots by summer 2022 due to the robust recovery of the air travel industry. Delta’s sales volume for domestic leisure travel has already met pre-pandemic levels and the airline believes international travel will follow in the latter half of this year.

In the memo to staff, Delta VP of Flight Operations John Laughter bellowed that Delta planned to record a profit in June – its first month in the black since prior to the pandemic.

Delta has had three staffing shortage-caused operational meltdowns over three holiday weekends – Thanksgiving and Christmas 2020 and Easter earlier this spring. The addition of these 1,000 pilots will give Delta much-needed breathing room for its pilot staffing as demand continues to grow, and it will also give the airline ready-made candidates to either be furloughed the next time there’s a downturn in demand or help clean the lounges, whichever is more useful.

Delta’s Flight to Cape Town Rejected by South Africa

When Delta announced that its service to South Africa would no longer include flying to Cape Town (CPT), most assumed it was a marketing or operational decision based on shifting dynamics since Delta announced the route last spring. But we all know what assuming can do….

It turns out that the South African government turned down Delta’s application to fly to the city. Delta first applied to the South African government last May for authority to fly the route, but despite months of lobbying from both the airline and the United States government, the request was formally denied on May 14 of this year. The U.S. government responded by denying South African Airways’s request to operate to Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC on a co-terminal basis, meaning it cannot operate “tag flights” even without carrying local traffic.

Most commercially-viable airlines wouldn’t dare operate tag flights or circle trips except in very rare circumstances anyway… like Delta turning to Cape Town since it can’t take-off from Jo’burg with a remotely full load. But, well, this is South African we’re talking about, and it’s hard to even consider the company an airline since it hasn’t flown an airplane in a year and probably won’t return to the US for a long time. In the meantime, if its employees need to come to the US, they probably won’t be able to fly Delta because all the seats will be blocked due to a weight restriction.

United Adds a Pair

United Airlines added two tiny new airports to its route map, expanding its offerings to outdoor-based leisure destinations in the west.

The airline will operate seasonal service between three hubs at Eastern Sierra Regional Airport (BIH) located near Bishop, California. BIH will receive commercial service for the first time this century – its last scheduled service was in 1988 when Alpha Air operated turboprop service to Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Jose. Let that tell you what demand looks like at the airport.

BIH will receive flights to Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. All three cities will operate once-daily beginning December 16 through March 26. SkyWest will fly on behalf of United Express using 70-seat CRJ-700s. The flights will replace United’s previous service to Mammoth Lakes/Yosemite (MMH), because MMH is no longer supporting commercial air service, making BIH the next best option for flyers headed to Mammoth Lake.

The second new destination will be Lewiston, ID (LWS). Lewiston will see daily, year-round service from Denver on 50-seat SkyWest CRJ-200s. This will be the second route for LWS, with Delta currently flying to the airport from Salt Lake City.

• Air France and SNCF French Railways are offering combined “train and air” tickets on seven additional routes beginning July 19.
• Delta will unveil a renovated SkyClub in Fort Lauderdale opening tomorrow, June 23. Admission is available for SkyClub members, AMEX Platinum holders, Delta One passengers, or the general public for the cost of 1 million SkyMiles per hour.
• Emerald Airlines won a contract to operate regional service on behalf of Aer Lingus. Research shows that Emerald Airlines is the real name of the Liverpool-based airline and wasn’t added simply to win the favor of Aer Lingus.
• Etihad is beginning flights to Vienna this summer with twice-weekly B787 Dreamliner service beginning July 18.
• Gulf Air is beginning to operate point-to-point routes outside of its Bahrain hub… because that seems like a fool-proof way to make money.
• Norwegian plans to close its Irish subsidiary and has told staff to prepare to hang out with newly-unemployed CEO Jacob Schram.
• Pasifika Air, a New-Zealand based startup that hasn’t yet flown… never will. The plans for the new airline have been canceled with founder Mike Pero blaming the Cook Islands government which seems like a pretty lame excuse.
• SKY express has made Heraklion (HER) a hub in its system, with routes from the city including four domestic destinations and seven international destinations in three countries.
• Sunclass Airlines, the next of kin of Thomas Cook Scandinavia, received tentative DOT approval to inherit the charter operating authority between the United States and Europe.

I’m on a health kick. I’ve decided to stop using the drive-thru at fast food places!

I’m going to park the car and walk in.

American CAAncels Hundreds of Flights

American Airlines canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend due to staffing and maintenance issues plus other operational shortcomings. AA is trimming its schedule for the next three weeks by about 1% to give the airline more breathing room to actually operate the flights it has listed in the schedule.

One hundred eighty flights were canceled on Sunday, representing about 6% of mainline AA’s schedule for the day. That number equals about 3% of all ops when including regional flights from American Eagle. Half the cancellations were due to crew staffing shortages with the rest being because of maintenance problems on some aircraft, poor weather in Charlotte and Dallas causing a domino effect across the network, and three different flight crews losing the keys to their airplanes.

