Author: Andrew Bashuk

February 16, 2021

JetBlue Pilots Reject AA Partnership

JetBlue Airways pilots rejected a tentative agreement with the airline, blocking JetBlue’s planned partnership with American Airlines. Though this had been rumored as a possibility, JetBlue stood to gain significant flying through this partnership, so it is still somewhat surprising.

In the vote, of which 92% of JetBlue’s eligible pilots participated in, 53.7% voted to reject the deal with 46.1% in favor. The remaining .2% said they logged onto to the voting portal because they had been promised free Dunkin’ Donuts coupons for participating. When no coupon was made available, the .2% logged off in anger without voting.

The most recent CBA between the airline and the pilots restricts the codeshare and joint venture agreements JetBlue can enter without permission of the pilots. The airline had offered minor pay raises and increased job security in an attempt to get the deal done, but the pilots are going to require greater concessions from the airline to allow the alliance to proceed. Reports from the ALPA say that the pilots are currently holding out for more, but that two AAdmirals Club passes and a 500-mile upgrade certificate per JetBlue pilot would likely get the deal done.

Southwest Reveals an Improved Outlook

In a bit of good news on the long, slow road to recovery of air travel, Southwest Airlines is increasing its projected load factor for March and April up to the 60-65% range from the previously projected range of 50-55% with a cash burn reduction by a couple million dollars daily.

The airline says it has experienced an improvement in leisure passenger demand and bookings in February leading to cautious optimism over the next two months. Southwest plans to operate a schedule this April that is an 81% increase from April 2020, when air travel bottomed out. Despite the large growth from a year ago, its April 2021 capacity will still represent a 25% drop from April 2019.

With the potential uptick in bookings on the horizon, Southwest officials at its Dallas headquarters could be seen rummaging through storage closets pulling out boxes of snack mix and honey roasted peanuts that had been in storage since the onset of the pandemic. Curiously, while the snack mix was piled high and hadn’t been touched since last March, the once-bountiful stock of Wild Turkey doesn’t seem to have survived the pandemic.

2020 Travel Fell to 1985 Levels

The United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics (there’s a bunch of rowdy government employees) released its preliminary summary on 2020 and the total drop in passengers, as expected, was significant.

U.S. airlines carried just 368 million fliers on the 22 largest carriers in 2020, a drop of 60% from the 923 million that flew in 2019. The last time U.S. airlines carried as few as 368 million passengers was 1985, which ironically is the last time a morning flight out of SFO left on-time. (It was a PSA flight to LA, we understand.)

With 2020 fiscal reports in for the major U.S. airlines, the six largest carriers in the country combined for a pre-tax loss of $43.8 billion. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) projects just a 38% increase in worldwide passengers this year compared to last, a significant drop from the 50% increase it was predicting as recently as December.

April 2020 was when air travel bottomed out before beginning its long, protracted recovery that still continues today. Just three million flew in the month, the smallest monthly total since the government started paying attention keeping records in 1974. The three million fliers in April represented a 96.1% drop from April 2019, the largest percentage drop since airlines began to crack down on mile-high club memberships.

Lufthansa Considering Future with Smaller Aircraft

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr commented that his airline is currently negotiating with both Airbus and Boeing about altering current orders to downgrade to smaller aircraft.

“We are putting many four-engine, long-range aircraft out of the fleet and this creates a certain need for smaller long-range aircraft. These are very dynamic discussions,” Spohr said. He continued to say that Airbus and Boeing were showing flexibility in the discussions which seems to line up perfectly with the old adage “beggars can’t be choosers.”

In classic German fashion, Spohr has a pessimistic view of everything the future of business travel, doubting that the neither the United States nor Europe will ever return to pre-pandemic levels of flying. That outlook likely was a key factor in the airline considering smaller aircraft as it looks to the future. Lufthansa already announced intention to retire its entire fleet of A380 and A340-600 aircraft, and is also reportedly considering replacing its busiest domestic routes with high-speed buses on the autobahn if passengers are willing to chip in for gas and snacks along the way.

South African Receives Another Government Bailout

It’s a tale as old as time, South African Airways being saved from not being able to pay its employees or fly its airplanes thanks to an 11th hour aid package from the South African government.

This time, the government is sending a loan of $346 million to tide SAA over until the next time it runs out of money. The cash is being used specifically to fund severance packages for employees who agreed to retire early to help the airline out of a previous financial pickle. Ok, it’s really the same financial pickle that just keeps stretching year after year.

This bailout comes after the government sent the airline $720 million back in October to finance a restructuring plan to help it our of bankruptcy.

In summary, the airline needs an aid package to pay the people for the deal offered by the airline, which they accepted, to retire early so the airline could sustain itself long enough in order take the next aid package.

Airline Potpourri

  • Aeromexico became the latest airline to receive a made-up prestigious award for its on-board sanitary measures.
  • Air Arabia released its schedule for summer 2021, and it will include 60 destinations to 26 countries.
  • airBaltic and Lufthansa will begin a codeshare agreement between each other on March 28.
  • Air Malta is nearing insolvency as it seeks an aid package from the EU to remain operating. If unsuccessful, it should place a call to South Africa.
  • Andes Líneas Aéreas is preparing for a March 1 restart of operations. It has released a tentative schedule for flights out of its Buenos Aires/Aeroparque (AEP) hub. The airline expects to only operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the time being.
  • Azul is adding Porto Alegre (POA) in southern Brazil as its newest destination, serving eight cities from the airport.
  • Blue Air is doubling its frequency to London/Heathrow from its Budapest hub to 2x daily, effective March 31.
  • Delta is delaying its delivery of its first A321neo aircraft until 2022.
  • Etihad is launching a kids fly free promo. You still have to pay the taxes on the free ticket, and the fine print probably says that they must be accompanied by a paying adult, but no one’s stopping you from giving it a try.
  • Jazeera Airways is introducing direct service between Kuwait City (KWI) and Colombo, Sri Lanka (CMB). The twice-weekly service begins this Sunday and will be operated on the airline’s lone A320neo.
  • Peach is offering free fruit baskets PCR tests for passengers traveling on its domestic flights out of either Osaka or Tokyo/Narita. The program will take place between February 21 and March 31.
  • Hainan Group had its restructuring plan approved by a Chinese court. In addition to Hainan Airlines, the ruling also covers regional carriers Air Changan, Fuzhou Airlines, Grand China Air, GX Airlines, Lucky Air, and Urumqi Air. If you were playing Airline Potpourri Bingo, you’re welcome.
  • Singapore delivered the first 142,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to Australia on Monday. The vaccines were flown from Brussels to Sydney with a stopover in Singapore. None of the vials were removed from their -70 degrees Celsius containers to enjoy duty free shopping during the stopover.
  • Wizz Air will open a new seasonal base this summer in Burgas, Bulgaria (BOJ). The airline will base one A320 aircraft in Burgas from June 10 until September 12. Basically it’s like that time you got sent to summer camp, except for an Airbus.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I made a pencil with an eraser on each end. Boy was that pointless.

February 12, 2021

There will be no Cranky Daily on Monday due to the Presidents’ Day Holiday when we celebrate our best presidents and shake our fists at our worst. (Yeah, Buchanan, we’re lookin’ at you.) Your daily dose of airline news, snark, and bad puns will return at its regularly scheduled time on Tuesday.

United Delays Return to JFK

For the second time in recent weeks, United Airlines pushed back its triumphant return to New York/JFK, this time to March 28.

In November, the airline announced its return to the airport would begin on February 1 with 2x daily flights to both Los Angeles and San Francisco. United left JFK in 2015 in favor of its hub at Newark. The airline loaded all of its equipment at JFK into a truck after its final flight in 2015, and with NYC traffic, the van arrived finally Newark last month, just in-time for it to turn around and go back to JFK.

In January, the airline pushed the return back a month to February 28, making this new one the second delay. In addition to postponing the resumption of service, United also dialed back the frequency it would operate from 2x daily on both routes to just 5x weekly or “whenever we friggin’ feel like it,” according to a Staten Island-based spokesperson.

