Author: Andrew Bashuk

March 4, 2021

Alaska Announces Four New Routes

Alaska Airlines announced four new routes for this summer, all of which connect California and Montana — two states that both have names that end in “a” and are often confused for each other.

The new routes will all be operated by 76-seat Embraer 175 aircraft. The airline will launch:

  • 2x-weekly Los Angeles to Kalispell (FCA) between May 20 and September 7
  • 3x-weekly San Diego to Kalispell between May 20 and September 7
  • 5x-weekly San Diego to Bozeman (BZN) between May 20 and September 7
  • 1x-weekly San Francisco to Bozeman between June 17 and September 7

With airlines looking towards outdoor-based destinations, Bozeman has been a winner, adding several new routes and destinations on multiple airlines. In addition to this announcement from Alaska, Southwest announced last week it would begin flying Denver and Las Vegas to Bozeman. American will launch a flight from Phoenix while Allegiant recently added three new cities to its Bozeman schedule.

Lufthansa Group Posts 5.5 Billion Euro Loss in 2020

Lufthansa Group posted its financial report for 2020 and the results are great if your favorite color is red, otherwise not so much.

The group lost a grand total of €5.5 billion in 2020 on revenues of just €13.6 billion, a massive drop from €36.4 billion in 2019. The group’s six airlines combined to have just 110,000 employees at the end of 2020, a drop of 20% from the end of 2019. On the bright side, Lufthansa Cargo achieved a record result of €772 million profit, after the program earned just €1 million in the black in 2019.

The group expects another net loss in 2021, but one that will be much easier to swallow. It plans to be back to 90% of its pre-pandemic capacity by the middle of the decade. Lufthansa ended 2020 with around €10.6 billion in cash reserves, a figure it is going to need if the rumor of Lufthansa buying up Alitalia are true.

Of the cash it has on hand, approximately €3.3 billion came from government loans in the wake of the pandemic, of which approximately €1 billion has already been paid back. The rest is stored up in sauerkraut futures and a 33% ownership stake in Wheneverfest.

New York Reduces Restrictions for Vaccinated Travelers

The state of New York is reducing the requirements it placed on domestic travelers to the state provided they have received a COVID vaccine within the last 90 days.

Those arriving in New York who have been vaccinated within 90 days are no longer required to quarantine or test out upon arrival.  In reality, the change will not affect many travelers as New York’s quarantine has been loosely enforced – at best – similar to how it enforces ethical standards for elected leaders.

Those who have not received the vaccine, received it more than 90 days prior, or that are entering the state from another country will still be required to test negative upon arrival or quarantine for ten days.

In addition to loosening some entry requirements, the state is also prepared to roll back some of the restrictions on event and entertainment locations, with venues that have less than 10,000 people able to open at 33 percent capacity. It plans to keep harsh requirements on venues with more than 10,000 seats as a favor to Knicks and Rangers fans, giving them an excuse to not spend money to see their teams play at Madison Square Garden.

Lufthansa to Retire Super Jumbos

Lufthansa is retiring its fleet of super jumbo jets as part of a restructuring to emerge smaller and more efficient after the pandemic.

CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed that Lufthansa is retiring its 14 A380s along with 10 A340-600s and eight Boeing 747-400s as part of its pandemic-related restructuring. It also plans to phase out other widebody aircraft including its A330-200s, A340-300s, B767-300ERs, B777-200s, B707-300s, DC-8-60s, and IL-86 aircraft, a list which is only slightly exaggereated beyond the surprising truth. In addition to those passenger aircraft, it will also phase its MD-11 freighter aircraft out of service later this year

By the middle of the decade, Lufthansa Group as a whole plans to reduce the number of aircraft in its fleet from 800 to 550. With its restructured fleet, Lufthansa plans to replace the A380 with the B747-8. The retirement of the MD-11 cargo aircraft was supposed to happen in 2020, but the airline held off due to the resurgence of cargo ops amidst the pandemic. Moving forward, it plans to operate the B777 freighter as it main cargo aircraft alongside its new fleet of Convair 880s and Handley Page Heralds.

EU Hopes to Boost Summer Travel With Vaccine Passport

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen announced she plans to put forward legislation for a vaccination passport later this month. The EU vaccination passport – in reality a certificate of vaccination – would allow its citizens to freely travel between other counties within the bloc. It would apply to citizens of all EU nations except France as no one really wants the French visiting their country.

Travelers with the passport would not be subject to any quarantine upon arrival within the EU and would not face any further flight restrictions.

The European Commission is expected to announce the passport legislation later this month on March 17 guaranteeing that no one from Ireland will be sober enough to read the document. The legislation draft will lay out all the details of the proposal including whether or not it will be extended to the UK and British citizens, because if anyone knows how to party post-pandemic, it’s the British.

Airline Potpourri

  • Breeze Airways now plans to launch its inaugural flights this summer.
  • Etihad’s 2020 financials were released today, with the airline posting a loss of $1.7 billion. Etihad flew 76% fewer passengers during the year and earned just $1.2 billion in revenue, but what are numbers anyway?
  • Korean Air is transforming one of its B747-8 aircraft into a VIP configuration for use by the South Korean military in order to show North Korea that “mine’s bigger than yours.”
  • NetJets signed a purchase order for 20 supersonic jets. In other news, George Jetson and his boy Elroy just purchased a NetJets membership.
  • Viva Air has added a second U.S route as it plans to serve Orlando via its hub in Medellin, Colombia (MDE).
  • Volotea will open a base in Venice (VCE) where it will house its first A320.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I asked the librarian where the section for book on paranoia was. “It’s right behind you,” she whispered to me.

March 3, 2021

Delta to Drop Three Focus Cities

Delta Air Lines plans to drop three of the five focus cities it operated prior to the pandemic, leaving the airline with just two focus cities to go along with the nine cities it lists as domestic hubs. On the chopping block as focus cities are Cincinnati, Nashville, and San Jose. If you didn’t realize all those still were — or in the case of San Jose, ever were — focus cities, you are not alone.

Cincinnati is the most notable of the group as it was a major Delta hub dating back to the ’90s, but it has seen its importance in Delta’s route network shrink considerably since the airline merged with Northwest more than ten years ago. As recently as 2019, Cincinnati still had flights on Delta to 24 non-hubs, while Nashville and San Jose had a combined four.

The two cities maintaining their status are Austin and Raleigh-Durham. Both are cities where Delta will face competition to strengthen its presence with JetBlue growing seven new routes at RDU and AUS seeing additional service from four airlines: Alaska, Allegiant, Hawaiian, and JetBlue.

Frontier Avoided Disaster in Nashville

A Frontier Airlines flight departing Nashville last month avoided potential catastrophe when a flight attendant questioned the haphazard deicing job performed by a third-party contractor moments before takeoff.

The company performed its deicing procedure on the aircraft and declared it ready-to-go, and the aircraft began to taxi towards the runway for departure. As the aircraft taxied, a flight attendant noticed that the wings were still covered in snow, ice, and deicing fluid and immediately called the flight deck.

The pilot returned the aircraft to the gate, avoiding what could have quite possibly been a catastrophic incident had the plane tried to take off in that condition. Reports say the deicing company was running low on deicing fluid and instead of letting Frontier know, it decided to not fully deice the wing and hope no one would notice. Unsurprisingly, Frontier has moved on from using this contractor. Words simply fail us here.

Boeing Tells EU That Airbus’s New Plane is Unsafe

Boeing is throwing a wrench into Airbus’s plans for the A321XLR, telling the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that it has safety concerns with the new plane that has garnered hundreds of orders for billions of dollars for its chief competitor. No really, it totally, seriously has safety concerns that have nothing to do with wanting to mess up the billions in orders Airbus already has on the aircraft.

The A321XLR is the longest-range narrow body plane in the world. The aircraft is supposed to come off the assembly line in 2023 to enter passenger service, and it has been extremely popular with airlines with hundreds already having been ordered.