The Allied Pilots Association, which represents AA’s pilots, and is allied, is requesting more overtime opportunities for its members to help the airline cover staffing shortages but AA has not yet taken the pilots up on the offer. American is also working quickly to retrain all of its previously furloughed pilots to bring more staffing onlin. It is hopeful to have that process wrapped up by the end of June but like most thing the airline does, that’s likely to be delayed.

Airline and Unions Ask Feds to Throw the Book at Idiot Passengers

Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing the largest airlines in the country, the Allied Pilots Association which represents AA pilots, and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) which represents 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines have written a letter to the US Attorney General asking the federal government to avail itself of a law that prohibits interference with a crew member. In theory, that can carry up to a 20-year prison sentence if the feds enforce it.

The FAA has been doling out punishment for in-flight incidents which includes $356,000 in fines to 21 passengers, but the airlines and unions want the DOJ to handle punishment to ensure criminal sanctions are on the table in addition to fines.

The letter argues that the government already has the right to punish these rule-breakers thanks to Section 46504 of Title 49 of the U.S. Code (it’s true, we looked it up) that prohibits assault or intimidation of a flight crewmember or flight attendant.

If the DOJ agrees, the industry will then send a second letter to the Attorney General in which they ask that as long as the DOJ was going to involve itself in what happens in the air, that it should also have a wider range of enforcement. The letter asks the DOG to make it illegal to expose bare feet on an airplane, recline a seat in coach during a daytime flight without at least warning your neighbor, bring any hot food on-board that has a smell, or willingly flying Spirit. If approved, all will come with a lengthy jail sentence imposed by DOJ and a sizable fine.

Boeing’s First 737-10 MAX Completes First Test Flight

Boeing completed the first test flight of the 737 MAX 10 as it moves towards getting the aircraft approved to fly passengers in service.

The flight took off Friday morning from the Boeing 737 facility in Renton, WA before flying two hours and then landing at Boeing Field at 12:38 p.m. Boeing 737 Chief Pilot Jennifer Henderson said the airplane performed beautifully, which she said without reading from a notecard or any sort of coercion from Boeing executives. She also noted that she’s being treated well, being given three meals a day, and her living conditions are “quite appropriate.”

The new MAX aircraft will offer a 14% reduction in carbon emissions and 50% reduction in noise emissions compared to other B737 next-generation aircraft. The trim systems in these plans are also expected to function as intended, unlike previous editions of the MAX. The aircraft has 450 orders from airlines around the world including United in the United States, which plans to take delivery of the aircraft and immediately send the planes to its Newark hub for “toughening up” before entering service.

BA Considers Leaving Gatwick

British Airways is again considering the idea of leaving London/Gatwick airport and consolidating its international operations from its home at London/Heathrow.

BA first considered leaving its long-term home at Gatwick last spring, early in the pandemic when it was concerned about the time it would take for travel to return to pre-pandemic levels. If the British government ends the waiver that requires airlines operate 80% of the slots at Heathrow or risk losing them, the airline might need to move all its operations to Heathrow to maintain its valuable slots at that airport.

As long as the slot waiver is extended, BA can afford to maintain its operation at Gatwick. But when that changes, the airline will be forced to make a hard decision. In the meantime, it can continue to operate from both airports and offer itineraries that require a connection between the two, causing undue stress and anxiety for BA passengers, just as the airline likes it.

 Mexican LCCs Expand South

Volaris and VivaAerobus, two competing ULCCs in Mexico, are both expanding into Colombia later this year.

When the airlines begin service, they will be the only Mexican LCCs flying to Colombia, joining two Colombian airlines on the route: Wingo and Viva Air Colombia. Interjet was the only previous Mexican semi-LCC to operate to Colombia, but it hasn’t operated the route since shutting down in March of 2020.

VivaAerobus will plant its flag in Colombia first, launching operations from Mexico City to Bogotá on August 7. The flight will operate 2x-weekly at launch before upgrading to daily on September 15.

Volaris will fly from Mexico City to Bogotá beginning October 6 with 4x-weekly service. The airline will also fly 3x-weekly flights to Bogotá from Cancún. The Cancún flight will also begin the first week of October, and the return flight will operate the very passenger-friendly schedule of departing BOG at 2:55am and arriving in Cancún at 6:24am.