United Looks to Take Real Housewives of OC to Hawai’i

United Airlines will begin a daily nonstop flight from Orange County (SNA) to Honolulu beginning May 6. The flight will be the only nonstop offered by any airline from Orange County to Hawai’i, creating a new option for access to the state from southern California. It will be the first nonstop between the two airports in nine years, when United previously flew it.

This second bite at the apple pineapple for United is only possible because it operates a fleet of 737-700 with ETOPS, the only U.S. airline to do so that would consider this route. SNA’s short runway prevents any other aircraft type that has ETOPS from flying to Hawai’i with a full load on-board.

The 737-700 has relatively few seats onboard, so United will need to get a fare premium versus nearby options in Long Beach and Los Angeles for the flight to become profitable. When asked whether that was realistic, a United spokesperson simply sent a current listing of housing prices in Newport Beach along with an image of a mic drop.

Air Canada’s Purchase of Air Transat Approved

Despite strong objections from competitors, the Canadian federal government approved Air Canada’s purchase of Air Transat, clearing the final regulatory hurdle in AC’s acquisition process.

The Canadian Transport Ministry stated that the terms and conditions it imposed on the transaction make the approval in the best interest of Canadians, which is exactly what you’d expect the Canadian Transport Ministry to say. The imposed terms include ensuring Transat’s headquarters remain in Québec; guaranteeing aircraft maintenance contracts for both brands remain in Canada; launching new routes within five years; and the opening of Air Transat’s European network for new competitors on both sides of the Atlantic.

Government regulators also said concern of Transat’s ability to stay in business were a factor in the decision, that permitting the airline to fold itself into Air Canada was a better alternative to it folding altogether. Canadian carriers WestJet and Flair strongly contested the purchase, but to no avail. Both rivals to Air Canada said that the purchase would reduce options for Canadian travelers and would create a near-monopoly on flights to Europe. Spirit joined the dissenting airlines in opposing the deal because that’s just what Spirit does now.

Spirit Resumes Hiring Pilots & Flight Attendants

Spirit Airlines has begun the process of hiring a new class of pilots and flight attendants as it expects to be flying at levels equal to 2019 as soon as early this summer.

The airline will resume new pilot and flight attendant training courses next month, the first for Spirit in almost a year. In addition to the new hires, Spirit is also calling back workers who took voluntary leaves of absence last year to help the airline avoid involuntary furloughs.

At the training sessions, new hires will be brought up to speed on FAA and DOT safety regulations along with Spirit’s fee schedule. Flight attendants will be presented with potential interactions with passengers and will be tasked with quickly calculating the proper fees that the passenger would be charged. If they fail, they will be immediately forced to work the Vegas redeye flights until they learn how to collect money from sober travelers.

Air Canada Releases 2020 Fiscal Report

Air Canada released its fiscal report for 2020 on Friday, closing the books on what it called “the bleakest year in commercial aviation.”

Air Canada earned C$5.833 billion (~7 US dollars, we think) in revenue in 2020, down a whopping 70% from 2019. It closed the year with a loss of C$3.776 billion after turning a C$1.650 billion profit in 2019.

The airline carried 73% fewer passengers in 2020 than the year prior while reducing ASMs by 67%. Its Q1 2021 capacity is down 85% from Q1 2019 and 83% from Q1 2020. The airline is currently operating amidst several travel and quarantine restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, including a ban on non-essential leisure travel to Mexico and the Caribbean which forced AC to temporarily shut down its Air Canada Rouge subsidiary.

Air Canada ended 2020 with C$8.013 billion in liquidity. That figure is spread amongst its cash reserves, Tim Hortons coupons, a strong position in maple syrup futures, and four lower level season tickets to Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens home games.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air Senegal is adding service to Barcelona from its Dakar hub via Casablanca. The flight will operate 3x weekly beginning this Tuesday.
  • Bukovyna Airlines had its operating license revoked by the Ukrainian government. Don’t forget that Cranky Concierge is standing by to assist anyone who has future travel on Bokovyna needing rebooking options.
  • Copa plans to take delivery of up to eight Boeing 737 MAX aircraft this year.
  • Transavia France took delivery of two Boeing 737-800, with four more on the way.
  • SWISS will extend its barebones operation at its Geneva (GVA) hub through at least March 27.
  • Virgin Australia will unveil a “soft reboot” of its business class product next month. At least we think that’s why they said. The accent can be hard to understand sometimes.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Why can’t a nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.

February 11, 2021

Delta 717 Skids off Taxiway

Delta Air Lines flight 2231, a Boeing 717 taxiing at Pittsburgh International Airport, last night skidded off the taxiway prior to taking off en route to Atlanta. No other operations at PIT were affected, with both runways remaining open.

The plane had 77 passengers on board when according to Delta it “exited a taxiway” in snowy weather. The plane was originally scheduled to exit the taxiway to the runway and then exit via the air at 5:49 p.m. and arrive at the runway in Atlanta at 7:40.  

No one was injured in the incident, and buses were dispatched to the aircraft once it had completed its exit. Due to the plane being stuck in the snow with its nose angled down, slides could not be deployed and airport first responders were needed to help everyone off the plane. The buses loaded up and then exited the taxiway as planned, dropping the passengers off airside to catch their breath and get rebooked.

The airport is bringing in additional equipment to tow the aircraft back to the gate after efforts to shift the Boeing 717 into neutral and have ground staff all give a big push to the plane were unsuccessful.

JetBlue Adds VPs

JetBlue added four new staff to its senior leadership team as the airline turns it attention to managing its recovery from the pandemic and overseeing the DOT pillow fight with Spirit over its Northeast Alliance with American.

The airline’s head of marketing and loyalty will be Jane O’Brien who most recently served as Senior VP of Global Brands at InterContinental Hotels. In her role leading the airline’s loyalty program, she will be responsible for its TrueBlue loyalty program and its new Dunkin’ Donuts IV program where the airline connects all passengers to an IV that drips DD coffee leading them to continuously buy tickets on JetBlue for no reason other than to receive the IV coffee.

Whitnee Hawthorne has been promoted to Vice President of Customer Support, replacing Frankie Littleford who retired after 21 years at JetBlue. Hawthorne’s main role in leading customer support will be to explain to passengers why there is graffiti sprayed all over the NYC subway tiles in the restrooms of JetBlue’s new A220 aircraft.

Thomas Howell was promoted to Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Compliance and he will lead the airline’s charge against Spirit when it comes to the DOT, as well as catching the culprits who spray graffiti on the lavatory walls. Lastly, the airline promoted Dana Shapir Alviene to Vice President, Airports Experience. Her role is a crucial one and JetBlue welcomes all passengers – flying with JetBlue or any other airline (except Spirit) – that have a negative airport experience to contact Dana. This policy applies to poor interactions with the TSA, too long a line at TSA, airport parking prices, a rude employee in a concourse restaurant, dirty restrooms, or anything else – Dana will be standing by to take your complaint.

Indonesia Issues Preliminary Report on Sriwijaya Flight 182

Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee issued its preliminary report into the deadly crash of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 that killed all 62 people on board when it plunged into the Java Sea last month.

The preliminary report stated that the airplane’s auto-throttle system was likely to blame for its steep bank and sudden dive just four minutes after takeoff. The auto-throttle is connected to 13 of the airplane’s internal systems and without any further evidence into which of the 13 systems led to the failure, the committee is unable to make a conclusion as to the cause of the crash. This particular aircraft reported issues with its auto-throttle systems on two different flights in late December, but it was declared to be fixed and the aircraft to be airworthy on January 5 – four days prior to the fateful flight.

The plane was climbing shortly after takeoff when one engine began thrusting but the other did not. The imbalance caused the plane to go from its normal nose-up position during takeoff to an unstable nose-down position in under five seconds. Pilots were unable to correct the problem as the plane quickly descended from 11,000 feet into the Java Sea. Officials have recovered the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and will continue to investigate.

Thai to Retire Longhaul Fleet & Eliminate First Class

As a part of its current financial restructuring, Thai Airways will reportedly retire its fleet of six A380 aircraft along with its A330s and Boeing 747s. The 747 and A380 are the two aircraft types left in which Thai still offers a first-class product, and with their eventual retirement it will presumably end first class service on the airline.  