In its filing, Boeing’s director of global regulatory strategy said that “fuel tanks integral to the airframe structure inherently provide less redundancy than structurally separate fuel tanks.” Basically he’s implying that the insulation panels between the cabin and extra fuel tanks – which will be located underneath the floor of the passenger cabin – are not safe enough.

The regulatory agency is willing to humor Boeing by asking Airbus to prove through tests that the extra fuel tanks are as safe as it claims. The issue is that there is a risk of fire via heat transfer in the passenger cabin, and as a general rule of thumb, raging infernos on an airplane are usually not a good thing. EASA is taking the concerns from Boeing seriously because it knows that if any aircraft manufacturer knows about unsafe planes, it’s Boeing.

Japan Considering Banning Overseas Spectators for Olympics

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics looming in just four months, Tokyo and Japanese officials are exploring all options to still stage the games this year, one year later than originally planned.

Japan currently has a travel ban in place and is considering keeping the ban active through the Olympics and Paralympics this summer along with limiting the number of fans that can attend. The government is expected to make an official announcement later this month around the start of the Olympic Torch Relay, which begins March 25.

One proposal from the Japanese government is to ban travelers — including athletes — from any country in the top 25 of all-time Summer Olympic medals to give the host country a better chance at securing as many medals as possible. Russia was the first to blast that idea, but also patted Japan on the back for such a brilliant, devious plan and wondered why it hadn’t done the same in Sochi back in 2014.

EASA to Require Windshield Checks on Airbus Aircraft

The European Safety Agency for Aviation (EASA) issued a directive requiring all EU operators to carry out a check on windshields installed on Airbus A318, A319, A320, and A321 aircraft. The ordered surprised Air France, which didn’t realize it even still had A318s in the fleet.

The directive comes following the conclusion of the investigation into Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 from May 2018 that saw the right windshield break away during flight. While many pilots have reached the age in which a mid-life crisis leading to a convertible purchase is within reason, the feeling of the wind flowing as you drive is not nearly as relaxing 30,000 feet up.

The French newspaper La Depeche described the cause of the incident as a faulty rubber joint that allowed water vapor into the windshield eventually leading to cracks. The cracks eventually created a pressure differential that gave in and the windshield exploded. There’s a joke in there about pressure in the cracks leading to an explosion but its just too easy.

Airline Potpourri

  • American and United have both received doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the Chicago Department of Health to vaccinate frontline workers at their Chicago/O’Hare hub.
  • Austrian Airways retired its first 767 this week after the plane flew 15 years for the airline. It’s en route to Bangor where it will clear customs before heading to Arizona to the great airplane hangar in the sky.
  • British Airways was not willing to call the government of Ghana’s bluff and agreed to keep its daily flight to Accra (ACC) operating out of London/Heathrow. The airline had planned to move the flight to Gatwick, a move that the Ghanaian government planned to match by moving BA out of Accra to a “less-favorable” Ghanaian airport.
  • Delta is bringing the 1,700 remaining pilots that are currently inactive back to work later this month.
  • Ryanair has joined the Fueling Flight Initiative to support the implementation of Sustainable Aviation Fuels. It plans to resume its regular schedule of lawsuits as soon as the ink is dry on this announcement.
  • Surinam Airways managed to offload its only leased B777 jet and will operate its one long-haul route to Amsterdam via a wet-leased Air Belgium aircraft.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

What’s the oldest someone can be and still get a circumcision? I just want to know the cutoff date.

March 2, 2021

American Passes Torch to United at Joplin & Sioux Falls

Last fall American Airlines wanted to end flying to both Joplin, MO (JLN) and Sioux Falls, IA (SUX) but was denied by the DOT as both cities were part of the federal government’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

AA had to continue flying to both cities until another airline stepped up to provide at least 12-weekly flights to each airport. That time is now, as SkyWest has been announced to fly to both airports under the United Express brand.

Reminiscent of a player being traded in-between games of a doubleheader and switching dugouts for the second game, SkyWest had been operating both routes on behalf of AA, so it’ll just slap a UA logo over all its AA logos and be ready to go.

In Joplin, SkyWest will operate 6x-weekly flights to both Chicago/O’Hare and Denver receiving $2.5 million from the federal government over the next three years. In Sioux Falls, it’ll operate the same 6x-weekly flights to both ORD and DEN, while receiving $2.9 million from the government. In Joplin, SkyWest was the lone bidder to operate the route, while it fought off Boutique Air and AA in Sioux Falls. AA was only willing to continue to operate from SUX on a two-year EAS agreement for over $5 million in compensation making SkyWest’s three-year, $2.9 million offer far more appealing.

Air Canada Jazzes Up Regional Ops

Air Canada has come to an agreement with Jazz Aviation to be the exclusive operator of Air Canada Express flights with AC looking to save up to $350 million over the next 15 years. To facilitate the new streamlined partnership, AC is transferring 25 E175 aircraft from its previous regional operator, Sky Regional, to Jazz.

With the new agreement, Jazz is now the sole partner for Air Canada regional flying on aircraft with at least 70 seats through 2025. Additionally, Jazz plans to remove all 19 Dash 8-300 aircraft from its fleet by the end of this year.

The agreement is subject to approval from the Air Line Pilots Association, which is not expected to be an issue. Chorus Aviation Ltd., Jazz’s parent company, can now sell the 15 Dash aircraft or convert them to cargo aircraft.  With the airplane resale market not very hot right now, the airline is considering turning at least one plane into a freighter in order to haul around all the cash it expects to make from this new deal with Air Canada.

Qantas to Offer Mystery Flights

While many travelers have fantasized about showing up to the airport and buying a ticket to a destination without any advance planning, Qantas is taking the concept a step further. Travelers who purchase a seat on the airline’s mystery flights will board the aircraft not knowing their destination or what the airline has planned upon arrival.

Reviving a concept from the ’90s, Qantas will offer three mystery flights, one each departing from Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Those lucky travelers who participate will board only with the knowledge that the flight will be approximately two hours in length and will include an excusrsion upon landing, and presumably a return flight home in the evening.

En route, the flight will include low-level scenic flybys of key landmarks and Vegemite factories. The Brisbane mystery flight will operate on March 27, Sydney on April 18, and Melbourne on May 1. Tickets go on sale Thursday and start at $737 in economy, with the ground activity included in the ticket cost.

While the idea of the mystery flight might originate in Australia, several U.S. airlines are watching carefully to see if the concept could be brought to the United States. Spirit is especially interested, as it’s considering making all flights on the airline a mystery flight, choosing only to reveal the destination if passengers are willing to pay an additional fee to know where they’re going. United is also watching closely, hoping the only way it could actually get people to fly to Newark is to not tell them that’s where they’re going until the plane is already in the air.

Alitalia’s Latest Revamp Revealed

Alitalia is planning yet another revamp of itself, with the Italian government hopeful to restart the airline with 45 aircraft, 4,500 employees, and about $1.2 billion in federal funding.

The Italian government is trying to restart its national airline to then flip it to dupe investor Fabio Lazzerini. Lazzerini’s cleverly named ITA Airline plans to purchase the entirety of what remains of Alitalia this summer, leading the government to want it to have as much resale value as possible.

According to La Repubblica, the Italian government originally planned to relaunch the airline with 70 aircraft, 6,000 staff, and $2.6 billion in operating cash, but the EU nixed those plans. The current figures are a compromise with the EU, with the Italian government offering less than half of what was originally planned. It is currently targeting June 1 as the effective date, a date no one is taking seriously as Alitalia has never done anything on-time or on-budget in its history.

American, Delta Reach Agreement with Deloitte on Sustainable Fuel

Delta Air Lines signed an agreement with Deloitte to purchase enough Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to “represent a lifecycle emissions reduction of approximately 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.” For those of you keeping score at home, this is the rough equivalent to carbon sequestered by 1,306 acres of U.S. forests or 756 football fields in one year. Why anyone would measure anything by football fields is another question for another day. This follows on the heels of last week’s announcement that American and Deloitte are working together as well.