• Aer Lingus will now charge Basic Economy passengers a €5.99 fee for carry-ons. Basic economy passengers will also be required to board last and be pelted with rotten cabbage from other passengers as they make their way to the back of the plane.
• Aeroflot will increase its service to Istanbul to 2x-daily beginning June 25. The airline will also offer flights once-daily to Antalya (AYT), Bodrum (BJV), and Dalaman (DLM).
• Air Manas of Kyrgyzstan plans to start flying international charters this fall.
• Azul began flying with free wifi on-board 15 of its aircraft today.
• Cathay Pacific’s First Class lounge in Hong Kong is not joining Priority Pass.  PP erroneously put the lounge in a list of future additions over the weekend, sending some into a concerningly-serious tantrum fit for a toddler.
• EasyJet and Ryanair completed a slot swap at London/Stansted.
• Emirates is boosting its service to Amman, Jordan (AMM) in July and August to include 2x-daily A380 flights.
• Frontier is playing fast and loose with the government’s restrictions on executive bonuses for airlines that received CARES act funding. In a filing with the SEC, the airline disclosed that it is still giving its top executive bonuses, but with a wink and a nod, it’s deferring payment until the government restrictions end.
• Garuda Indonesia returned 20 planes to its lessors to cut costs and is negotiating the return of seven more. It also went to a flea market over the weekend and sold most of its office supplies. The airline’s executive team is now going to have to split one pen amongst the entire office.
• Norwegian will stretch further beyond its Norwegian borders when it resumes Finland flying on June 28. It has also reduced the number of employees it plans to lay off in Spain by about 15%. While Spain sees fewer layoffs, Norway sees one more… the board removed CEO Jacob Schram from his position and gave the job as new CEO to CFO Geir Karlsen.  Schram will receive nine months pay as an “advisor” through March 31 and then 15 months’ worth of severance after the airline was unable to come to an agreement that would pay him severance more reflective of “the challenges of the industry,” which sounds like Scrham told the board to pound sand.
• Philippines Airlines will stop flying ultra-long haul flights, as those flights tend to be money-losers. The airline has not named which flights will be given the axe, but it’s expected to be its service to London/Heathrow, New York/JFK, and Martha’s Vineyard that are in trouble.
• Royal Air Maroc will restart flying the B737 MAX this fall.
• Taos Air plans to resume scheduled passenger ops on July 1.
• Vistara flight 963 last week from Delhi to Mumbai was the first flight in India to operate with a fully vaccinated crew.

A man walks into a bar after the summer solstice and orders a quadruple vodka.
The bartender asks, “Is everything alright?”

The man sighs and says, “It’s been a long day.”

FAA Pumps the Brakes on LGA AirTrain

The FAA put a hold on plans to build a $2.1 billion AirTrain at New York/LaGuardia after opponents of the project raised concerns about the environmental review process. The Port Authority had expected to begin construction this month but will now hold off while it awaits the decision of the FAA.

The FAA says it plans to issue a decision soon – but this is the federal government, so their definition of “soon,” may not be the same as most. The FAA has jurisdiction over the project because the AirTrain is scheduled to be financed by Port Authority revenues that stem from a federally-controlled $4.50 passenger facility charge.

Environmental group Riverkeeper is behind the push to further review the plans. The group would not comment on the record whether they’ve been retained by LGA’s famous rat population, but one rat spoke to Cranky Daily on the condition of anonymity to say that indeed it is the rats behind the further environmental review. The rats are concerned about their living situation being disrupted after decades of peaceful living and co-existing with airport employees and passengers.

Southwest Turns 50

Southwest Airlines turned 50 today as the airline celebrated the golden anniversary of its first flight which operated from Dallas/Love Field to Houston/Hobby on June 18, 1971. To mark the occasion, it registered today as “Wanna Get Away” day with the National Day Calendar – yet ironically enough, it’s keeping people from getting away as it canceled over 150 of flights, marking another day in what’s been a bad operational week for the airline.

Southwest says its inflight crews will be “surprising and delighting” customers with Southwest swag all day today, although most of those customers would probably settle for their flight taking off to the place it says on their ticket.

When the airline began operating 50 years ago, it did so through a loophole in the era before deregulation. By operating fully within Texas, it did not have to go through the federal Civil Aeronautics Board to become an airline and it could undercut fares as it saw fit. Southwest may not undercut the competition anymore but they’ve convinced most of the flying public that they do. Now, 50 years later, Southwest carries more domestic passengers in the United States than anyone else and has even begun some international service. It’s still based at Dallas/Love, although it no longer exclusively operates to secondary airports, and most importantly – still serves Wild Turkey – or at least it will when it brings alcohol back on-board.

US-Canada Border Closure Extended into July

Despite discussion that the reopening of the US-Canada border was on the horizon, the two countries extended the closure for another month, through July 21.

The border was originally closed on March 21 of last year and has been extended month-by-month since. For the first time since last March, chatter about the border finally reopening has gotten some hopes up, only to be dashed by today’s announcement.

