Author: Andrew Bashuk

August 5, 2020

Alaska, JetBlue, and United Tighten Mask Restrictions

1 Alaska, JetBlue, and United became the latest U.S. airlines to close the ~~vents~~ loopholes in their mask policies. These airlines are — like Delta previously — banning masks with vents or holes in them, and are requiring masks on all passengers older than two — with no exceptions. If a passenger cannot or will not wear a mask, we suggest the airlines give the phone number of the nearest private jet provider and tell the travelers to get their own ride.

In addition to updating their mask policy, both Alaska and JetBlue also updated their social-distanced seating policies. JetBlue will continue to guarantee that passengers will not be seated directly next to someone not in their traveling party though at least October 15. JetBlue is blocking middle seats on its Airbus aircraft with three-seat rows, and is blocking aisle seats on its two-seat row Embraers. Alaska is doing the same, with a guarantee of blocked middle seats aboard its aircraft through at least October 31.

United has not updated its policy, which today consists of “yeah someone might be in the middle seat — sucks for you.”

American and its Pilots Come to Agreement on Early Leave

2 American Airlines and its pilots union have come to an agreement to provide more unpaid leave and early retirement packages in an attempt to avoid furloughs when the CARES Act expires on October 1.

The airline will let its pilots with greater than 10 years tenure take a buyout and will offer others the option to take nearly a year of unpaid leave or alternate months without flying. In addition, AA will extend the deadline for other employees to decide about voluntary leave or early retirement to August 12.

This buyout offer isn’t as generous as the deal made for pilots 62 years old and over, so AA isn’t expecting as many pilots to take them up on the offer. This offer gives pilots about six months pay in addition to $100,000 to $150,000 in a medical spending account. This compares to the deal for the 62 & over group which was 60% of annual pay for three years.

As opposed to the offer made to the older pilots, the union will be sending this proposal via a video Doug Parker and Robert Isom recorded on AA’s Tik Tok account, and responses are required via the app.

Virgin Australia 2.0 is Here

3 Virgin Australia and its new owner Bain Capital have released their plan to restructure the airline following its bankruptcy procedures earlier this spring.

First up will be a dramatic cutting of costs to reshape the airline to be leaner and meaner. Approximately 3,000 jobs will be lost out of the 9,000 currently employed at the airline. Virgin Australia will also be retiring its 777, A330, TigerAir A320, and ATR fleets to consolidate the number and types of aircraft it operates, leaving it with just the 737 for mainline operations.

When travel returns to pre-virus levels, the airline expects to maintain between 60 and 80 aircraft in its fleet with the number to be less than half that when it relaunches this year. It will focus on long-haul flying when demand recovers, but it’s unclear what planes it will use to do so — Melbourne to Los Angeles on a 737 sounds like torture in the worst way.

Creditors will vote up or down on the restructuring plan on August 25. The vote will take place on national television with Simon Cowell hosting. The creditors will one-by-one enter a grand hall where they will present Sir Richard Branson with a rose if their vote is yes, and will arrive empty handed if they are voting no.

DOT Approves AA’s Shanghai Flight Shifting to Seattle

4 The DOT has approved American Airlines’ request to move its once-daily frequency to Shanghai/Pudong (PVG) from Los Angeles to Seattle. American makes the request as it shifts focus to Seattle as a part of its growing partnership with oneworld member-elect Alaska Airlines.

After pulling much of its long-haul strategy away from Los Angeles, the move of the Shanghai flight to Seattle will allow AA to use the extensive feed from Alaska, the dominant carrier at the airport. At the same time, American hopes it will help the airline stop losing insane amounts of money flying to China and instead lose only “a lot” of money.

The ruling from the DOT also granted AA an extension through March to keep its flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Beijing grounded without losing the route authority.

Condor & TUI fly Deutschland Considering Merger

5 Two German airlines, Condor & TUI fly Deutschland, are considering merging in order to emerge from the pandemic as a combined entity that is stronger than the two are on their own.