The agreements are designed to cover a portion of Deloitte’s business travel with American and Delta as the companies are working towards the idea of carbon reduction and removal through stakeholder engagement. Deloitte has committed to being net zero by 2030, similar to a goal of American and Delta’s rival United. Delta, on the other hand, is considering going in the opposite way, to be completely carbon positive by 2050. When other airlines zig, Delta zags.

To fulfill its part of the agreement, Delta entered into an SAF supply agreement with the leading producer of low emission, renewable fuel for aircraft: Neste. Reports from the airline’s headquarters said that many executives were blindsided when they found out the agreement was with Neste – and not Nestlé – meaning no chocolate would be forthcoming.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air Serbia resumed flying to Geneva (GVA) for the first-time in 36 years. Kudos to the passengers who waited it out, 36 years is a hell of a delay on such a short flight.
  • FedEx acquired European cargo airline TNT. It plans to downgrade its hub in Liege (LGG) to secondary hub status behind Paris/CDG, similar to the role Indianapolis plays for the carrier relative to its megahub in Memphis in the United States.
  • Harbour Air Seaplanes plans to introduce year-round service this June between its Vancouver/Cole Harbor (CXH) base and Lake Union (LKE) and Kenmore (KEH) seaplane bases in the Seattle area.
  • Mesa has entered into a conditional agreement with London-based Gramercy Associates Ltd. to create a European-based JV. It’s distinctly possible Mesa hasn’t yet gotten the memo that the UK isn’t in the EU anymore. Literally none of this makes any sense.
  • Saudia is looking to raise $3 billion to purchase an additional 70 aircraft.
  • Via Airlines was found fit to re-launch passenger operations via an announcement by the DOT. The tentative agreement allows the airline to move forward with its plan to begin flying via the air later this year.
  • Volaris and Viva Aerobus have both hired pilots from currently-shuttered Mexican airline Interjet, casting doubt if the airline will ever return to service.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

What’s the leading cause of dry skin?

Towels.

March 1, 2021

Delta Pays Bonuses to Management Staff

Despite no profit-sharing payout for its frontline staff this year, Delta Air Lines is paying bonuses to its managers, directors, and senior vice presidents. The management bonuses range from thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Delta said that after a pay review of its staff, it found that those below the executive level were disproportionately impacted because of the pandemic, and it chose to make a one-time adjustment payment to those employees. No front line employees nor lower level management and administrative staff were included.

Delta cut employees hours and pay by as much as 50% last year as it navigated through the pandemic. Full pay was restored this year, along with this one-time payment to restore some of the lost 2020 income. In addition to the cash layout, employees were offered one-years’ worth of Biscoff cookies and Woodford Reserve bourbon.

Delta received $5.6 billion in federal funding last year courtesy of the CARES Act and is expecting another $2.9 billion this quarter when the CARES Act 3.0 goes into effect. Delta’s pilots’ union criticized the move, saying it went against the spirit of the CARES Act. Delta’s flight attendants are not unionized, but those looking to unionize the workgroup were most likely dancing in the streets to celebrate the dramatic improvement of their chances after hearing about management’s bonus plan.

United Agrees to Pay $49 Million to Resolve Mail Fraud Case

United Airlines has agreed to a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the USPS to settle both criminal and civil charges relating to alleged fraud on postal service contracts with regards to the transportation of international mail.

The airline agreed to pay just over $17 million in criminal penalties to resolve an investigation into a fraud scheme concocted by former employees of the airline’s cargo division. The valued rogue employees held up the delivery of mail that UA was contracted to ship to other countries on behalf of the USPS. When asked about the penalty paid by United, USPS spokesman Newman declined to comment. According to the Acting Assistant Attorney General assigned to the case, the airline defrauded the government by providing falsified delivery information and accepting millions in payments for work that was not…delivered.

The remaining $32 million was paid in a separate transaction after United settled with the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch. This came after the airline admitted it concealed problems related to the scanning of the mail that would have led to financial penalties. Certain employees at United worked to hide the information from the USPS knowing the data was fabricated. And anyone who’s worked with the post office knows that when you control the mail, you control…information.

Civil rights groups geared up to protest that the cruel, gender-based crime of “male fraud” was still in existence. Once they found out it was about postal mail problems from years ago, they quickly backed down.

Rex Bites Back at Qantas, the Government

Good boy Rex is angry at Qantas for not playing nice and is finally going to do something, gosh darn it. According to Rex, Qantas is using taxpayer funds to subsidize losing regional routes that Qantas is flying for the sole purpose of flexing its muscles to force Rex off the routes. Even worse, the government doesn’t plan to do anything about it.

Rex’s board has decided that not only will it not allow Qantas to dictate its route network, but its high time that Rex bite back.  The regional carrier will continue to serve the eight routes that Qantas shoved its way into, regardless of what it means to the bottom line just to stick it to Qantas. But to help cover its losses, Rex is being forced to cut service on five other routes, four from Sydney and one from Adelaide. Service from Sydney to Bathurst (BHS), Cooma (OOM), Lismore (LSY), and Grafton (GFN) will halt at the end of March along with Adelaide to Kangaroo Island (KGC). Our sources in Australia tell us these are all actually places with airports and everything.

In addition, proving what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, Rex is going to give Qantas a taste of its own medicine showing that turnabout is fair play. The regional carrier is going to begin service on two routes this April that — since Virgin Australia pulled out — have been flown only by Qantas. Those two are Sydney to both Coffs Harbour (CFS) and Port Macquarie (PQQ) with four other Qantas-dominated routes under strong consideration to be added as well.

Three U.S. Airports Receive Airport Improvement Grants

Chicago/O’Hare, Dallas/Ft Worth, and Fort Lauderdale were selected as the first three airports to receive Airport Improvement Grants in 2021. The trio will divide $76 million amongst themselves, a figure which represents the first of $3.2 billion the DOT will allot to airports this year.

The Airport Improvement Grant allows for the planning and development of public-use airports. Private airports that are identified by the FAA as a reliever airport or have scheduled service and at least 25,000 enplanements can still qualify for the cash. The only exception is if the airport name rhymes with “HaWardia,” as all airports that fall under that distinction are considered beyond help.

O’Hare’s $25 million will be used to pay for construction of Runway 9C/27C which opened late last year. DFW will receive $31 million to pay for an improved taxiway system that its hoping to complete by 2025. Lastly, FLL will receive $20 million from the federal government. It plans to use the funding to pay for a huge maskless keg party… along with an extension to Runway 10R/28L, a project which was first completed in 2015.

Qantas Updates International Baggage Allowances

When Qantas resumes international flying this fall, it will have new baggage allowances on most flights, with a mix of winners and losers depending on the flight, class of service, and the level of authenticity in the passenger’s Australian accent.

Oneworld Sapphire, Emerald, and non-elite members flying business class will lose one free checked bag, with Sapphire and non-elite dropping from three to two and Emerald members dropping from four to three. Premium Economy travelers are the big winners in this bizarre game show, with additional 9 kg in weight being added to allowances on most itineraries.

Meanwhile, in an effort to confuse anyone who wasn’t yet confused, economy travelers will receive one less free bag down from two to one, but will be able to pack more in the bag thanks to a a higher weight limit.

Qantas plans an aggressive marketing campaign to educate travelers on the new baggage requirements, with the expectation that once most travelers are familiar with the standards it will overhaul the system once again.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air Côte d’Ivoire has taken delivery of its first A320neo aircraft.
  • Austrian Airlines is increasing North American flying as part of its summer schedule. The airline will resume flightS to both Montreal and New York/JFK with 3x weekly service this May.
  • China Eastern Airlines will be the launch customer for the C919 jetliner from Chinese manufacturer COMAC.
  • LATAM plans to convert up to eight of its 767-300ER passenger aircraft into freighters.
  • Porter has again delayed its resumption of flights, this time to May 19.
  • RwandAir the flag carrier of Luxembourg Rwanda, is the first African airline to trial the IATA travel pass. The pass is designed to help passengers verify their compliance with virus requirements for any countries they are traveling to or transiting through.
  • Silk Way, an Australian cargo airline that carries much more than just silk, is shifting much of its focus to transporting the COVID vaccine and other vital supplies related to fighting the pandemic.
  • United has added 25 planes to its current order of 737 MAX aircraft.
  • WestJet has reached a tentative agreement on a collective bargaining agreement with its cabin crew union.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I was just reminiscing about the herb garden we had when I was growing up.