Bill Blair, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Emergency Preparedness, and Maple Syrup Operations tweeted the extension today. Lawmakers on both sides of the border expressed frustration at the decision. Sixty two percent of Canadians have received at least one vaccine shot, but only 8% are fully-vacinated. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has implied that Canada will not ease restrictions until Canadians are 75% vaccinated, which at this point is a long way away.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott said he believes the border will be reopened sometime before the end of the summer, which is crucial for his state because once summer ends, the border becomes impassable due to snow. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has offered Canada some of his state’s vaccine supply if it sped up the border reopening process while Maine was willing to offer Canada both New Hampshire and Vermont – to no avail.

Ryanair Heads to Court Again, Takes Aim at UK Government

If it’s a day that ends in “y,” Ryanair is taking someone to court. Today it’s the UK government in the crosshairs of the airline’s legal team, as it attempts to challenge the UK’s much-maligned traffic light system of managing international travel.

The airline is teaming up with Manchester Airports Group (MAG) — the owner of London/Stansted, East Midlands, and Manchester airports — to seek more information on how the UK is categorizing countries onto the green, amber, and red list. Apparently, the response from the government that they throw a dart at a traffic light for each country wasn’t sufficient.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has been very critical of the UK government’s response to reopening its borders, but O’Leary is usually critical of well, everything, so this isn’t particularly out of the ordinary.

The UK government plans to reassess the lists next week, with reports that it might include a loosening of restrictions for visitors who are fully vaccinated or those who have the ability to whip up a tasty mince pie and are willing to share the recipe.

Emirates Increases Operations to 90% of Pre-Pandemic Levels

Emirates Airline is increasing its operations this summer as it sees strong demand despite some borders remaining closed to international travelers.

The airline is planning to fly to 124 destinations in July, many of which are places that people actually want to go. It will restart service to seven cities in July: Venice, Phuket, Nice, Orlando, Mexico City, Lyon, and Malta. On July 22 it will inaugurate new service to the Dubai of South Florida – Miami.

It will operate 880 weekly flights to those 124 destinations, a total that represents 90% of its pre-pandemic flying. It will operate its fleet of A380s to 15 cities on 129 weekly flights. It will activate at least 30 of its A380s to meet the increased demand, joining its fleet of 151 B777s.

Once Miami comes online in July, Emirates will fly 70 weekly flights to the United States, offering more than 26,000 seats to 12 airports – many of which are appealing destinations, plus Newark.

• Air New Zealand is deferring the delivery of the eight B787-10 Dreamliners it has on order until 2024. This makes sense considering the airline isn’t flying anything longer than Auckland to Christchurch these days.
• Eastar Jet’s brief sales saga may be coming to an end as the airline was reportedly sold to developer Sung Jung for about $100 million. The developer was able to step in when previous frontrunner and underwear manufacturer Ssang Bang Wool pulled its support for the deal when it became clear the packaging for the airline wasn’t up to its standards.
• Flyr completed the process to receive its AOC with Norway’s Civil Aviation Regulatr in advance of its first planned flight on June 30.
• Korean Air operated the longest nonstop flight in its 52 year history last week. KE8047 was a nonstop cargo flight operated by a 777-300ER flying the 8,330 miles between Seoul/Incheon and Miami in a cool 14 hours and 42 minutes.
• LATAM Colombia’s latest schedule update will have the airline operating 100% of the schedule in July that it operated in July of 2019.
• Thai received approval for the restructuring of tis $12.9 billion of debt.

My friend accused me of stealing his thesaurus. Not only was I shocked, but I was also aghast, appalled, astounded, stunned, and dismayed.

Alaska Making Noise in Boise

Alaska Airlines is growing in Idaho’s capital, adding three new cities from Boise — Pullman, WA (PUW) begins August 17, Seattle/Paine Field (PAE) begins September 8, and Phoenix begins November 19 — and upping frequencies to two others — Austin and Chicago/O’Hare.

The airline is upgrading its service to both Austin and Chicago/O’Hare to daily flights beginning September 8. The new flights in Austin will only add to the gate crunch taking place in Austin. For more on that subject, visit today’s post on crankyflier.com.

The service to Pullman will operate 5x-weekly. Pullman is located next to Moscow, ID, where the University of Idaho is located. The Boise-Pullman/Moscow route is being subsidized by the university, which guaranteed Alaska profit for the first three years of the route. Universities have struggled financially during the pandemic, so the University of Idaho has developed a unique plan that involves partnering with hackers from “the other Moscow” to help fund any shortfalls. Russian Emperor-for-Life Vladimir Putin declined to comment, saying he was too busy enjoying a delicious baked potato of undisclosed origin.

United Loosens Appearance Standards

United Airlines is updating its appearance and grooming standards for frontline staff effective September 1. Unfortunately, the airline declined to update its appearance standards for passengers, ensuring that velour jumpsuits and mesh tank tops can still be worn in its cabins.

The new regulations will apply to only flight attendants and customer service representatives at first, with pilots and below-the-wing staff expected to follow in 2022.