The retirement of the 747s is not a surprise as the airline put its fleet up on Craigslist for sale late last year. In addition to its six A380s, Thai currently has 11 747s, that are all in storage so potential Craigslist buyers can come take a look. Thirteen of its 15 A330s are also in storage, with two currently being operated by the airline.

When Thai sends its A380s out to the big airplane hangar in the sky, it will become the third airline to retire its A380 fleet following Air France and Lufthansa. Thai will move forward with a fleet of 40 aircraft, most of which are currently in long-term storage since the airline dramatically reduced its schedule in the wake of the pandemic.

End of an Era: Air Namibia Ends Operations

Air Namibia, the flag carrier of Luxembourg Namibia announced today that it will end operations and enter a voluntary liquidation to salvage what cash it can before fading into the sunset. The airline is cancelling all flights effective today and returning its aircraft back to its Windohek/Kutako (WDH).

Air Namibia has been operating for 76 years, and as it ends flying, the airline’s fleet contains 10 planes including 10 A330s, four A319s, and four ERJ135ER. It operated to 18 cities in nine countries in Africa, including seven domestic routes within Namibia. It flew one long-haul flight, with 4x-weekly service to Frankfurt prior to the pandemic.

One local twist on the demise of Air Namibia is that its two-letter IATA code has been highly coveted by a well-known U.S. airline for years. Southwest Airlines made several overtures to Air Namibia to see if the airline would change its “SW” code but could never get the airline to bite. But now, one airline’s trash may very well become another airline’s IATA code… if it finds it worthwhile to even bother.

Airline (and Airport) Potpourri

  • Astral Aviation and SpiceXpress have signed a codesharing cargo agreement connecting the networks of both cargo operators to ship lots of stuff around the world. SpiceXpress is the cargo subsidiary of Indian carrier Spicejet and not the exclusive carrier of a Las Vegas gentleman’s clubs as its name might imply.
  • easyJet completed a sale & leaseback of 20 A320s with Aero Capital Systems.
  • London/Gatwick will begin charging a £5 fee for dropping off passengers at its North Terminal effective March 8. The airport will presumably implement a £1 charge to use restrooms in the terminal sometime later this summer.
  • Norwegian went into bankruptcy again, this time in Italy. If it files for bankruptcy reorganization in two more countries by the end of Q1, it wins bankruptcy bingo.
  • Ryanair released its schedule for this winter which includes over 700 routes with more to come. The airline is likely waiting to see what governments it will be picking fights with to know what countries to avoid before it releases the rest of the schedule.
  • Singapore Airlines began operating flights today consisting of full sets of crew members that have been vaccinated against the virus. The airline would not comment if the flight crew has also been vaccinated against whiny and entitled passengers.
  • Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport will remain closed through at least February 20, with El Al CCO Michael Strassburger expecting the closure to be extended. In the meantime, the shuttered airport is being used to store the disappointment of Jewish mothers with regards to their grown children.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Police arrested a bottle of water because it was wanted in three different states: Solid, liquid, and gas.

February 10, 2021

It’s Electric: United to Move Toward Air Taxis

Nope, we’re still several weeks from April Fools; this one’s real. United, the airline that gives us hits like “Newark Airport” and “Morning Fog in San Francisco” is ready spread its literal wings to be the first airline to offer air service via electric air taxis.

United announced an agreement to purchase up to 200 electric aircraft from Archer Aviation to offer a “quick, economical, and low carbon way to get to United’s hub airports and commute in dense urban environments within the next five years.” Ironically enough, five years is also when your currently delayed United Express flight from Newark to Ithaca is expected to take off.

The project jives well with United’s goal to be completely carbon neutral by 2050 as these aircraft are expected to reduce carbon emissions by as much as 47% per passenger. Archer wants the launch to be in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, flying people to LAX. Because that’s exactly what LA needs – traffic jams in the air to go along with the gridlock on the ground.

Spirit Pokes Back at American

The public spat between Spirit and American took a new turn on Tuesday as Spirit responded to American’s recent DOT filing with a filing of its own.

In its most recent submission to the DOT, American tore Spirit a new one, addressing each one of Spirit’s complaints individually while dismissing them with vigor and gusto. Spirit fired back, matching AA’s fervor and snark, while staying focused on its main beef which continues to be over slots at the slot-controlled airports in the northeast including DCA, JFK, and LGA.

Spirit refers back to multiple past mergers and codeshares where the federal government raised concerns and/or required slot divestures for less overlap than this agreement. One it specifically references is the Delta/Continental/Northwest codeshare from 2003. While what it says is true, Spirit neglects to consider that referencing a case where two of the three airlines referenced no longer exist and that took place – checks notes – 18 years ago may not be all that analogous. A lot has changed since then, including the invention of the iPhone, internet on airplanes, and at least forty seven iterations of Eastern Airlines.

Spirit saved its best for last, accusing American and JetBlue of filing the paperwork on their alliance exactly 180 days before January 20 when a new administration would takeover DOT. Spirit says that American chose its filing day “cynically” highlighted by the fact that then Transportation Secretary Chao signed the agreement one day before she left office. Maybe AA did it, maybe they didn’t – but to think the AAirline mAAniuplated the calendar so that the agreement would be signed one day before Secretary Chao resigned as a response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol seems a bit much.

Delta to Offer Vaccine to All Employees

Delta Air Lines has begun offering a COVID-19 vaccine to its 75,000 employees worldwide. The airline is beginning with employees 65 and older based in Atlanta and those who find themselves in Atlanta. It plans to expand the offering as the state of Georgia makes other groups eligible.

The airline has started offering the vaccines both at the Delta Flight Museum and on Concourse C at its Atlanta hub. Both Concourse C and the flight museum have been closed since the onset of the pandemic.

The feat is less impressive compared to Etihad, which announced this week that it became the first airline to vaccinate its entire cabin staff. The airline managed to get it done, powering through the difficult logistics of… having its entire staff live in the one city and having almost full control over its staff Kudos, Etihad!.

Delta began offering vaccines on Monday and says that nearly 700 employees have received their first shot in the first two days. The airline is hopeful to expand the vaccine program to its other major hubs including Detroit, Los Angeles, New York/JFK, Salt Lake City, & Seattle.

Spirit Posts Final 2020 Fiscal Report

Spirit Airlines released its Q4 and year-end 2020 earnings report after market close on Thursday, finishing the quarter with $158 million in losses on $498.5 million revenue.

The full year saw a loss for Spirit of $507 million. The airline brought in $1.8 billion in revenue for 2020, of which $2 came from base airfares and the remaining billions from fees, buy-ups, and add-ons. The $1.8 billion figure was $70 less than projected, as a gate agent allowed a family of four to carry on two of their four bags without charging on December 27. That agent was immediately reassigned to work as a ramp agent, splitting their time between Las Vegas (summer) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (winter). Spirit did curtail costs in 2020, reducing its expenses by 22% from 2019 down to just $658 million.

The airline ends the year with $1.9 billion of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment securities. It plans to have a 17% drop in capacity for Q1 2021 vs Q1 2019, and $750 million in expenses. Approximately $350 million of the expenses are allotted to running the airline with the remaining $400 million being funneled to DOT objections to the pending American and JetBlue Northeast Alliance.

Delta To Debut Digital Concierge

Delta Air Lines announced its plans to debut its digital concierge, albeit not in the manner it was originally designed. The program was announced by Delta at CES 2020, in a pre-pandemic world that reminds us all of simpler times. Delta is pivoting the digital concierge to streamline requirements related to the pandemic for passengers based on where their travel is taking them.

The digital concierge, which is quite similar to United’s Travel-Ready Center, will give travelers a one-stop shop detailing what is needed for safe travel. The airline plans to offer travelers all testing and vaccine requirements for their destination and any intermediate stops. It will also list, along with test scheduling options, the ability to validate and confirm test results in the app for hassle-free travel.