Good thymes.

February 24, 2021

FAA Requiring B777 Pratt & Whitney Engine Inspections

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that requires stepped up inspections of all PW4000-series engines that power Boeing 777 aircraft after the apparent fan blade failure on United flight 328 over the weekend. The impacted B777s will remain grounded until the inspections are completed.

Airlines will be required to use thermal acoustic imaging to inspect fan blades for metal fatigue before they are allowed to put the airplanes back into service. (Thermal Acoustic Imaging, by the way, was the name of our favorite band in high school.) It is unclear how long this process might take to complete.

The PW4000 engines were not a popular option on the B777, and the only current operators are ANA, Asiana, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Korean’s subsidiary Jin Air, and United Airlines. United also has a substantial fleet of B777s powered by GE engines, so only a portion of its fleet will be grounded.

United says very few passengers will be impacted, but those that are will be rebooked and given two tickets to Thermal Acoustic Imaging’s next show.

Breeze is Declared Fit to Fly By DOT

Start-up Breeze Aviation Group, Inc. has proven that navigating the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) start-up process is… a breeze. The airline has been found to be “fit, willing, and able” to fly up to 22 airplanes by the Department. There will be a 14-day objection period before the order is made final.

The DOT appears to have been in a hurry, making several mistakes in the show-cause order. For example, instead of Lukas Johnson being listed as Chief Commercial Officer, he is shown as Chief Operating Officer, as is Tom Anderson. We are assuming that this is a typo, and they are not being forced to battle to the death for this important position as a new strength requirement for receiving DOT sign-off.

Breeze has already taken delivery of its first Embraer aircraft, and it will operate those on point-to-point routes in the eastern US before it starts taking delivery of Airbus A220s. It can’t start flying yet, however. Despite receiving DOT approval, it still needs to acquire its Air Carrier Certificate and Operations Specifications from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Spirit Makes a Move on Milwaukee

Yesterday, it was Louisville that won the jackpot. Today, it’s Milwaukee — which as well all know is Algonquin for “the good land” — that will start seeing those bright yellow Spirit airplanes at its gates.

Spirit will launch daily flights to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Orlando beginning June 24, nearly a month after the same cities receive flights from Louisville. This will be the first nonstop to Los Angeles from Milwaukee since Southwest suspended its Saturday-only service at the onset of the pandemic. Both Southwest and Frontier currently serve the Milwaukee to Las Vegas and Orlando markets.

To celebrate, Spirit will begin selling cheese curds as part of its buy-on-board program. To prevent panic, all travelers departing Milwaukee will be charged a $4.99 “curd notification fee” so that materials can be distributed informing travelers that any squeaking onboard is from the curds and not from questionable maintenance.

Audit Shows Mexico City Airport Losses Over $16 Billion

Mexico City’s new airport was a third complete when the country elected new president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to office. One of his promises was to scrap the airport project despite the projected cost of $5 billion to do so. He kept his promise, but the cost — as I’m sure will be a shock to everyone — was far higher.

According to the Federal Auditor’s Office — which is naturally being denied by the president — halting the new airport’s construction is going to cost the country just over US$16 billion, or 232% higher than predicted. That’s about 325 billion Mexican pesos or, if you like really big numbers, more than 672 trillion Iranian rials.

Instead of creating a single, new hub to serve the capital city, a new plan was put into place to keep the current airport operating while building up nearby Toluca and Santa Lucía Air Force base into larger commercial operations as well. Aeroméxico was asked for comment but simply replied with 💸🤷.

Contour Denied Switch to Sacramento

Regional carrier Contour Airlines was denied a request by the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority in California to move its essential service from Crescent City Airport (CEC) in extreme northwest California from Oakland to Sacramento. Contour currently operates once-daily service between CEC and Oakland.

The airline wanted to swap its Oakland flight with Sacramento to take advantage of its recent interline agreement with American Airlines since American no longer flies to Oakland. You might think having connectivity throughout the American Airlines network would be appealing, but apparently a community poll stated a higher preference for Oakland over Sacramento by the decisive margin of 25.5% to 22.8%.

In other news, Crescent City has decided to begin paving streets with cotton candy and implement a 2 day workweek, because 31.2% of those polled thought it would be a good idea while only 29.6% thought it was a bad idea. And as we know, polls always know what’s best.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air France has a new safety video out and if you love the French, you’ll love this. If you don’t, you’ll probably just be surprised at how much time is spent talking about cigarettes.
  • Air Seychelles won’t have to pay Etihad anything this year as it works to extract itself from Etihad’s failed partner strategy. It is negotiating to become 100% locally-owned.
  • Brussels Airlines has released its summer plans, and service to New York and Washington/Dulles will resume on June 14 for the first time since the pandemic began.
  • Jet Airways continues to lurch closer to a restart in the back half of this year.
  • KLM has received its first of 25 firm orders for the Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. To celebrate, it appears to have found the thinnest seats on Earth.
  • Lufthansa and Embraer have now both confirmed they are in talks over a new aircraft order.
  • Norwegian has come to an agreement with Airbus that will see the airline not take delivery of its remaining 88 airplanes on order in exchange for letting Airbus keep the pre-delivery deposits plus an additional $850,000 and 3 tons of surströmming.

Beth’s Moment of Levity

Last night, I dreamed I was swimming in an ocean of orange soda, but it was just a Fanta sea.

February 23, 2021

Oops, Our Bad: Yesterday’s Cranky Daily reported that approximately 913,000 travelers passed through TSA checkpoints in the last week. That figure was the daily average over the previous seven days — not a total number. We apologize for the confusion, especially if you flew last week and wanted to ensure you had been counted.

American Takes a New Basic Economy Variant Global, Tweaks Bag Rules

American Airlines is simplifying its checked bag policies on most international itineraries, but — similar to a coronavirus — American has also evolved Basic Economy into a third variant which is now spreading throughout the Pacific with cases in India and Israel as well.

Effective today, all Premium Economy tickets will include two checked bags, consistent with AA’s premium cabin offerings, regardless of the route. This applies to routes and aircraft that have the Premium Economy offering, not the Main Cabin Extra’s ripoff extra legroom option. Previously, this was limited to one bag on certain routes, so this is good news.

Basic Economy travelers, however, are facing a more complicated situation. Today, American has Basic Economy within North America where no checked bag is included, the tickets cannot be changed, and boarding is in group 9. It also has Basic Economy in South America and Europe where no checked bag is included, the ticket can be changed for a fee, and boarding is in group 8. Now, the airline is introducing a new version for the rest of world.

In Asia (including India and Israel), Australia, and New Zealand, Basic Economy will now include one checked bag, the ticket can be changed for a fee, and boarding is in group 8. Everyone clear? If so, then American will have to go back to the drawing board to confuse you more.

Metal Fatigue Likely Led to UA328 Issues

Damage to the fan blade on the failed engine that led to the dramatic landing of United Flight 328 on Saturday is consistent with metal fatigue according to the guy who had engine parts land in his yard a preliminary assessment from the NTSB.

The PW4000 engine was heard to have made a “loud bang” four minutes after takeoff. That’s not unusual for United flights, but usually the bang comes from passengers realizing shortly after takeoff that they’re stuck on a United flight for the foreseeable future.

The engine that failed was a PW4000 that is currently installed on 128 B777 aircraft worldwide, representing less than 10% of the worldwide B777 fleet.  The specific engine from the incident has been flown (how ironic) to a Pratt laboratory where it will be examined by P&W’s experts along with NTSB investigators.

The FAA currently requires fan blades to be inspected every 6,500 cycles, a figure that has been the standard since March 2019. South Korea updated its requirement to inspect fan blades every 1,000 cycles following Saturday’s incident. When asked if it would make a similar update to its inspection policy to follow its southern neighbor, North Korea’s aviation ministry replied with “what’s a fan blade?”