LOT had an agreement in place to purchase Condor back in January, but the deal ended when the pandemic hit and air travel demand fell off a cliff.

Both airlines are currently considering dramatic reductions of their fleet with TUI planning to reduce its fleet from 39 to 17 aircraft. Condor is expected to slash its fleet of 53 aircraft by as much as 25%.

Neither airline was willing to comment on the potential tie-up except to possibly say that if there was a merger between the two German companies, it would be done quickly, efficiently, and on-time.

Airline Potpourri

Air Transat released its Winter 2021 schedule with service to 40 destinations.
Cathay Pacific has extended its flexible booking policy with unlimited free changes for all tickets purchased through the end of August 31.
Emirates is resuming service to Kuwait City (KWI) today and to Lisbon on August 16.
LATAM is hopeful it can receive another $250 million investment from Chilean shareholders.
LATAM Brasil will be laying off 2,700 cabin crew, which represents approximately 28% of that workforce.
Royal Jordanian has postponed its previously planned resumption of international service for August 2020.
Samoa Airlines has been granted an extension by the DOT to operate a cabotage route between two points in American Samoa from Pago Pago to Fitiuta (FTI).
Virgin Australia is closing three lounges — Alice Springs (ASP), Perth T2, and Wellington, NZ (WLG).

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? Don’t worry, he’s all right now.

August 4, 2020

Virgin Atlantic is Running Out of Cash, Files for Bankruptcy in US

1 Virgin Atlantic filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York on Tuesday, after telling a London court earlier in the day that it would run out of money by late September without approval of its rescue package.

Chapter 15 bankruptcy, which is four better than Chapter 11, is designed for foreign companies to access the U.S court system for protection as they work to restructure in their home country. While the rescue package makes it way through the courts, this will protect Virgin Atlantic’s US assets.

Without the funds from the rescue deal, Virgin Atlantic’s available cash will drop to about 49 million pounds by early Fall, below the 75 million pounds required in its bondholder contracts, the airline told a judge Tuesday. A drop in funds that signifiant would require the sale of slots at Heathrow — which the airline used to secure the bonds — causing it to fold its operation. Presumably if this were to happen — which is won’t — Delta would be first in line for the slots, the only part of Virgin Atlantic it cares about anyway.

Virgin Atlantic is confident that its plan will be approved at a hearing scheduled for September 2 — a majority of shareholders have already signed off on the restructuring plan that includes almost £400 million in financing plus £450 million in creditor deferrals and another £400 million in payment deferrals and waivers from both Richard Branson and 49% shareholder Delta.

Virgin Australia to Announce Relaunch Plan

2 On the other side of the failing Virgin airline empire, Virgin Australia and its new owner Bain Capital will be announcing the airline’s plan to relaunch following its trip through the administration process earlier this year. The announcement will be made late Tuesday in the U.S. (Wednesday in Australia).

Labor unions are bracing for the loss of up to half of the airline’s 9,000 employees. Virgin Australia is expected to reduce its fleet from 132 planes to about 70 Boeing 737s focused on profitable domestic routes, if it can find any. It is expected to eliminate its budget TigerAir brand.

The airline has reportedly rejected some of the more extreme suggestions to encourage passengers to return including having kangaroos serve as first officers along with more experienced human captains or accepting payment in vegemite futures instead of cash.

Alitalia Relocates Bulk of Milan Flights from Malpensa to Linate

3 Alitalia has moved nearly all of its Milan flights from Milan/Malpensa (MXP) to Milan/Linate (LIN) as the airline consolidates its operation in Italy’s second-most populous city.

With the move, Alitalia is left with just two daily flights to Rome/Fiumicino and once-weekly service to Cagliari (CAG) from MXP. As always with Alitalia, some of the flights might operate on-time.