Delta will also launch a pilot with CLEAR Health Pass, beginning February 18 on one daily flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Participation is voluntary, and Delta will use the information from those who opt-in to better determine what steps it needs to take to expedite passengers’ re-entry into the United States based on current health guidelines.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air France is reducing its frequency to Papeete (PPT) to once-weekly for the rest of February with a stop in Vancouver to avoid US health guidelines. The airline also plans to upgauge its daily service to Tel Aviv to an A330-200 on February 20. It will increase to 2x daily on June 13.
  • Burundi Airlines was announced as the new flag carrier of Luxembourg Burundi, replacing Air Burundi which has been defunct since 2008.
  • Cathay Pacific is suspending service to nine cities worldwide effective February 20. Suspensions include three of its four cities served in Australia, leaving just 5x weekly flights to Sydney. The airline will also suspend flying to two North American destinations: San Francisco and Vancouver.
  • Flair Airlines, the Canadian ULCC and 18-time heavyweight champion of the world, is expanding with eight new destinations across Canada this summer. It will begin service to Ottawa (YOW) and three others in May with four more destinations to follow later in the summer.
  • JSX is adding a “pop-up” flight for potential spring breakers. It will operate between Dallas/Love and Cabo San Lucas (SJD) from March 11-14 and again April 1-5. When asked for comment, Magnitude said only, “Pop, pop!”
  • LATAM Brasil operated a cargo flight to China, delivering materials to a Chinese vaccine manufacturer. The flight was the first between Brazil and China – cargo or passenger — since July.
  • Lufthansa Group has extended its suspension of change fees on all flights. Travelers may make unlimited changes through May 31, and then one free change after that date.
  • Virgin Australia matched rival Qantas’s policy of unlimited flight changes through January 2022 for itineraries booked by the end of April 2021.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

A slice of apple pie is $2.50 in Jamaica and $3.00 in the Bahamas. These are the pie rates of the Caribbean.

February 9, 2021

Sun Country To Go Public

Sun Country Airlines filed a Form S-1 with the SEC today (this one, not that one), declaring its proposed initial public offering (IPO) of common stock. The number of shares it plans to offer and the price has not yet been determined. The airline proposed to list its stock under the ticker symbol “SNCY” because the market is incapable of using the image of the “Endless Summer” movie poster as requested.

Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank Securities will serve as joint lead bookrunners, and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Nomura will serve as joint bookrunners for the offering. Apollo Global Securities will serve as a co-manager.

The rather innovative submission was rejected by the SEC originally, because investors would have been required to pay an extra 50 cents per share to sell the stock as well as a 10 cent per share fee to have it actually in your portfolio and a 15 cent per share fee to see it in the broker’s online portal. Investors who wanted a glass of water or small snack while owning the stock would also be required to pay an extra 35 cents per snack per share.

Allegiant Goes Hog Wild Adding New Routes

Allegiant Air announced 34 new routes it would operate this summer including nine limited, dedicated routes to Rapid City, SD (RAP) for the nearby Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

During the first week of August, Allegiant will introduce service to Rapid City from nine cities across the country. Most people attending the rally in Sturgis ride their motorcycles to the event, as it doesn’t make a lot of sense to attend a motorcycle rally without a motorcycle. To that end, the airline will allow those flying to Rapid City to check their motorcycles for free provided the passenger consents to allowing ground staff to siphon the gas out of the motorcycle to be used in the plane’s tanks for the flight.

In addition to the short-term Sturgis routes, Allegiant is adding another 25 routes including a build-up of Portland, OR, and Key West– two of the three new destinations it announced last month. Des Moines (DSM), where Allegiant announced last week it would open a base is also seeing an increase in flights this summer. Portland is seeing four new routes including Des Moines which is adding three and Key West which gets one more city – Cincinnati.

Other additions include Allegiant’s traditional point-to-point service between random city pairs including Appleton, WI (ATW) to Savannah, GA (SAV) which begins May 28.

Southwest Spills the Beans on Rapid Rewards in Government Filing

Southwest Airlines filed its annual SEC 10-K today (again this one, not this one), and revealed details about its Rapid Rewards program in the filing.

Southwest has had a higher percentage of travelers flying on award redemptions than its domestic competitors for several years, but during the pandemic, Southwest saw the percentage of passengers flying on award tickets increase from 14.1% in 2019 to 15.8% in 2020. The increase can be pointed to several factors including cash being tighter for many in 2020 and Southwest’s hassle-free, full refund policy when changing or canceling an award redemption.

Southwest currently has about $4.4 billion worth of unredeemed points on its balance sheet. If it wanted, it could convert those at a 1:1 ratio to Delta SkyMiles, which would be just enough to purchase a round trip domestic redemption from Baton Rouge to Fort Wayne via Atlanta for a family of four. Its number of unredeemed points grew during 2020, which is not a surprise considering redemptions were down 62% during the pandemic.  

Southwest pre-sold $600 million worth of points to Chase during Q4 2020. The figure represents the amount of points it expected to be purchased in 2021, so the deal simply was Southwest getting an advance on payment from Chase. Chase neglected other overtures from the airline including the sale of first class upgrade vouchers and comp tickets to all of Southwest’s European destinations. (via View From the Wing)

Air Canada to Furlough 1,500 & Suspend 17 Routes

With Canada enacting stricter border controls and a lack of travel demand due to both the pandemic and the fact it’s winter in Canada, Air Canada has informed 1,500 employees that they will be furloughed as part of another temporary reduction of the airline’s workforce.

Air Canada has been hit hard by the Canadian government’s suspension of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. The directive led to AC’s shuttering of its Air Canada Rouge subsidiary for the indefinite future. With this round of cuts, Air Canada has reduced its workforce nearly in half since the onset of the pandemic, from approximately 40,000 staff to just 20,000.

In addition to the furloughs, Air Canada is suspending 17 routes beginning next week. Toronto/Pearson will see the bulk of the suspensions with five U.S. destinations and six international flights axed. Four of the overseas destinations having service suspended:  Bogotá, Dublin, Tokyo/Narita, and São Paulo/Guarulhos, will continue to see Air Canada cargo operations, despite the lack of passenger service. After all, Canadians need their Guinness and Japanese whisky.

Sunwing Airlines Receives Takeover Offer

Canadian carrier Sunwing Airlines received a takeover offer from an unnamed potential buyer this week. CEO Stephen Hunter confirmed to Toronto’s The Globe & Mail that the airline has been approached, but declined to provide further information due having signed a confidentiality agreement.

Reporters used Tim Horton’s BOGO coupons in an effort to persuade Hunter to break the NDA, but the CEO couldn’t be swayed. Hunter was willing to say that the many different business units of Sunwing’s parent company, Sunwing Travel Group could complicate the sale. The parent company operates 45 resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico – shockingly to where most of Sunwing’s flights from Canada operate – in addition to a luxury jet charter service and other vacation brands. The company is owned by Hunter’s family which has a 51% stake, with TUI group owning the rest.

An unnamed airline executive speculated to The Globe and Mail that it was believed the takeover bid came from Calgary-based WestJet which has had takeover talks with Sunwing in the past. The real question is whether or not the unnamed executive works for the unnamed airline – and what a confusing workplace that would be.

A potential tie-up between Sunwing and WestJet would be difficult to pass regulatory approval. The Canadian government is currently examining the potential purchase of Air Transat by WestJet’s competitor, Air Canada. If that sale is approved, it would reduce the number of competitors in the Canadian market, likely posing an issue for this potential takeover.

Airline Potpourri

  • American is retiring its fleet of Embraer 140 aircraft. All are expected to have been removed from the fleet by May 6.
  • Bulgaria Air is launching 10 new leisure-based destinations from its Sofia (SOF) hub, beginning with Sofia to Dubai on May 5.
  • Gulf Air will resume service to Colombo (CMB) with 2x weekly flights beginning February 15.
  • SAS will increase its summer 2021 schedule to operate to 180 destinations from Scandinavia.
  • Singapore has reached agreements with both Airbus & Boeing to defer $3 billion in aircraft deliveries, including conversion of some 787 orders to the new 777-9.
  • Vietjet received two new A320 aircraft that it will put into service in time for the Lunar New Year.
  • Virgin Australia plans to open its new lounge at Adelaide (ADL) later this month.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

My cousin was meeting someone he met online for a first date. He suggested they meet at the gym. When his date stood him up, he realized they would never work out.