As part of the updates, the airline will permit employees to have visible tattoos and to wear visible piercings including nose studs. Grooming standards on United will also be unified, doing away with the practice of separate policies for different genders. With the new filtering down to the employees, United is expected to put a tattoo artist and hair stylist in its break rooms at several hubs, offering to tattoo United’s former tulip logo on to flight attendants for a small fee.

Aer Lingus Delays Launch of UK-US Flights

Aer Lingus has pushed back the start of its planned service between Manchester, England (MAN) and the United States by two months.

The airline originally planned to fly to both New York/JFK and Orlando beginning July 29 but will now commence with the flights on September 30. The airline says it is still committed to the service, but is delaying due to the slower than expected reopening of international borders. It’s also reported that Aer Lingus officials just now discovered the insensitive horror that is Lucky Charms cereal and are strongly considering pulling out all service to the United States.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has also yet to formally approve Aer Lingus’s application to fly the routes from the UK to the US. While approval is expected any time now, the US DOT will not allow EI to begin selling seats on the routes until the CAA gives its formal approval.

Passengers who currently hold tickets for service from Manchester to JFK or MCO on the effected dates are eligible to receive a full refund, be accommodated on different flights, take a voucher that includes a bonus 10% in value, or go to the Irish pub of their choice and drink until they have forgotten that they have a flight to the United States to begin with.

Ryanair Takes Delivery of First 737 MAX 8-200

Ryanair has taken delivery of the first B737 MAX 8-200 aircraft, seemingly the perfect airplane for Ryanair as it smushes 197 seats on an airplane the same size as one that previously sat 189, and yet Ryanair manages to claim that it will offer even more legroom! The airline is also promising fresh guacamole on flights of 300 miles of longer prepared at your seat and on-board masseuses who will offer complimentary 15 minutes massages for each passenger while in-flight.

The reason this MAX aircraft requires a new designation from Boeing is because it comes with an extra set of emergency exits to accommodate for the dense configuration. Ryanair was willing to add the extra emergency rows, not because of safety guidelines, but because it realized an extra exit row was another chance for an upsell.

The 197 seats come with 28 inches of pitch, which is the same as Spirit and Frontier – not exactly the best company to keep when it comes to onboard comfort. If the legroom truly is increased on the planes as Ryanair says, then the seats must be about as thick as the mask that the drunk British travelers refuse to wear on their way back from Spain, neither of which is comfortable.

This is the first of 210 of these planes that Ryanair will eventually take delivery of over the next couple years. The rollout will take a while as Ryanair is requiring Boeing to charge the pilots and other crew operating the ferry flights to Ireland to deliver the planes, because no one flies for free on Ryanair.

La Compagnie Adds Two

La Compagnie, the all-business class airline that has operated exclusively between Newark and France – two places that are often confused for one another — announced two new destinations, one operating from Paris and one from Newark.

The new destinations are Milan and Tel Aviv, two cities that also are often confused for each other.

La Compagnie will operate 3x-weekly service between Paris/Orly (ORY) and Tel Aviv between July 22 and October 19. The flight is timed with the airline’s service to Newark to allow connections on both ends, the first such offering on the airline. On November 29, La Compagnie will add a second transatlantic destination – Milan/Malpensa. It will operate 4x-weekly flights to MXP from Newark through March 12.

• Aer Lingus returned 10 weekly slots to Delta at London/Heathrow for the upcoming winter season.
• British Airways is adding four new routes from Belfast (BFS) after the collapse of Stobart Air. It will operate 18 new weekly flights from Belfast to Exeter (EXT), Glasgow (GLA), Leeds (LBA), and Newquay (NQY). The new service will complement BA’s existing flights from Belfast to London/Heathrow and London/City.
• Copa is upgrading frequencies to six US destinations this summer. From its Panama City hub, it will now operate 9x daily to Miami, 5x daily to Orlando, 4x daily to New York/JFK and 2x daily to Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and Washington/Dulles.
• easyJet is adding 12 new UK domestic routes this summer because it has planes that need to fly somewhere, damn it, and the UK isn’t making it easy to fly them with people anywhere but the UK.
• Eurowings Discover, Lufthansa’s 340^th offshoot brand was granted its Air Operator Certificate by the German FAA.
• Flair Airlines announced its 20^th destination – Grand Prairie, AB (YQU). It will operate twice-weekly service from both Toronto and Vancouver.
• GoJet Airlines is adding a new crew base in Richmond this fall. The airline, which operates on behalf of United Express will base 30 crews – 60 pilots and 30 flight attendants – in Richmond.
• Helvetic Airways is opening a new base in Basel this fall. It will station two aircraft at the airport. The airport said that the addition of the Swiss airline would be a big plus for operations.
• Iberia is expanding its MRO base in Barcelona. The expansion will include the construction of a new A320 maintenance facility for Vueling.
• Qantas is now operating its B787s on its domestic Sydney-Perth flights twice daily.
• Qantas also announced an expansion of its three-year deal with Alliance Airways to operate for E190s on behalf of QantasLink. Alliance will up the number of aircraft it operates on behalf of Qantas from four to 18.
• United has moved literal heaven and earth, making changes in the distance between airports across the world.