Canada/U.S. Border Closing to Celebrate First Birthday

Officials from both the United States and Canada plan to present the border with a smash cake on March 20 as it celebrates its first anniversary of being closed to travel on either side. The cake will be maple syrup flavored on the Canadian side and have a tart apple pie filling on the U.S. side of the dessert.

The anniversary became a reality when both countries agreed to extend the border closing yet again, this time through March 21. The border was closed for the first time on March 20, 2020, and the closure has been extended a month at a time since, with few exceptions for essential travel.

The Canadian government is allowing very few exceptions to the policy, forcing the three in-season professional sports leagues to alter their plans. The NHL created an all-Canadian division for its seven Canada-based teams to compete exclusively amongst themselves. The NBA’s Toronto Raptors made decision to spend their winter playing home games in Tampa, while MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays will play at least the first six weeks of the 2021 season in their Spring Training home of Dunedin, Florida.

Bourbon, Churchill Downs, Muhammad Ali and Now: Spirit

Spirit Airlines is adding a new city to its route map, announcing today that it will begin serving Louisville (SDF) in late May with flights to four destinations.

Spirit will begin flying from Louisville to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The flight to LA will be the only nonstop between Louisville and LAX since American suspended its service during at the onset of the pandemic.

All four destinations will launch on the same day – May 27. All four will operate once-daily in each direction. In addition to the only nonstop between Louisville and Los Angeles; Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Vegas represent three of the largest cities in Spirit’s network and will provide connections beyond for those risk-takers willing to book a connection on Spirit.

Spirit also announced two new fees it would introduce to celebrate its new service to Louisville. Any passengers flying on Sprit with the first name Louis will be assessed an $11.99 first name fee. Additionally, anyone on a Spirit flight to a city that ends in “ville” will see a $6.99 fee added to their final price. Spirit welcomes these new fees as a celebration of Louisville and all it has to offer.

Alitalia Looks to Lufthansa as Latest Savior

Italy’s new government is looking for a solution to an old problem – what in the heck to do with Alitalia. The Italian flag carrier is bankrupt once again, with the government considering a capital injection from Star Alliance carrier Lufthansa.

Alitalia, is currently the red-headed stepchild member of Skyteam, but rumors of it leaving the alliance since this most recent bankruptcy have been lurking for quite some time. The airline is currently pursuing a sale of all of its assets to the Italian government which would then flip them to Lufthansa, according to Italian publication La Repubblica. Reports from Frankfurt say that with the worst of winter having passed, Lufthansa no longer needs to literally burn its cash reserves in order to produce heat, making investing in Alitalia the next best alternative for burning its money.

The plan would be three-pronged: place Alitalia under the control of its low-cost subsidiary Alitalia CityLiner, followed by the Italian government taking control of CityLiner – retaining a total of 70 aircraft and about 5,500 employees, then for Lufthansa to enter the company via a capital increase.

Alitalia would leave Skyteam at some point in the process and likely move to Star Alliance. When asked about the possibility of losing Alitalia, Skyteam officials from both Delta and Air France/KLM issued a statement saying “no, please don’t go. Seriously, please don’t. But if you must, we’ve packed up your cubicle for you and all your stuff is here in this box. We also called a car to take you over to Lufthansa. It’s waiting outside. But seriously, don’t go.”

Airline Potpourri

  • AirAsia plans to resume all domestic routes within Thailand by April.
  • Edelweiss is considering removing its four A330s from its long-haul fleet and maintaining an exclusive fleet of A340s for long-distance flying, because 4 engines usually equates to success these days.
  • Gulf Air’s newest destination will be Singapore, with the airline launching one weekly flight from its Bahrain hub in April.
  • Mesa signed a letter of intent to lease an additional B737-400F cargo aircraft to operate on behalf of DHL. The deal was official when UPS delivered a copy of the executed contract to both parties.
  • Norwegian did some more things with bankruptcy. Click the link if it seems remotely interesting.
  • Virgin Australia’s new lounge in Adelaide opened today, just 10 months later than planned.
  • Volotea is expanding its fleet adding 15 to 19 additional A320s while also transitioning to an all Airbus fleet.

Madi’s Moment of Levity

What do you call a man with a rubber toe?

Roberto

February 22, 2021

United Temporarily Grounds 24 Boeing 777s

Following the severe engine issues suffered by United Flight 328 on Saturday, United has voluntarily chosen to temporarily ground its fleet of 24 Boeing 777-200 aircraft that are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. The airline also has a large fleet of 777s powered by GE90 engines which are not impacted.

United is not alone in its decision, as Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism formally requested all airlines using 777s with PW4000 engines to avoid flying over Japanese airspace until further notice. The UK has joined Japan in banning the 777s with PW4000 engines from flying over its airspace as well for fear that falling debris may hurt Harry Styles.

The FAA is issuing an Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring immediate and increased inspections on 777s powered by PW4000s. In its preliminary update from Saturday’s incident, the NTSB noted that the majority of damage was limited to the number 2 engine while the aircraft sustained only minor damage. Boeing, excited at not being the cause of the issue for once, recommended its 777 customers flying with PW4000s ground their aircraft.

The PW4000s were not a popular engine choice on the 777, so only airframes currently being operated by United, Korean, Jin Air, Asiana, and ANA are affected.

Gate 35X: The End is Nigh

The new 14-gate concourse at Washington/National that will replace the fifth circle of hell gate 35X is moving along ahead of schedule and could open for passengers as soon as April 20.

With most projects in the DC area stalled by federal red tape and constantly delayed, many were led to believe that this was an early April Fools’ joke. But luckily for the flying public, it’s not. American plans to trAAnsition its regional operations from its current setup of narrow escalators, a tight waiting area, and a series of ramps and switchbacks to get to aircraft to the fancy new concourse in less than two months. Passengers will find themselves in the lap of luxury enjoying actual jet bridges to access aircraft and the freedom that is boarding without knowing what the person sitting next to you in the gate area had for breakfast because you actually had some personal space.

The 230,000 sq. ft. concourse will connect to the existing Terminal C. The new concourse will boast an AAdmirals Club and more than 14,000 square feet of overpriced retail and food offerings. The airport is also building a new security checkpoint for terminals B and C at the entrance of the terminal. The original plan had been for the new checkpoints to open prior to the new concourse, but with the concourse ahead of schedule, it will beat the security checkpoint to completion.

TSA Gambles on Travel Recovery

Rarely do we turn to the federal government for anything optimism, much less the TSA, but it is beginning a push to fill more than 6,000 jobs across the country as it anticipates an increase in travel this summer and beyond.

Just 913,000 travelers have passed through TSA checkpoints over the last week, a drop of nearly 60% from the 2.25 million that were screened during the same period last year.

The TSA suspended almost all hiring of new employees last summer and offered early retirement options as means to reduce expenses. The organization screened 61% fewer people than in 2019, which came to almost 500 million fewer travelers. Despite the weak numbers, it is anticipating a need to return to more normal staffing levels as travel demand returns this summer.

TSA has begun the hiring process to fill the postings which were deferred last summer. In order to be considered for the role, TSA administrators are looking for candidates with work history as customer service reps for cable companies, retired American & United flight attendants, former East German border control agents, and anyone from New Jersey.

British Airways Raises $3.4 Billion

British Airways has completed negotiations on two different funding rounds that will bring the airline £2.45 billion in additional liquidity. That converts to roughly $3.4 billion, the complete Harry Potter collection, and a pot of tea.

The first £2 billion is a 5-year guaranteed loan guaranteed by the UK government. The airline and the government have reached a final agreement on the loan, and BA expects to begin drawing down from the loan facility before the end of the month. In exchange, the airline has promised to screen at least one Hugh Grant movie on each outbound flight from the UK and it will show, in its entirety, Andy Murray’s historic win at Wimbledon in 2013 when he became the first Brit to win the Championships in 77 years.