February 8, 2021

American Adds Tel Aviv, More from Miami

American Airlines announced today two new routes from its Miami hub, introducing service to Paramaribo, Suriname (PBM) and making Miami its third city to serve Tel Aviv.  In addition to the two international routes, American is also adding new summer service to two domestic destinations from Miami: Little Rock (LIT) and Portland, ME (PWM).

The Tel Aviv route completes the lox and latkes triangle for American, with service from Tel Aviv to both New York and South Florida, giving Jewish mothers more fuel for badgering their kids about why they haven’t taken a birthright trip to Israel.

AA will operate Miami to Tel Aviv 3x-weekly on a Boeing 777-200 equipped with three classes of service: Orthodox Business, Conservative Premium Economy & Reform Main Cabin. Kosher meals will be available in all classes of service via pre-ordering on AA.com. The airline will also offer Kosher wine, knowing if it runs out, cabin crew will dump several packets of salt into the regular wine and passengers will be none the wiser.

American’s new service to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, will make it the first U.S. carrier to serve PBM. Flights from Miami will operate 5x-weekly on an A319 with a schedule timed for connections in Miami in both directions. Suriname becomes American’s ninth country served in South America, but the first who’s national animal is the lesser kiskadee.

Delta Extends Middle Seat Blocking Through April

Delta Air Lines announced it will extend its blocking of middle seats through April 30. Most U.S. airlines blocked middle seats to encourage social distancing on-board its aircraft last summer as a means to encourage travelers to return to the skies. Everyone has ended blocking middles with the exception of Delta which is using the practice to stand out from its competitors.

The airline extended middle seat blocking through March 30 at the end of 2020, after the practice had been scheduled to expire at the end of last year. This extension is just one-month, whereas the previous extensions have been three months or more, perhaps signaling (a) that we are nearing a return to Delta booking all seats on its aircraft, or (b) Delta sees demand so low that it figure it’ll just keep rolling it month by month until people fly again.

Families or groups traveling together that prefer to book middle seats can still do so. Middle seats can be reserved at booking or by the gate agent prior to departure. Delta reminds families that while middle seats are available, families with middle seats between them often are the happiest families.

EU and Air France Battle Over Slots at Orly

Air France-KLM is in a battle with the EU over slots at Paris/Orly (ORY) as the European Commission is threatening to withhold state aid from the airline unless it agrees to divest itself of slots at Paris’s second-busiest airport.

The airline has received €10.4 billion in state aid since the onset of the pandemic but is looking for more. For this next round of aid, the European Commission is going to require a divesture of slots like what it required of Lufthansa at German airports when it received aid from the German government. The French and Dutch governments combine to own 28% of the airline and are offering more aid because the airline says it needs new equity capital – financial speak for “we’re almost broke.”

The airline is resistant to giving up the slots at Orly because it just doesn’t like being told what to do, and also because the slots are crucial for its development of its low-cost subsidiary Transavia. Air France representatives are pleading with the EU in their usual, pleasant, French demeanor, so far to no avail. Its counterparts at KLM suggested everyone meet up in Amsterdam to chill, relax, and get this settled.

Venezuelan Airline Laser-Focused on U.S. Routes

Venezuelan carrier Laser Airlines applied for permission to operate flights to the U.S. from three of its Venezuelan gateways. The airline applied for authority to fly from Caracas (CCS), Valencia (VLN), and Maracaibo (MAR) to Miami.

This is not Laser’s first attempt to fly to the United States. The airline applied to the DOT to operate from Caracas and two other cities to Fort Lauderdale in October 2011. The DOT never responded to that request, because either it didn’t have all the required information, or because it thought it would be fun to mess with Hugo Chavez, we aren’t sure which.

Venezuela is currently rated by the FAA as a Category 2 country. Like boarding zones on most airlines, Category 2 sounds like it’d be a good thing. It is not.

Category 2 status from the FAA means carriers from that nation cannot initiate new service and are restricted to current levels of any existing service to the United States. Any airlines wanting to operate to the U.S., such as Laser, much request specific permission to do so. It also means that the airline, if granted permission, must use U.S.-registered aircraft for the flights.

Virus Unable to Penetrate Customers While Sleeping on Cathay Flights

Cathay Pacific declared in an internal memo today, that passengers in premium cabins on-board its flights are exempt from wearing masks provided their seats are in their lie-flat mode for the purposes of sleep.

If passengers are in lie-flat mode in order to just relax and read a book or listen to music, then your mask must stay on. But the moment a premium class passengers feels themselves drifting off to dreamland, it’s mask-off, baby!

Cathay claims its reasoning is that the airline desperately wants more long-haul, premium class passengers the high enclosures surrounding its business class seats and first class suites, along with the greater degree of personal space and distance between travelers, helps combat the airborne spread of coronavirus between passengers. It also helps combat the airborne spread of poor manners and entitled attitudes.

Premium class fliers on Cathay Pacific are pleased with the decision, but do not believe the airline has gone far enough. Next, they want to be exempted from seat belts and having to be seated during taxi, takeoff, and landing. The airline said it will take the requests under advisement and issue a decision in the coming weeks.

Airline Potpourri

  • Avianca had a $370 million loan from the Colombia government terminated by a Colombian court. It’s Venmo is @Avianca-Airline.
  • Emirates will resume flying to and from Nigeria today as its suspension by the Nigerian government ended.
  • El Al discovered a stowaway on a B737 that had been stored in Tel Aviv. A cat was discovered looking out the windows of the cockpit of the aircraft as it was being worked on. The cat was removed from the plane safely and was recently named the airline’s Executive VP of Cockpit Operations.
  • Eurowings and its flight attendant union have come to an agreement to allow it to hire currently furloughed attendants from its parent company, Lufthansa.
  • KrasAvia started operating its first two ATR 72-500s, the first ATR aircraft ever registered in Russia
  • S7 Airlines is taking delivery of two Boeing 737-800BCF aircraft. The planes were previously flown by Ryanair before being converted to a cargo configuration for S7.
  • SWISS served notice to its pilots that it plans to terminate its CBA and begin new negotiations. The current CBA will remain in effect until March 2022.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

My friend was also very claustrophobic, but it was cured once he became an astronaut.

It turns out he just needed some space.

February 5, 2021

Southwest Announces a Slew of Leadership Changes

Southwest Airlines announced changes within its senior leadership team, with two retirements leading to a cascade of promotions across the company.

Executive Vice President of Daily Operations Greg Wells and Vice President of Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards Jim Ruppel both will be retiring at the end of this month. Wells has been with Southwest since 1981 when he started as a ramp agent before working his way into the corporate office. Ruppel began with Southwest in 1978 having held several leadership positions across the airline. Both will take advisor roles as part of their retirement. CEO Gary Kelly presented both with a LUV voucher in the amount of $50 and four drink vouchers in honor of their retirements.

Among the promotions in the wake of the two departures, Senior VP of Air Operations Alan Kasher is being promoted to Executive VP of Daily Operations. As a former pilot for Southwest, Kasher found comfort in being in charge of air operations for the airline and will spend the first weeks of his new job adjusting to working on the ground.

Sam Ford will be promoted to Vice President of Operational Strategy & Performance meaning his new role will consist of making sure the airline’s boarding placards are properly spaced out at gate areas across the country to reduce confusion amongst boarding groups.

Julie Landrum has been promoted to Managing Director of Financial Planning & Analysis which is the role at Southwest focused on selling Early Bird upgrades and controlling the stash of all those drink vouchers. Lastly, Chris Johnson is being promoted to Vice President Ground Operations on February 1. The former Southwest ramp agent will be tasked with selling items on eBay from all luggage that doesn’t make it into the cargo hold and was accidentally left on the ground near the aircraft.

SkyWest Announces Q4 and 2020 Earnings

SkyWest released its Q4 and 2020 financials prior to the markets opening on Friday morning, announcing the airline lost $59 million on its pre-tax revenues for a Q4 net loss of $46 million.