I’ve never been very good at geography. But I can name at least one city in France, which is Nice.

EU Ending Travel Ban for Americans

The European Union today announced its plan to add eight countries to its safe travel list, making residents of those nations exempt from the current travel ban. The eight countries are:

• Albania
• Hong Kong
• Lebanon
• Macau
• North Macedonia
• Serbia
• Taiwan
• United States

With all due respect to the fine people of North Macedonia, the most notable nation on this list is the United States. The EU places countries on its safe list that record fewer than 75 cases per 100,000 residents over a rolling 14-day period, and the United States is currently at 73.9.

While this is good news, it is important to note that individual countries can require visitors to quarantine or show proof of a negative test if they choose. Additionally, the list is reviewed every two weeks, so the United States or any other country could be bumped off if the number of cases climb or its visitors insist on wearing fanny packs while in the EU.

Notably missing from the list is the UK, despite half of its population being vaccinated. EU officials are concerned about the delta variant which is making its way through the UK plus the side effects of letting the Brits back into the bloc – even if it’s just to visit – after finally getting rid of them via Brexit.

Breeze Fires Back at Flight Attendant Unions

Breeze Airways responded with gusto to the flight attendant unions which had petitioned the DOT to take action against the startup airline for its flight attendant hiring practices.

The unions’ beef with the airline is centered around its bizarre innovative program to hire students at Utah Valley University as FAs and provide them with tuition reimbursement and meager salaries instead of offering slightly more than meager salaries like most airlines do for new cabin crew.

In its DOT response, Breeze defends its actions saying that the unions have no standing to bring this issue to the DOT, and even if they did, their complaints are off-base and invalid. Breeze says it provides equal employment and does not discriminate in its hiring practices – provided applicants are young, attractive students at Utah Valley and willing to work for almost nothing.

Breeze says its work/study program is another example of a management team with a deep history of airline innovations. The airline says it has a diverse group of flight attendants – including grandmothers. It’s assumed that the grandmother is just a spy from American but Cranky Daily was unable to confirm as of press time. Breeze ends its response asking the DOT to dismiss the petition and asks if the flight attendants unions will accept a $100 gift card to Utah Valley’s online bookstore as compensation in a settlement

JetBlue’s Newark Flight Attendants Forced to Commute from JFK

The Transport Workers Union — JetBlue’s FA Union — says its members are tired of being forced to check-in for work at JFK for flights originating across the river in Newark.

JetBlue used the pandemic to increase its presence at Newark dramatically – the airline is operating 1,685 flights from Newark to 29 destinations this month – but does not have the infrastructure to house cabin crew at the airport. Instead, the airline has flight attendants check-in at JFK and then take a rideshare to Newark, a journey that can take an hour and a half on a good day and as much as three hours at the wrong time of day. Additionally, some of the commutes take place at off-hours in the middle of the night depending on flight schedules.

At Newark, the break room is considered widely insufficient in that it lacks seating and FAs are often forced to sit on the floor with Netflix’s Fuller House on a never-ending loop as the only available entertainment.

The commuting plan is not allowed under JetBlue’s agreement with its union, but the airline is able to get away with because it has not been fully ratified yet. The airline also claims it needs the scheme to compete with rivals as part of its pandemic recovery.

Cathay Pacific and Airbus Team Up on Single-Pilot Cockpit Concept

Cathay Pacific is teaming up with Airbus on “Project Connect” — so-named because it will connect pilots with the unemployment line — to create long-haul aircraft that can primarily be operated with just one pilot in the cockpit.

The new plane would enable airlines to reduce staffing costs with fewer pilots on duty. Instead of needing four pilots for a long-haul flight, the airline would only need two. Both pilots – captain and first officer – would be in the cockpit for takeoff and landing, while they would alternate resting during most of the cruise.

The airplane would maintain constant monitoring of the vital signs for the lone pilot in the cockpit, and other on-board staff would be alerted if the pilot became unable to operate the aircraft. The plane currently does not have a restroom in the cockpit, which will leave Airbus to solve the mystery of what happens when nature calls for the lone pilot flying the aircraft.

The plan is a long way from flying. It’s still being developed and will require loads of regulatory approval in addition to buy-in from airlines and the flying public.

Air Canada Recalls 2,600; Extends Refund Deadline

Air Canada is bringing more than 2,600 people back to work as it gears up for a further increase in flights both domestically and to the United States.

Employees will be brought back in waves once the airline can round everyone up. It expects to find most furloughed staff at a local Tim Horton’s, but some are also expected to be locked in their basements until the last Canadian team is inevitably eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The airline laid off more than 20,000 employees during the pandemic, including 16,500 during the first few weeks of the crisis in March and April of 2020.