The remaining liquidity will come from an agreement between BA and the Trustee of New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) to defer £450 million of pension deficit contributions between October 2020 and this September. BA will defer £37.5 million per month in order to reach the £450 million figure. BA was forced to provide property assets as security for the loan, so for the next eight months, the NAPS office has two A320-200 aircraft in its parking lot. The organization is taking suggestions about what to do with them in the meantime.

Rex Pulls Back on Sydney-Melbourne; Makes Other Route Changes

Rex, everyone’s favorite good boy that’s challenging longtime heavyweights Qantas and Virgin Australia on the Sydney-Melbourne route, is scaling back its schedule before launching its first flight on the route.

Rex is beginning service on the route March 1, and the airline is dropping from three aircraft flying a total of nine round trips per day to just one plane flying three round trips. And opening day – March 1 – will see just two flights to “accommodate launch ceremonies” in both Melbourne and Sydney. That must be one hell of a party.

The airline says the cutbacks are due to virus outbreaks in Victoria, and that it plans to ramp back up to nine daily round trips on three aircraft by the end of March.

Rex is also dropping five regional routes – four from Sydney and one from Adelaide — while also adding two new destinations to Sydney. Sydney to Bathurst (BHS), Cooma (OOM), Grafton (GFN), and Lismore (LSY) are all getting the axe, while Adelaide to Kangaroo Island (KGC) is gone as well. The two additions are Coffs Harbour (CFS) and Port Macquarie (PQQ) to Sydney, both of which we believe to be actual places.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air Express Algeria took delivery of two leased aircraft – one Beechcraft B1900D and one LET 410. The airline will receive an additional B1900D next month.
  • Air India Express Flight 1676, operated by a B737-800, struck an electrical pole on Saturday after landing at Vijayawada Airport in Gannavaram, India (VGA). The strike occurred as the plane was taxiing to the gate. No injuries were reported amongst the 64 passengers onboard. The pole was not so lucky.
  • Eastern Airlines – the one based in North America – purchased two Boeing 777-200ERs (presumably ones without PW4000 engines) and plans to lease two B777 freighters, bringing its fleet up to 18 aircraft.
  • Emirates is resuming its fifth-freedom route between Athens and Newark. The flight will operate daily beginning June 1. This is the first fifth-freedom route Emirates is returning to service after suspending most due to the pandemic. The Athens to Newark flight is a natural choice to resume as it connects one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, known for its culture, history, and friendly people with Greece.
  • Fly Baghdad is denying reports out of Iraq that the airline has been grounded. This one seems like it could be settled quite easily – their planes are either flying or they’re not.
  • flydubai has completed the work to return its 737 MAX to the skies. It will announce a resumption date and routes for the aircraft at a later date.
  • Frontier began operation of its twice-weekly service between Orlando and St. Thomas on Friday.
  • Qantas is building a new flight training center in Brisbane.
  • SpiceJet has launched twice-weekly cargo services between India and Singapore.
  • Vueling is launching three new routes from Billund, Denmark (BLL). It will add service to Barcelona, Malaga (AGP), and Palma de Mallorca on June 18. In addition, Ryanair will begin twice-weekly service from Billund to Barceona on July 1. Billund will see one more route addition for the summer – Turkish will begin a twice-weekly flight to Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport in July.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Kid: Dad, it hurts when I move my arm like this.

Dad: Then don’t move your arm like that.

February 19, 2021

United Adds Daily Nonstop from Boston to Heathrow

United Airlines fired a defensive shot at JetBlue today, announcing its new nonstop service between Boston and London/Heathrow which will start on a date yet to be determined. United has finally learned from its past, understanding if you don’t list a date for the service to begin, it can’t be considered late. Industry insiders expect the airline to attempt this without an actual flight schedule going forward, having passengers purchase a ticket for a three-day floating period. By never setting an actual departure time, it will not have to report any delayed flights to the DOT.

The new route appears to be a response to JetBlue’s continued build-up in Newark. This will sit right on top of JetBlue’s coming London flights from Boston, but unlike JetBlue, United will serve Heathrow, the preferred London airport. JetBlue is currently on the hunt for Heathrow slots, actively posting on Craigslist and Nextdoor to see if anyone had an extra one for sale, but has been unsuccessful so far.

If When the new flight enters service, it will be United’s 19th daily flight between the United States and London/Heathrow. The airline will operate the route with a B767-300ER aircraft in a premium-heavy configuration. The plane has 46 seats in Polaris Business Class, 22 in Premium Plus, 43 in Economy Plus and just 56 in the cargo hold economy.

Memphis Forced to Cancel All Flights Friday

All airlines canceled their flights at Memphis International Airport on Friday due to a lack of water pressure to safely operate the airport. According to the airport, the issue only affected restaurants, restrooms, and airline services, which when you think about it, is just about everything.

All passenger flights and operations are closed while the city and Memphis Light, Gas and Water work to solve the water pressure problem. Reports that the airport agreed to install new low-flow faucets and shower heads have not been confirmed at this time. The low-flow option is known to drastically reduce water pressure, often wreaking havoc on its customers.

Cargo operations are continuing to operate at the airport despite the water issues as the airport’s cargo operators operate AT their own facilities. Memphis is the second-busiest cargo airport in the world, just behind Hong Kong. It serves as the global hub for FedEx Express, processing 4.3 million tons of cargo a year. By keeping the cargo operations active, the airport will ensure that while your FedEx package will still arrive late, and probably several days late; it won’t be because it got held up the airport. It’ll be because it was loaded onto the wrong truck, or your driver delivered it three towns over, just like normal.

American Pulls Back in Canada, Increases in Caribbean

American Airlines AAnnounced a suspension of service to three Canadian cities while AAdding daily frequencies to two Caribbean destinations.

American is suspending flights to Halifax (YHZ), Ottawa (YOW), and Quebec City (YQB) for at least the rest of 2021. The decision comes as Canada’s border restrictions become increasingly tight for visitors and residents in an effort to ward off the virus in the country. Ottawa service had been suspended since last summer, but was expected to resume this summer, with 3x daily service from Philadelphia. Halifax and Quebec City were seasonal markets that were also expected to resume this summer, but will remain scrapped indefinitely.

In the Caribbean, American will add an extra daily frequency on two routes – going from 3x-daily to 4x-daily — from Miami to both Port-au-Prince (PAP) and St. Thomas (STT). Additionally, AA’s seasonal flight to St. Thomas from New York/JFK will be extended through at least November 6 instead of ending on August 17 as previously planned.

U.S. Airlines Support Contact Tracing

Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing most U.S. airlines announced its support for a voluntary international contact tracing program as the public returns (hopefully) to the skies this summer.

Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, and United agreed to commit to collecting contact tracing data from passengers traveling to the United States on international flights and then forwarding that data to the CDC. Spirit declined to commit to contact tracing when A4A denied it the opportunity to charge a contact tracing fee for passengers who voluntarily opted into the program.

As part of the program, passengers will be asked to supply their full legal name, phone number, e-mail address, physical U.S. address, fourth grade report card, favorite vegetable, least-favorite vegetable, and favorite Dairy Queen order. The CDC will store responses in a database to contact those who might have come into contact with the virus on a airplane. In addition, the CDC will now be able to group American based on their vegetable preferences while suggesting support groups for anyone who’s Dairy Queen preference isn’t a Blizzard.

Federal Government to Spend $5 Million to Check on How FAA Spent $9.4 Billion

The DOT’s Office of Inspector General opened an audit to study how the FAA spent $9.4 billion of CARES Act funds which were distributed in 2020. The funds were granted to use as support for capital expenditures, operating expenses (including payroll and utilities), and debt payments by the nation’s airports.

The Inspector General’s office said that previous audits of the FAA’s handling of airport funds in emergency situations have raised substansial questions, dating back to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The DOT is availing itself of $5 million from the CARES Act to conduct the investigation of the money spent by the FAA. It then plans to authorize a budget of $2 million to study how the DOT spends the $5 million on the audit of how the $9.4 billion was spent. And then there’s a budget to audit the $2 million that was spent to audit the $5 million that was spent to audit the $9.4 billion. It’s all one giant federally funded Russian nesting doll of audits.