SkyWest’s full year saw a total loss of $7 million, an amount that most U.S. airlines would kill for right now. No, literally they might actually be willing to kill for it. It helps that SkyWest does its flying on behalf of other airlines and has a defined cost and revenue structure before it carries one passenger. But no matter the reason, it’s still a decent result following a year that put nearly everyone deep into the red.

SkyWest ended Q4 with $590 million in revenue, down 21% from 2019 as the airlines it operates for dramatically reduced its schedule. But Q4’s revenue figure was up 29% from Q3 as some demand returned for SkyWest in the final quarter.

The airline ends the year with $826 million in cash, a significant increase from the $520 million it had at the end of 2019. A large portion of the cash increase comes from SkyWest flight attendants offering to sell Delta credit cards on-board during flights. SkyWest is not actually authorized to sell credit cards on behalf of Delta, so the flight attendants pocket the money earned from unsuspecting passengers and split it 50-50 with the airline.

Frontier Covers All Its Bases

Frontier Airlines will establish two new crew bases this year in Atlanta and Tampa. The Tampa base is expected to open in May with the Atlanta base opening sometime late in 2021. The addition of the crew bases is a sign that Frontier wants to increase its presence in both cities.

Tampa will see growth this summer when it increases from roughly eight daily flights on Frontier in 2019 to more than 14 daily in June. It’s unclear why anyone would want to fly to Tampa in the summer, but presumably we’ll see even more growth when winter shows up again.

Even though the Atlanta base won’t open until later this year, an increase in flying is already planned for this summer with daily flights going from 10 in June 2019 to 17 this year. After Frontier announced its plans, Delta quickly announced it couldn’t compete and would fold up shop.

UK to Begin Hotel Quarantine on February 15

The United Kingdom will implement a required 10-day stay at approved quarantine hotels for all passengers flying into the UK from 33 countries on its hotspot list. The quarantine requirement will go into effect on February 15, because until then, COVID has agreed not to infect people destined for the UK.

The government has asked hotel owners to set aside up to 1,000 rooms at hotels near all major airports in the UK including three London airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, and London City. Other airports on the list include Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Currently only UK citizens and permanent residents can even enter the country.

The traveler will be responsible for the entire cost of the hotel, any minibar charges, and room service tea. Travelers will be permitted outside on the hotel’s grounds to get some fresh air or have a smoke, provided they are accompanied by a security guard. Amazingly, that entire sentence seems to defeat the whole purpose of the quarantine. Nightly lodging costs for quarantined travelers are expected be approximately £80 per night per person plus, apparently, the cost of cigarettes.

Nigeria Tells Emirates to Take a Long Weekend

Nigeria banned Emirates Airline from operating outbound flights back to Dubai for 72 hours due to the airline skirting Nigeria’s virus guidelines.

The suspension began yesterday and continues through the weekend. Nigeria is accusing Emirates of airlifting passengers out of Nigeria and using rapid tests at unapproved locations. Nigeria requires a 72-hour PCR test at a government approved testing center for travel in and out of the country.

This is not the first dustup between the Nigerian government and Emirates. Earlier this year, the Nigerian High Court required the airline to reimburse an American drug mule businessman $1.63 million after he alleged Emirates lost his briefcase with that much cash in it during a trip to Nigeria in 2009.

Nigeria banned other airlines for their handling of the pandemic in the country including Air France, KLM, and Lufthansa. All three airlines had their bans lifted within a month.

Airline Potpourri

  • Aeroflot announced its Q4 and 2020 financials, and being a Russian state-owned airline, we can totally take the figures at face value. The airline posted a loss of $1.3 billion for the year on revenues of just over $3 billion. Do keep in mind that Aeroflot gets to keep all the money from airlines overflying Russia, so… that’s gotta help.
  • Air Senegal is adding two European destinations from its Dakar (DSS) hub. It will begin service to both Milan/Malpensa and Lyon. Both will operate 3x-weekly, with MXP service beginning on February 17 and LYS on March 28.
  • Air Serbia is taking all of its assets in New York including its jetway, signage, podiums, and reams of paper on the AirTrain as it moves from JFK’s Terminal 4 to Terminal 1.
  • Fly Angola is again living up to its own name as it resumed operations for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
  • Rwandair is seeking DOT permission to again serve New York. The airline proposes one-stop service from its Kigali (KGL) hub to New York/JFK with a stop in Dakar, Ghana (DSS).
  • Wizz Air is adding three new destinations from Larnaca, Cyprus (LCA). It will operate to Oslo, Tel Aviv, and Kharkiv, Ukraine (HRK) beginning March 31.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

What do you call a line of people grilling food while waiting to get their haircut?

A barberqueue.

February 4, 2021

Airlines Look For a Third PSP, Prepare for Layoffs

Stop us if you’ve heard this story before. Airlines and labor unions alike are pushing Congress for another PSP (this would be the third, if you’re scoring at home). If it doesn’t happen? Well, layoffs of course. Just to add more pressure, airlines are starting to push out formal WARN notices of potential layoffs to take effect when the current loan program expires on April 1.

American and United alone sent WARN notices to a combined 27,000 employees that their jobs are again on the chopping block for involuntary furlough when the funding runs out in about eight weeks. In an internal memo, AA CEO Doug Parker and COO Robert Isom told employees that capacity would be down 45% in January 2021 compared to 2020, and that the airline does not expect to operate all of its aircraft this summer. (If you’re surprised, we’ve got a bridge to sell you.)

Congress approved $25 billion in the original PSP last spring, which expired on September 30. Following tens of thousands of layoffs last fall, Congress passed a second PSP – this time for $15 billion – late in December, prompting most furloughed workers to be recalled. But the spigot for this round of funding — also $15 billion — runs out on March 31, and nearly all employees who were just brought back are likely to be given the yo-yo treatment… furloughed once more.

Much of the first two PSP’s were based in the false hope that travel demand would return and the loan would be a bridge back to profitability for the airlines. But U.S. airlines lost a record $34 billion in 2020, a figure that would have been higher if not for all the flights booked by normal people fleeing Florida.

Air Canada Pauses Rouge

Air Canada is suspending the operations of its low-cost, leisure-based subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge. Due to its leisure focus, most of Rouge’s route network flies Canadians to warm-weather destinations to escape Canada’s winter. The Canadian federal government announced a ban on non-essential travel and asked four airlines, including Air Canada, to halt service to Mexico and the Caribbean.

With the ending of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean, Air Canada Rouge’s route network was left with flights to California, Florida, Hawai’i and Las Vegas. What demand remains for these routes will be operated by Air Canada itself, eliminating the need for the offshoot. Approximately 80 jobs will be lost when Rouge suspends operations on February 8.

The cessation of service on the snowbird routes to warm-weather destinations is expected to remain in place until April 30. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hopeful that by then, most of the country will have begun to thaw out from the winter, and won’t even notice the lack of available flights to the tropics. Passengers who hold a ticket on a Canadian airline to a destination in Mexico or the Caribbean after February 8 can receive a refund and a VHS tape titled “NHL Season in Review: 1992-93,” after the government found thousands of leftover tapes during a regular cleaning of Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Qantas Aligns Itself with Alliance

Qantas Airways has completed an agreement with fellow Australian carrier Alliance Airlines to provide Qantas additional regional capacity.

Despite vaccine rollout being underway in Australia, the country is planning to keep its international borders closed until 2022. The closed borders have Qantas preparing for a significant increase in domestic tourism, and it plans to use more of Alliance’s planes to operate throughout the country.

Alliance will provide Qantaslink with its fleet of Embraer 190 aircraft with 94-seats and a five hour range that can connect most of Australia from its regional hubs. Alliance is initially expected to operate between three cities Adelaide (ADL), Alice Springs (ASP), and Darwin (DRW), with those initial E-190 aircraft being based in Adelaide and Darwin. Qantas will be able to redeploy the Boeing 737s it currently uses on those routes, while offering greater frequencies for customers due to the smaller size of the E-190.