Air Canada is also extending its deadline to apply for COVID-related refunds to July 12 – since only 40% of the 1.8 million customers eligible for a refund have applied. The airline said this proved most customers were happy keeping their travel credits and not insisting on a refund, while in truth, most people had just given up on AC ever offering a refund and have moved on.

• Air Arabia and Etihad are partnering on loyalty program earning and redemptions.
• Air Canada is launching three new routes from Montreal: Deer Lake (YDF), daily beginning July 1; Kelowna (YLW), 3x-weekly beginning June 26; and Saskatoon (YXE), daily beginning August 1.
• Air France celebrated its 75^th anniversary operating at Manchester (MAN) airport by arriving late and feigning an incredulous exasperation at the poor French skills of local airport staff after three-quarters of a century.
• Caribbean Airlines is resuming service on its route from Miami to Georgetown, Guyana (GEO), operating weekly service beginning today, June 16.
• easyJet is opening a new seasonal base at Faro, Portugal (FAO). The base will operate annually between March and October and will host three aircraft operating 21 routes for the airline.
• Eurowings Discover, Lufthansa’s 43^rd attempt at a leisure-based LCC will become the first airline to operate long-haul at new Victoria Falls International Airport (VFA) when it launches 3x-weekly service from Frankfurt via Windhoek (WDH) beginning March 30.
• Finnair returned one London/Heathrow slot back to Etihad for the upcoming winter season.
• Jet2 is issuing bonds to raise $756 million to keep it afloat while it waits for the lifting of travel restrictions to and from the UK.
• Pakistan International Airlines was forced to delay a scenic mountain flight by one week due to poor weather. The airline is often hesitant to fly in less than ideal weather conditions because it’s a roll of the dice whether or not its pilots are actual pilots.
• Spirit is adding service to Manchester, NH (MHT) on this fall. It will operate daily flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando beginning October 7, adding 4x-weekly service to Fort Myers on November 17 and 3x-weekly to Tampa on November 18.
• Swoop is swooping into the United States with three new destinations. Orlando/Sanford (beginning October ), St. Pete/Clearwater (beginning November 5), and San Diego (beginning October 31).
• Wizz Air will open its 6^th base in Italy – in Naples — beginning in August.

Can a kangaroo jump higher than a house? Of course, it can. Houses don’t jump.

Southwest Grounds Monday Evening and Tuesday Flights Due to Technical Mishaps

Southwest Airlines grounded its entire network for short time last night when a technical glitch with the airline’s third-party weather data provider experienced an outage, and the problem came back again for a second round today.

Because of the outage, Southwest personnel including dispatchers and pilots had no access to vital weather information that is needed to safely operate their aircraft. Even more concerning, it meant they were unable to properly set their fantasy baseball lineups to anticipate potential delays and postponements across the Major Leagues.

Flights were grounded in the early evening hours and were back in the air by about 9 p.m. PT. The airline saw 1,412 delays on Monday, accounting for 38% of its flights with 45 – about 1% — being canceled. When officials from AA saw the figures, they couldn’t understand what the issue was, instead heaping praise on Southwest. No one from AA could remember the last time they had a day where 62% of flights operated on-time, with the airline also realizing they need to add “third-party weather reporting malfunction” to its goody bag of delay explanations.

Issues again reared their ugly head for the airline on Tuesday, as it was forced to ground all aircraft from another outage around 2 p.m. ET. It hasn’t yet been made clear if the two incidents are related. Southwest canceled approximately 475 flights in its Tuesday schedule – 14% of the schedule – by 3 p.m. ET, proving once again that the second surge is usually worse than the first.

US & EU End Airbus-Boeing Dispute

Seventeen years is a long time to hold a grudge and the United States and European Union finally came to that realization as they agreed to end the long-running trade cold war between Airbus and Boeing. The two governments will suspend all tariffs for five years on sales by the two aircraft manufacturers.

The agreement stemmed from an apparently newfound understanding that your enemy’s enemy can be your friend – both manufacturers are uniting to fight against the threat the Chinese will pose in the airplane manufacturing sector at some point in the future, probably.

In the deal both groups agreed to provide research and development funding through an open and transparent process and to not give specific support, such as tax breaks, to their own producers that would harm the other side. They also agreed to raise the maximum permissible value on holiday gifts in the Secret Santa exchange from $20 to $50.

Emirates Reveals $5.5 Billion Loss

Emirates Airline posted its year-end financials for the 2020-21 fiscal year ending on March 31 and unlike the airline’s premium class interiors, they are not pretty. The airline saw revenue plunge 66% to $8.4 billion, leading to a $5.5 billion loss.