Airline Potpourri

  • Finnair posted a $482 million loss in 2020 on revenues of $671 million. For comparison, in 2019, Finnair turned a $132 million profit on $2.5 billion in revenue.
  • S7 Airlines took delivery of its first 737-800 converted freighter.
  • Ukraine International Airlines is restoring most of the flights it had suspended at the outset of the quarantine. The schedule updates will go into effect beginning March 1.
  • Viva Air is adding three new international routes from its new hub in Medellín, Colombia (MDE). The low-cost carrier will add flights from MDE to Cancun, Mexico City, and Orlando.
  • Vueling plans to add nine Scandinavian routes to its network this summer.  From Barcelona it will add flights to Bergen (BGO) and Stavanger (SVG) in Norway, Billund in Denmark (BLL), and Gothenburg in Sweden (GOT). Billund, along with Copenhagen (CPH) will also see flights from both Malaga (AGP) and Palma de Mallorca, while Copenhagen will also receive service from Alicante (ALC).
  • WestJet is suspending service to four domestic destinations between March 19 and June 24. The four are: London, ON (YXU), Lloydminster, AB (YLL), Medicine Hat, AB (YXH), and St. John’s, NL (YYT).

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

What’s the secret to a good elevator pitch?

It has to work on many levels. 

February 18, 2021

AA & JetBlue AAnnounce More Northeast AAlliance Details

American & JetBlue unveiled the first round of schedule additions designed to bring the two airlines closer via their Northeast Alliance. Today’s announcement revealed 80 new codeshares, 33 new routes, and greater schedule coordination designed to complement and feed each other’s flights in New York and Boston.

The codesharing will begin next week, on February 25, with tickets on-sale today. JetBlue-operated flights can be purchased with an AA flight number on 49 routes while JetBlue will place its B6 code on at least 25 of American’s routes. Just for fun, they’ll also throw some random codes on each other’s flights and see if anyone buys tickets.

At the beginning, codesharing will only include point-to-point routes with more being added, including international service, in the coming months. We assume this is delayed due to the failure of JetBlue’s efforts to get pilots to loosen up restrictions on partnering.

American is introducing six new international routes from New York/JFK as part of the expansion. The airline will start daily service to three Colombian cities – Cali (CLO), Bogota (BOG), and Medellin (MDE) on May 6. Thrice weekly flights to Santiago de Chile (SCL) also begin May 6 and will become daily in November. AA will also begin Saturday-only service to both St. Lucia (UVF) and Turks and Caicos (PLS).

AA will also increase its presence in the northeast with 12 new domestic routes. From Boston, it will introduce flights to Asheville, NC, Columbus, OH, Jackson Hole, WY, Traverse City, MI, and Wilmington, NC. New York/LGA will see new flights to Kansas City, Key West, Myrtle Beach, Pensacola, Rapid City, DC, and Savannah. JFK will get one new route, all the way to Orange County.

Southwest’s Turn to Take Aim at Northeast Alliance

While American & JetBlue spent the morning highlighting new routes and features of its alliance, Southwest was filing a reply to the DOT, continuing its objection to the tie-up.

Southwest’s argument is two-fold, that American and JetBlue’s contention that no one objected to the deal until the very end is bollocks and that the alliance restricts competition in the northeast more than the DOT and the two airlines are willing to admit.

Southwest points to its letter to the DOT in late July, just two weeks after the initial announcement where it expressed its displeasure with the deal as a debunking of the idea that no one objected early in the process. It says the DOT conducted its review in secret, behind closed doors, and without any transfarency transparency.

Southwest wants JetBlue to divest itself of much more than the six slot pairs at Washington/National (DCA) it’s being forced to give up. As has been mentioned previously, Southwest tells the DOT that JetBlue received 28 of its 30 DCA slot pairs in its role as a low cost carrier to encourage competition against American. Half of B6’s DCA slots are used on the DCA-Boston route, which, when combined with AA gives the two a near-monopoly on the route.

Air Canada’s Purchase of Transat on the Shelf

With a deadline of February 15 to complete the sale having passed, Air Canada has put its attempts to acquire Transat in limbo. To be clear, nobody is doing the limbo since Canada has banned travel to the Caribbean and Mexico, the only two places where anyone would be willing to play the game.

Earlier this week, the European Commission declined to approve the deal, asking for more information from the airlines while postponing its decision until later in the year. As part of the sale process, the two airlines set February 15 as the date for completion, otherwise either side could walk away from the deal penalty-free.

With Air Canada looking to re-negotiate, Air Transat is now able to open up discussions with other suitors, including Pierre Karl Péladeau, president & CEO of Quebecor who made several attempts to wrest the airline away from Air Canada last year. Péladeau said he is open to resuming negotiations with Transat to resume his purchase of an economy ticket from Saskatoon to (YXE) to Charlottertown (YYG) the airline.

Talks are supposed to begin between the airline and Péladeau soon in a socially distanced setting at a suburban Montreal Tim Horton’s. Air Canada’s previously accepted final offer was US$150 million. Péladeau’s final offer was reportedly larger. Whether he goes high again will depend on whether Air Transat has any other interested parties, and how strong the coffee is at Tim Horton’s.

Ravn Alaska, Via Airways Scrap in Alaskan Wilderness

Via Airlines continues to plan a return to the commuter air market via Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, but it’s running into trouble with a competitor. Its potential resumption comes after the airline went out of business via cash flow issues in 2019. The scraps were purchased by Connecticut-based Wexford Capital, which intends to relaunch the airline in 2021.

Late last year, Via filed an application via the internet to the DOT to resume its commuter services with a single E145 aircraft. It hit a snag this week as potential rival Ravn Alaska asked the DOT to dismiss Via’s request due to being insufficient. Ravn argued to the DOT that Via’s application was insufficient, neglecting to furnish full fleet details, expense data, and operational plans.

Via’s response to Ravn probably was something like “it’s one plane flying one route – Dutch Harbor (DUT) to Anchorage – how complicated could it be?” And the answer is… super complicated.

Ravn went belly-up in early 2020 via cash flow problems and just restarted its operation late last year. Having gotten back into the air, it makes sense to want to ward off the competition, but doing it via the federal government seems unsportsmanlike.

Ukraine to Offer Flights over Chernobyl

Ukraine International Airlines will offer a sightseeing “flight to nowhere” that will fly directly over the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant outside of Kiev. Due to the pandemic, face masks are required for the flight – and all UIA flights – but gas masks will be optional on this one.

The unique flight, operated by an E195, will depart March 7 from the airline’s Kiev (KBP) hub. After takeoff it will give an air tour of Kiev and then head toward the power plant. The E195 will also fly along the Dnipro river at an altitude of 900 meters and take a pass over the Antonov factory airfield in Gostomel, home of the An-225 Mriya.

