This is our last issue of the year. When we’re back on Monday, January 4, we’ll just pretend 2020 didn’t happen.
United Proposes White House Task Force to Restore Air Travel
Because what our federal government really needs is more task forces, United Airlines sent a memo to the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden proposing a task force to safely restore air travel in the United States.
United proposes bringing together government, airline and travel industries, organized labor, scientific, and public health leaders to work on a plan to bring passenger numbers back to their pre-pandemic levels. That’s all well and good, but it seems that if the task force is convened, and millions are spent on studies and polls, the result is going to be what we already know: get everyone vaccinated.
That being said, we know the government does love a good task force, so here are some better options where United could focus its efforts:
- How do we eliminate fog from SFO during the early-morning rush?
- Newark Airport
- Stroopwafels — How do we get them to go mainstream?
- What’s the real story behind Polaris and why it took so long to roll out?
- Newark Airport
Delta 767s Primed to Fly for Amazon
Amazon has purchased seven 767-300ER aircraft from Delta Air Lines, the second group of B767 aircraft purchased directly by Amazon, in order to grow its Prime Air fleet.
The first three aircraft of the purchase — registered N1610D, N1611B, and N1612T — are currently being retrofitted to freighter configurations before taking flight on behalf of Amazon carrying air fresheners, stemless wine glasses, scented candles, and millions of other Amazon purchases around the world.
Amazon has traditionally flown dry-leased aircraft operated by other airlines, including cargo operator Atlas Air. It also announced an agreement with Sun Country to operate ten cargo aircraft its behalf. But Amazon has grown a fleet of nearly 70 of its own jets as it grows its cargo operation. Most of the jets it owns it purchased through its own website, using the Prime shipping option to deliver the aircraft to itself within two days or less.
Wizz Air Threatens Lawsuits in Norway
Wizz Air’s battle against unions in Norway took a new twist this week when it sent legal notice to several local municipalities and other state-run organizations threatening lawsuits if the groups don’t end their boycott of Wizz Air’s Norwegian domestic services. Wizz Air entered Norway’s domestic market in October and declared that it would remain union-free, despite Norway’s pro-labor policies allowing all workers to unionize.
In response the airline’s anti-union position, several government groups have chosen not to fly Wizz, which seems like a very reasonable stance, but Wizz is calling it an illegal boycott and wants to stop the groups from flying other airlines through the Norwegian court system. Statnett, a state-owned company says it’s not a boycott, but it chooses not to fly Wizz Air because the airline “fails its ethical guidelines for suppliers.” Of course, if you’re going to hold all your suppliers to ethical standards, you might have some issues when it comes to buying fuel….
It certainly seems that Wizz is taking a page from its ULCC competitor Ryanair’s playbook by throwing lawsuits at the courts and hoping they stick. We should have some resolution to this issue soon in the new year. The airline has given Statnett and the other municipalities three weeks to reverse their “boycott” or respond to the lawsuit threat.
Tenerife to Launch New Airline
Pedro Martin, the president of Tenerife, announced today that the island plans to launch its own airline next year and that the government of Tenerife would own 25% of the business.
The announcement came as Martin released the 2021 budget for the island, the largest of the eight Canary Islands. Despite the announcement, Martin’s timeline to launch the new airline seems to be on island time, as he is not in a huge hurry to get things moving. He plans to “put the project in motion” in February, and only then will it begin to set a schedule and acquire an actual airplane. Truthfully, it’s all fun and games until you acquire an airplane — that’s when people stop being polite, and start getting real.
At first, the new venture will include routes only to and from Tenerife. However, the government hasn’t ruled out adding international frequencies or other regional routes. This reminds me of the fact that I haven’t ruled out the idea of running a marathon in 2021. Neither are likely to happen, but at least they haven’t been ruled out.
AA Gets Gold Star for Cleaning its Planes
American Airlines is the first airline to achieve something called GBAC STAR accreditation from something called the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) for its entire fleet of aircraft and Admirals Club Lounges.
The award is given after a thorough and detailed review by microbial-pathogenic leaders, which is a group of people that seem like they’d only give an award after a thorough and detailed review. You don’t become a microbial-pathogenic leader for the street cred.
The accreditation does give AA another notch in its belt as U.S. airlines try do outdo each other in an arms race to show that each is taking Covid protocols more serious than the others.
In recognition of the prestigious honor, AA will be offering complimentary bottles of bleach to all Main Cabin and Basic Economy passengers upon boarding to clean their seat to ensure it meets the GBAC standard. The airline, despite winning the award, made it clear it only really cleans the first class and MCE seats aboard its domestic aircraft since “those people in the way back don’t pay much for their tickets.”
Airline Potpourri
- Aeromexico is making progress with its unions in an effort to reduce costs due to the pandemic, says Aeromexico.
- Air Canada‘s Vancouver to Sydney flight is now bookable on its website, with a resumption date of March 26.
- Air Serbia saw Etihad’s stake in the airline reduced from 49% to 18%, with the Serbian government buying up the difference, increasing its ownership from 51% to 82%. There will be a math test on Monday.
- Qantas‘s unnamed, terminated flight attendant will appear in New South Wales court on Tuesday on charges that he exposed himself to a fellow flight attendant onboard a flight from Perth to Melbourne in April of 2019.
- Rada Airlines added its first An-74 to its fleet.
- Thai has banned consumption of all food and drink — including water — on its domestic flights to eliminate the loophole that allows passengers to take off their masks. The longest domestic flight in Thailand is about two hours — from Chiang Mai to Phuket.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
Just before the clock strikes midnight tomorrow night, be sure and lift your left leg. That way you start off the new year on the right foot.