Most everything was down for Emirates, with passenger and cargo capacity down 58% and load factor at just 44.3% compared to 78.5% for the previous fiscal year. The airline carried just 6.6 million passengers, an 88% drop from the year prior.

The airline was able to cut costs by $2.1 billion, led by a 31% reduction in workforce. The redundancies were the first in the airline’s history. The savings did lead to an increase in passenger yield – those that did fly earned the airline 10.6 cents per revenue passenger kilometer. Overall operating costs dropped 46% with the gas bill coming in 76% less – which happens when you ground most of your fleet. Emirates also reduced its fleet by 11 aircraft, emerging from the pandemic with 259 planes.

Thanks to a recent $3 billion cash injection from the Dubai government, the airline ended the year with $5.4 billion in cash, most of which is tied up in gift cards for high tea at the Burj Khalifa.

Finnair Launches Basic Business Fares

Finnair placed its new Business Light fares on sale today, for flights within Europe and to Asia. The airline is not yet offering the product on its flights to the United States due to the Transatlantic Joint Venture with American and others which keeps it from setting its own pricing across the Atlantic because sharing is caring.

Finnair’s new fare offering seems more like Spirit’s “Big Front Seat” than an international premium class offering. The new fares:

• Do not allow changes or cancellations
• Require a fee for seat assignments and lounge access
• Do not offer any priority access on the ground including: check-in, security and boarding
• Only allow carry-ons for free; checked baggage will come with an additional fee
• Do not include on-board internet access
• Earn significantly less than other elite fares on Finnair – only 150% miles are earned, compared to 200-250% for most premium fares
• Do not come with a seat belt or tray table. The seat belt is available for €8/hr. and the tray table is €4/hr. The airline will offer a bundle of both the seat belt and tray table for €12/hr.

Passengers will also have to walk through a gamut of Finnair staff throwing objects at them including mini-bags of peanuts and unused amenity kits from last year as they board the aircraft.

SAA Sold to Lessor and Private Equity Firm

It’s a new era for South African Airways as the currently-grounded carrier was sold to a group consisting of Johannesburg-based lessor Global Airways and private equity firm Hairth General Partners. The pair will combine for 51% ownership of the airline, leaving the South African government with a 49% minority stake in the carrier.

Global Airways also owns the recently launched South African domestic startup airline Lift. The partnership will invest just over $250 million in the airline in the next three years, while likely reserving several millions beyond that to pay for bankruptcy lawyers three to five years from now when the airline fails again.

Lift co-founder Gidon Novick said that the government’s only financial obligations right now are to settle their existing liabilities. The partnership wants to list the airline on a stock exchange to see if it can find others to pay for its investment. SAA will now look to establish a new route network and find a realistic date to return to operations. Novick expects a phased roll-out as borders across the world reopen.

• Air Canada received a Notice of Enforcement Proceeding from the U.S. DOT with regards to its handling (or lack of handling) the processing of refunds since the onset of the pandemic. DOT is proposing a $25 million fine which is good, but it would have been more helpful if DOT did this a year ago when Air Canada first started keeping people’s money illegally.
• American and the New York Transportation Development Corporation launched a $150 million bond issue for an expansion of JFK’s Terminal 8.
• DHL added another 737-800F to its fleet via a wet-lease from iAero Airways.
• Eastar Jet’s lone suitor is underwear specialist Ssang Bang Wool. The company considered pulling its support of the purchase when it read a brief stating that the previous favorite for the airline, livestock and logistics firm Harim Group dropped its bid.
• FlyArmenia had its AOC suspended by Armenia’s Civil Aviation Authority. Today some of us learned that Armenia has a Civil Aviation Authority.
• flydubai will begin daily service to Warsaw on September 30.
• Moldovan Airlines is going into liquidation.
• SunExpress has applied for permission to operate charter operations from Turkey to the United States.
• Surinam Airways final active aircraft was seized by its lessor on Monday, forcing the airline to consider to change its name to just Surinam. Which would be confusing, but perhaps not as confusing as a company with no airplanes putting Airways in its name.
• SWISS plans to reduce its Airbus fleet by 15 aircraft. The airline will drop five A330s or A340s plus another ten short haul Airbus currently operated by Helvetic.
• TAP has tapped Punta Cana as its newest destination, with twice weekly service from Lisbon beginning in the winter. An exact launch date will be announced in the coming weeks.
• Turkish is increasing frequencies to five of the ten U.S. destinations it serves. Boston is now seeing daily service from Istanbul, Chicago/O’Hare increased to 10x-weekly, Los Angeles is 11x-weekly, Miami will increase to 10x-weekly tomorrow, and San Francisco will upgrade to 10x-weekly beginning Thursday. Atlanta, Houston, New York/JFK, Newark, and Washington/Dulles are all left to ask themselves what they did wrong.

I’ve got a deep-rooted phobia of over-engineered buildings. It’s a complex complex complex.