The plane will then return to Kiev where passengers will receive a tour of a B777 led by a UIA pilot followed by a visit involving one of those Men in Black memory-eraser things courtesy of the KGB.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air Côte d’Ivoire took delivery of its first Airbus A320neo.
  • American is adding six more routes in the west, unrelated to its alliance with JetBlue. AA will return to Idaho Falls (IDA), for the first time since the ’90s with once-daily service to both Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix. Phoenix will also see once-daily, year-round service beginning June 3 to Arcata-Eureka, CA (ACV). AA is also adding three seasonal routes which will begin June 3 – Phoenix to Bozeman, MT (BZN) along with Los Angeles to Grand Junction, CO (GJT) and Missoula, MT (MSO).
  • Antonov Airlines successfully transported a 54-ton power generation rotor from Ghana to India. Thank you for participating in today’s version of Cranky Daily Mad Libs.
  • GlobalX, an airline that does not really exist yet, announced an agreement to cooperate with Estelar Airlines from Venezuela, an airline that might or might not exist. Either way, direct air service between the U.S. and Venezuela is currently banned. This is sure to end well.
  • Iberia flew the first round of vaccine to be distributed in the Dominican Republic. British Airways took delivery of the vials and delivered them from Mumbai to London/Heathrow where Iberia took over and via a stop at its Madrid hub successfully delivered the 110kg of vaccines.
  • Mesa announced Torque Zubeck as its new Senior Vice President of Finance. He will be directly responsible for checking for change in and around seats on the airline’s planes while they sit overnight at airports across the country.
  • Norwegian filed for bankruptcy in France, giving the airline a victory in Bankruptcy Bingo. It won with a diagonal, marking off France, Ireland, Italy, and Norway in addition to involuntary furloughs to stave off bankruptcy (free space).
  • Uganda Airlines, the flag carrier of Luxembourg Uganda, has signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce to provide it with fancy cars to drive around the airport engines for its two new A330neo aircraft.
  • Virgin Australia is adding two new routes for the Easter holiday, running from March 29 through April 25. It will operate Adelaide (ADL) to Sunshine Coast (MCY), and Melbourne to Byron Bay (BNK).
  • WestJet hired Dr. Tammy McKnight as the airline’s first Chief Medical Officer.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

A guy said he saw me pick my nose. “Nope,” I told him. “I was born with it.”

February 17, 2021

JetBlue Eliminates Carry-On for Basic Economy Customers

JetBlue Airways announced a shift in policy from the JetBlue we all grew to know and love, eliminating change fees for most passengers (yay!), and removing carry-on bags for Basic Economy passengers. (boo!)

By forcing those with the cheapest tickets to pay to check their bags, the airline is introducing an overhead bin space guarantee, offering a $25 credit for passengers forced to check their carry-on while flying on a Blue fare or higher.

Like other U.S. airlines, JetBlue will now allow anyone booked on a non-basic itinerary to make changes without a fee. The airline did take the more passenger-friendly choice on fare differences, where a higher fare will require payment to make up the difference, but if the fare has dropped, a credit will be issued for the difference (looking at you, United).

Basic Economy fliers will be charged a change fee at a rate of $100 for domestic routes and those to the Caribbean, Mexico, & Central America. All other destinations will incur a $200 change fee in addition to having your name and address announced prior to boarding as a Basic Economy passenger.

Aeromexico Files Year-End Fiscal Report

Grupo Aeromexico (for those who do not speak Spanish, that translates to Aeromexico Group) posted a net loss of $2.1 billion for 2020, a significant loss that sounds much better than when it’s calculated in pesos, as it converts to a loss of a cool $42.893 billion pesos.

Aeromexico’s revenues for 2020 declined down to $1.4 billion, a 58.5% drop from 2019. The airline was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, and it continues to sort through the process at this time. Costs dropped 34.4% in 2020, aided by the bankruptcy process, down to just $1.7 billion. Cost savings included its ability to reject and return leased aircraft through Chapter 11, a reduction of its workforce through voluntary leave and involuntary furlough, and renegotiation with several union contracts.

The airline closed the year with $399 million in cash liquidity, access to $625 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing through the U.S. bankruptcy court, and 23 gallons of tequila. It mostly kept its fleet in tact throughout the pandemic, closing the year with 106 aircraft including six B737 MAX aircraft and an unpaid invoice from the U.S. government in 2018 for a portion of the unfinished border wall.

Shocker: Ryanair Headed to Court

Ryanair announced its intention to appeal a pair of rulings in EU’s Court of Justice with regards to state aid being offered to Air France and SAS. A spokesman for the airline said that Ryanair hasn’t taken a government entity to court in a while and that this seemed as good as any other reason. He also added that Ryanair’s trial lawyers like to stay sharp, and if they go more than a couple weeks without litigating in an open court, their skills atrophy very quickly.

Both airlines received aid proposals at the beginning of the pandemic – Air France and other French carriers received an airport tax deferral from the French government while SAS was offered a loan guarantee from the Swedish government. Ryanair’s beef with the loans is that the national governments offered the aid to their national airlines only and not to those based in other countries. Which, well, duh.

According to Ryanair’s appeal to the EU, €30bn in state subsidies has been doled out to EU flag carriers since the onset of the pandemic.  Ryanair is chapped that it hasn’t gotten in on any of the handouts, that they were reserved for national carriers going against the idea of the EU’s single market for air travel. It calls itself a “truly European airline,” with no rich and powerful home country to subsidize it during the pandemic (which can’t make Ireland feel great).

Etihad Reaches Agreement with Gulf Air

Etihad Airways and its regional rival Gulf Air announced a Strategic Commercial Cooperation Agreement, a fancy way to say that the two airlines agree to play nicely together when it mutually benefits them both.

The agreement builds on a previous Memorandum of Understanding agreed to in 2018. By June 2021, the codeshare agreement between the two will be greatly expanded. Combined, they will offer an additional 30 combined destinations for passengers to connect via the airlines’ two hubs.

In addition, the two airlines, pending regulatory approval, will work together to optimize joint operations on the Bahrain-Abu Dhabi route to improve network connectivity from their two respective hubs. The pair will also strive to make the passenger experience (not revenue) on the Bahrain-Abu Dhabi route metal neutral. They envision a seamless, identical passenger journey regardless of operating carrier, with baggage handling (check-in and baggage claim), ancillary fees, canceled flight & delay announcements, and chaotic boarding processes.

The expanded agreement will enhance the loyalty program benefits for passengers. Later this summer, elite passengers of both programs will receive reciprocal lounge access at hubs and premium seating in economy next to the same crying baby regardless of airline.

FAA to Costa Rica: You’re #1

The FAA has returned Costa Rica and its civil aviation authority to a Category 1 ranking, which for the FAA represents the highest international standards. The FAA’s ranking system is practically a pass/fail concept where Category 1 ranked countries have no safety-based restrictions on operating flights to the United States and Category 2 countries fail and are prevented from flying to the U.S. Some Category 2 countries are permitted to operate on a limited, case-by-case basis but it’s generally not a badge a country wants to wear proudly.

The FAA downgraded Costa Rica’s Direccion General de Aviacion Civil (DGAC) in May of 2019, preventing new service to the U.S. by any Costa Rican airlines. The news was met with a whimper in the Costa Rica with most residents saying that they’d rather be on the beach in Costa Rica anyway.

Volaris Costa Rica is the only carrier from the country currently operating to the United States and it can now add new service if it so chooses. To celebrate the upgrade back to Category 1, the DGAC is supplying all passengers flying between the US and Costa Rica – regardless of airline – with a giant foam #1 finger through April 30.

Airline Potpourri

  • Allegiant is adding two new routes for summer travel, one from Key West (EYW) to Pittsburgh beginning June 3. Also on June 2 it will begin flying St. Pete-Clearwater (PIE) to Portsmouth, NH (PSM). The airline is also expanding its route from Punta Gorda (PGD) to Rapid City, SD to operate twice-weekly all summer. It was originally supposed to exist on a limited basis in August for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
  • Austrian Airlines is increasing its schedule for the summer, now expecting to serve 20 destinations with up to 150 weekly flights.
  • Etihad’s cargo division signed a five-year MOU with UNICEF to assist the organization with distribution of vaccines, healthcare equipment, and other supplies to help fight the pandemic in Africa.
  • Finnair will dismantle an entire retired A319 aircraft in at home in Finland, with plans to recycle all components of the aircraft. It has pledged to not begin the dismantling until all passengers have disembarked from the aircraft’s final flight.
  • Oman Air ended its plan to expand by doubling its fleet. It will now look to downsize and try and turn a profit.
  • Solomon Airlines is taking delivery of its first 19-seat Twin Otter aircraft today.
  • Texel Air ordered its first B737-800 that has been converted for freight use prior to having taken delivery of the aircraft.
  • WestJet announced the departure of its CCO Arved von zur Muehlen. At this point there’s been no confirmation that WestJet’s arch-rival, Korean LCC Eastar Jet has contacted von zur Muehlen.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

What did the fisherman say to the magician? Pick a cod, any cod.