Qantas will operate the aircraft with 10 business class seats in the front and 84 economy seats in the back. Qantas owns 20% of Alliance Airlines, which also operates some domestic routes on behalf of Qantas’ chief domestic rival, Virgin Australia. Qantas did make an attempt to write into the contract that the planes it would operate would be the same flown under VA’s name. Qantas cleverly figured if it took those planes, VA would be left without any aircraft in the agreement, but the ruse was quickly shut down by Virgin Australia’s legal team.

Federal Government Re-Authorizes Venezuelan Airport Ops

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a license on Thursday decriminalizing Venezuela’s port and airport operations that are managed by its federal government. The license does not apply to the export of oil or talented shortstops.

The license lifts penalties against American individuals or corporations that used any port or airport in Venezuela that was managed by the Venezuelan government, or a group that had 50% or more controlling stock interest from the government.

The new law also authorizes transactions with the government of Venezuela which are deemed to be necessary to use the seaports and airports, but stops short of allowing Americans to conduct business with the Venezuelan government for any other reason.

Lufthansa Extends First Class Cuts on U.S. Routes

After cutting first class from its flights to and from the United States last year, Lufthansa is now extending the cuts until at least May.

With travel demand between the U.S. and Germany at an all-time low and travel restrictions and bans strongly in place on both sides of the Atlantic, Lufthansa is downgrading its aircraft between the two countries. Routes where Lufthansa traditionally flew the Boeing 747-8 will now see the smaller Airbus A350-900 which does not feature a first class cabin. Lufthansa was hoping to use a Cessna 172 to better match demand, but the logisitics didn’t work out.

Lufthansa operates its A350-900 with 36 flat beds in business, 21 premium economy seats and 262 seats for the hoi polloi in economy. In the best of times, winter and early spring are the quietest time of the year for transatlantic travel, and the raging pandemic isn’t making things any better. With Lufthansa in the process of likely retiring its entire fleet of A380 and A340-600 planes, the 747-8 will be the airline’s last remaining fleet with first class.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air New Zealand began a new cargo route yesterday from Christchurch (CHC) to Guangzhou (CAN).
  • Azul Cargo Express saw its revenues improve 64% in Q4 2020 compared to 2019.
  • Belavia Belarusian Airlines appointed Igor Nikolaevich Cherginets as General Director of the airline. A well-deserved promotion, for sure.
  • Cayman Airways is resuming 737 MAX operations, putting one of its four MAX aircraft back into service, with the other three expected to follow soon. The move comes after the airline was given the green light by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI), which is two guys on a beach with a view of the runway at Grand Cayman Airport (GCM).
  • Eastern Airlines, the UK version this time, is launching two new flights to Gibraltar (GIB).  The airline will operate twice-weekly from both Southampton (SOU) and Birmingham (BHX) beginning on May 24.
  • Himalaya Airlines and Yeti Airlines, both carriers in Nepal, agreed to a partnership in order to integrate their route networks, grow their sales, and gradually expand both airlines’ e-commerce capabilities.
  • Qatar is preparing to lay off another 5% of its workforce due to redundancies as soon as next month.
  • SkyWest proposed the FAA to extend its rule allowing carriers to temporarily reconfigure passenger aircraft to cargo operations.
  • Wizz Air will establish a new base at Sarajevo (SJJ) beginning this May. It will base one aircraft, an A320, at the airport and launch nine new routes.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

The detective discovered what the murder weapon was in a record time. It was a brief case.

February 3, 2021

TSA Now Can Enforce Mask Guidelines

With President Biden’s executive order requiring masks to be worn during interstate travel, including a specific reference to airports, TSA agents now have the power to enforce mask-wearing at checkpoints and throughout the airport.

Previously without a federal mandate, TSA agents were powerless to enforce local mask guidelines at checkpoints. TSA agents will now bar anyone who refuses to wear a mask from passing through the checkpoint and into the secured area of the airport. They also will announce to the world that the rule-breakers lack basic personal responsibility and respect for others.

TSA also plans to offer Precheck customers a new mask when arriving at the document checker with Precheck’s logo prominently featured alongside a middle finger. TSA officials believe passengers will be eager to wear their new mask showing off to non-Precheck customers what they’re missing while simultaneously making fun of them for sitting in that long line.

Reports Say the Boeing NMA is Back On

Despite beliefs to the contrary, Boeing CEO David Calhoun told industry experts that Boeing is continuing to move forward on the New Midsize Aircraft program (NMA). The surprising statement from the manufacturer comes on the heels of a historic $12 billion loss in 2020, and a $2.5 billion settlement with the federal government over the 737 MAX saga.

Questions emerged about whether or not Boeing would continue its NMA project during the height of the pandemic, but Calhoun said the company is moving forward and is making progress daily. He believes the plane could enter service as early as 2026, but Boeing is continuing to seek advanced solutions to make the plane more fiscally sound and environmentally friendly.

The NMA is expected to be a mid-market aircraft featuring twin aisles and a capacity of 270 seats. Its range will be roughly 11 hours and will serve a similar mission to the Airbus A321XLR. The Airbus aircraft was the inspiration for the NMAs original name, the Boeing 797neoXLR, but after considerable market research, Boeing decided it should probably just call it the Boeing 797 MAX.

Allegiant Q4 Financials Show $23.6 Million Loss

Allegiant Air posted its Q4 financials after the markets closed on Wednesday, and the Vegas-based airline lost $23.6 million for the final quarter of 2020 on revenues of just $246.6 million.

The Q4 revenue figure, despite being a 46.5% drop from Q4 2019, did show an increase from both Q2 and Q3 this past year, including an 85% increase from Q2 — when travel demand was at its lowest. Load factor for Allegiant in Q4 was 58.2%, also a positive trend from earlier in the year, leading the airline to hope that brighter days are ahead.

For the year-end 2020, Allegiant’s revenue fell 46% to $990 million. The revenue total, when combined with its expenses, show a loss of $281 million for the year, a whopping 177% drop from 2019’s profit of $364 million. Amazingly, the airline would have sustained much larger losses, but Allegiant CEO Maury Gallagher hit a jackpot playing a Quick Hit machine at McCarran International Airport on December 23 while waiting to bring Christmas gifts to Allegiant staff at its home airport. The $52,000 prize on the 50 cent machine went right to the airline’s bottom line, helping stave off some of Q4’s deficit.

Allegiant operated 81% of its capacity in 2020 compared to the prior year, the highest capacity figure in the country. The fact that Allegiant already operates many leisure routes that operate once-weekly or less helped it maintain much of its capacity as there wasn’t as much to cut. It ended the year with $685 million in liquid assets. Of that, $684,997,500 is cash and investments, and the remaining $2,500 is being held by the sportsbook at the South Point Casino in futures for the 2021 World Series.

Second Aircraft Drifts into Breeze’s Fleet

U.S.-based startup Breeze Airways took delivery of an Embraer 190 aircraft, the second plane in its fleet. The E-190 is the first of 15 it is leasing from Nordic Aviation Capital, with the airline’s launch later this year rapidly approaching. Breeze previously received an E-195 aircraft earlier this month from a different lessor.

Breeze plans to operate its fleet of E-190 airctaft with 108 seats with its big brother the E-195 having 118. The airline will offer an enhanced legroom product in about 40% of the aircraft. A Breeze spokesman said it also will offer wireless entertainment to passengers, in addition to tray tables, seat belts, armrests, and lavatories. Overhead compartments are expected to be on offer, but the airline would not confirm or deny.

Breeze plans to launch service with its E-190/195 aircraft in the coming months. The airline has not announced the destinations it plans to serve when it launches operations later this year, but it is planning to offer point-to-point service between secondary airports. Many airports that were originally interested in receiving service from the start-up have pulled out, being too proud to admit to being considered secondary.

Singapore Begins Operating Silk Air’s 737s

Singapore is preparing to operate its former subsidiary Silk Air’s fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft as soon as next month. Nine of Silk Air’s 737-800s have been repainted in Singapore’s livery and were refreshed to match Singapore’s branding inside the aircraft.

The nine aircraft Singapore is taking delivery of at first will have Silk’s 12 business class recliners in the front with 144 economy seats in the back. Singapore still plans to add the new lie-flat Vantage seats in business class for its new 737 MAX jets which Silk had previously planned. The installation is on hold while the airline awaits regulatory approval to resume operating its MAX aircraft.

The former Silk Air aircraft do not have internet on board, which is seen as a positive for many as it prevents passengers from sending ill-advised emails or texts after one too many Singapore Slings. SQ’s famous KrisWorld entertainment system is available on-board the former Silk aircraft, available to be streamed to personal devices brought on-board the aircraft. The system, however, cannot stream to the device you left in your hotel room and will never see again.

Airline Potpourri

  • Air Belgium plans to open a new cargo hub in Liège (LGG) by the end of the year.
  • Allegiant is opening a base in Des Moines, Iowa (DSM), where it will house two A320s and add 66 jobs to the local economy. The new base from Allegiant once again proves the old adage in Iowa, that if you build it, Allegiant will come.
  • flydubai is launching 3x-weekly service to Minsk, beginning February 20.
  • Kenya Airways will become the first airline to repurpose an existing passenger Boeing 787 for cargo operations. The airline has assured regulators it will ensure all passengers are off the aircraft before beginning the transition.
  • Moov Airways expects to take delivery of its first two turboprops in late 2022.
  • Qantas currently plans to resume Project Sunrise — its proposed nonstops to both London and New York — by 2024.
  • Sunwing Airlines received access to up to C$375 in loans to help protect jobs. Consider it a friendlier, politer, more Canadian PPP.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Why shouldn’t you ever gamble while in the jungle? Because there are way too many cheetahs.

February 2, 2021

Pete Buttigieg Confirmed as Transportation Secretary

With an 86-13 vote, Pete Buttigieg was confirmed by the Senate today to become the 19th US Secretary of Transportation. At the moment the confirmation was made official, Buttigieg also took over the title of “Secretary with the last name most likely to be misspelled over-and-over again” in the president’s cabinet. Buttigeg Buttigieg takes the title from former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin who was quoted as saying he didn’t even know he had that “n” as the second letter in his last name until he was 26.

Buttigieg and Vice President Kamala Harris are the only two former democratic nominees for president serving in the Biden administration. In his new role, Secretary Buttigieg is expected to take the lead on the president’s agenda to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, but it’s not entirely clear what his plans will be for the airline industry. He is expected to play a major role in the president’s flight against the climate crisis, improving efficiency & safety in the nation’s transportation network, and figuring out why a 20 oz. bottle of water costs so much in Hudson News outlets in America’s airports.

As he takes over the DOT, Secretary Buttigieg will oversee an $87 billion budget and 55,000 employees, 14 administrations (including the FAA), and will be in charge of the nation’s airspace, highway system, pipeline safety and more.

Airlines Begin to Align Mask Policy with CDC

Nobody ever wants to go first, but American Airlines took the plunge and is updating its existing mask policy effectivey today in order to align itself with the brand new federal government requirements. There are two notable changes to American’s previous policy, which had been in place since last year.

First, American will now allow medical exemptions, but it won’t be cheap for those looking to take advantage. Customers wanting to use a medical exemption must contact the airline at least 72 hours prior to departure. Exemptions will require documentation from a health care provider, a negative COVID text taken no more than 72 hours before departure, and the sacrifice of a gallon of goat’s milk in a pre-departure bonfire.

Second, in an effort to align with the CDC directive, passengers must wear masks and cannot wear gaiters, bandanas, catchers’ masks, or Darth Vader masks in lieu of a more protective face coverings. Passengers who refuse to wear a mask can be denied boarding or forced to fly every American Eagle route from Dallas/Ft. Worth airport in a six-week period.

American Spills the Tea with the DOT

American Airlines came back at its detractors with a vengeance, throwing shade at Spirit, Southwest, United, and others who challenged the validity of the carrier’s Northeast Alliance with JetBlue. American sat quietly, biding its time while others submitted complaints, and it is now unleashing a vigorous defense of both its agreement with JetBlue & the DOT’s handling of it.

AA starts by writing – in bold and italics – that the airline, along with JetBlue, announced their plans six months ago and the DOT began its informal review of the agreement five months ago. AA tells Spirit, the original complainant, and its co-conspirators commenters that it had six months to file complaints. To pretend they didn’t know what was going on until just now is “inconceivable.”

AA claims that after six months of ignoring NEA, Spirit and Friends want the DOT to duplicate all of the work it’s already done – but on Spirit’s terms.  AA has sniffed out what it believes to be a giant ruse — the other airlines only want another, more formal investigation in order to access confidential information filed by the two airlines to the DOT. American officials are adamant that no matter how many different ways the airline asks, Spirit will not access the confidential information it desires. This includes details like… what it is they put in the tomato sauce on their baked chicken dish they serve in domestic first class – it’s too proprietary and valuable to the airline.

AA has a laundry list of issues with the complaints, and calls Spirit, Southwest, and United out with gusto at every turn. Truthfully, AA has too many objections to list them all here, otherwise it would be the entirety of today’s Cranky Daily. But rest assured, no matter how this shakes out, American is never going to reveal just what makes its baked chicken so…delicious.

JetBlue’s Northeast Presence to Increase

With its Northeast Alliance with American having received the OK from the DOT, JetBlue Airways is primed to dramatically increase its presence at several northeast airports as a benefit of coordinating schedules with American.

The largest increase is expected to take place at New York/LaGuardia, where JetBlue’s daily departure total is expected to increase more than 300%. In 2019, JetBlue operated 18 daily flights at LGA, but will potentially operate between 50-60 daily departures at the airport. JetBlue’s Head of Revenue & Planning Scott Laurence indicated the airline might take a shot at Delta, noting that there was a monopoly on routes to the southeastern U.S. that JetBlue could swoop in on with its increased frequencies and feed from American.

Other additions for JetBlue will see Newark go from 35 daily departures to 70-80; Boston will go from 180 to as many as 230; and JFK will increase from 175 to 240. With the potential Newark additions, the airline becomes the first group of people on record to purposefully spend more time at Newark.

Deutsche Aircraft Pushes Ahead on New Plane

German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft – or as its called in Germany – Aircraft, announced its intention to deliver the first D328eco aircraft by 2025.

At this point, the manufacturer does not have any customers, a pesky prerequisite to delivering airplanes, but expects to find someone to buy the plane and meet its goal. The aircraft program launched late last year, and merges the Dornier 328, a 33-seat turboprop, with new technology that introduces the use of alternate fuels and can be operated by just one pilot.

The new aircraft will be larger than its predecessor, as it will contain 43 seats. It hopes to serve current operators of both the Saab 340 and Dash 8, and with approximately 4,000 of those two aircraft in the market, Deutsche Aviation believes the market is ripe for its new airplane.

The plane will be manufactured in Germany, despite higher labor costs in the country. Deutsche wants to honor the legacy of Dornier by having its successor aircraft be as German as the original. The new D328eco expects to be ready for a prototype by early 2024, and thanks to German efficiency, is expected to be right on time.

Airline Potpourri

  • Hawaiian is hopeful it can achieve as much as 85% of its summer capacity this year as compared to 2019.
  • JAL has reduced the schedule it plans to operate in March to less than 50% of what was previously predicted last fall.
  •  JetSMART, a Chilean ULCC recently took delivery of a brand new Airbus A320neo aircraft with BioFuel, an organic fuel that reduces the carbon footprint emitted by the aircraft by 80%.
  • LOT is expanding its service to the United States, adding service from Krakow (KRK) to New York/JFK, operating once-weekly from May 2 to October 25. The airline is also adding flights from Rzeszów (RZE) to Newark, also once-weekly, beginning on March 29.
  • Podeba announced its schedule to begin operating from Moscow/Sheremetyevo (SVO) this summer. The airline will operate 12 routes — nine domestic and three international.
  • United is suspending three Florida routes from New York/LaGuardia: Fort Myers, Tampa, and West Palm Beach that were supposed to operate in March.
  • Virgin Australia is delaying the resumption of flights to New Zealand until at least June.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I hated to do it, but I fired this kid I’d been paying to mow my lawn. He just didn’t cut it.