Alitalia is the dominant carrier at close-in Linate, operating over 90% of the daily traffic at the airport. While Linate is preferred, Alitalia can’t move its entire operation to the airport. The airline will restore its first two long-haul international routes from Malpensa in the coming weeks, with New York/JFK service resuming on September 2 and Tokyo/Narita on October 3.

All this being said, this is Alitalia we’re talking about here, so expect plans to change at any moment. It might pick up and move everything back to MXP for a week, only to move back to LIN — the sky really is the limit.

EasyJet Posts €324.5 Million Loss

4 British ULCC easyJet posted its Q3 financials (April through June is Q3 for the airline), and it posted a lost of nearly €325 million on a paltry €7 million in revenue.

Amazingly, easyJet operated just 709 flights for the entire quarter, compared to 165,565 the year prior. The airline was able to cut costs by 79%, most of which resulted from the airline shutting down almost its entire operation for the time period.

As the airline looks to rebound financially it plans to fly approximately 40% of its previously planned schedule for Q3 Q4 with the schedule peaking this month and reducing in September.

EasyJet ended June with a strong position in both tea and scone futures, as the airline boasts a supply of scones so large it could serve breakfast to every London resident for five months. Its amount of tea reserves are plentiful enough to give each one of those residents something to wash down that morning scone.

Global Air Capacity Reaches 60 Million

5 The number of seats being offered by the world’s airlines this week will exceed 60 million for the first time since March when the pandemic caused air travel demand to fall off the table.

The 60,042,355 weekly seats scheduled, are just slightly more than half of the 118,998,100 available seats for the same week a year ago — also marking the first time the number has exceeded 50% since March.

Overall, global capacity this week is 4.4% higher than during the previous week and 21% higher than during the first week of July, but the numbers vary widely from across the world.

Despite Europe expanding by nearly 50% since the beginning of July, North America recorded only 7.2% of growth between July 6 and Aug. 3, while fewer than 400,000 departure seats were added in Latin America over the same period.

Airline Potpourri

Aer Lingus will not resume service to Miami on September 2 as originally planned.
Air Canada will be launching A220 service between Montréal and Los Angeles in September.
Alaska is doing its part to unclog the 5 and 101 freeways in Southern California, launching new daily service between San Diego and Santa Barbara.
China Southern is moving its operations at London/Heathrow to Terminal 5 effective tomorrow, August 5.
Lufthansa will serve four new destinations from Munich this fall: Marseille (MRS), Gothenburg (GOT), Kiev (KBP) and Sibiu, Romania (SBZ), while resuming flights to Graz, Austria (GRZ).
Malta MedAir operated its first flight using its own aircraft.
Porter is delaying its resumption of service to at least October 7.
Singapore will now be absorbing the 737 fleet of Silk Air in early 2021.
SpiceJet, the official airline of Victoria Beckham has secured slots to operate at London/Heathrow.
TAP is resuming flights between Lisbon and Munich with twice-daily service.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I sent my hearing aid in for repair nearly a month ago. I’ve heard nothing since.

August 3, 2020

Southwest Becomes First U.S. Airline to Cut Back Cleaning Protocols

1 With most major U.S. airlines in an arms race to create bigger and badder cleaning programs while partnering with brand names in the cleaning industry, Southwest Airlines became the first U.S. airline to reduce its cleaning protocols in the wake of the pandemic.

The airline began its new procedure this past weekend, in which the only surfaces it will wipe down between flights are tray tables and restrooms. More specifically, here’s what a Southwest spokesperson told us:

Beginning in May, members of the Ground Operations and Provisioning Teams would board during the turns and wipe down various high-touch areas on/around seats that had been occupied on the previous flight (arm rests, seat belts, etc.). Since feedback on that cleaning initiative was positive, Southwest is committed to maintaining a level of cleaning before every flight during the allotted turn times, even as flight schedules and loads increase. Ground Operations now will clean the tray tables at every seat, and all lavatories, with a broad-based disinfectant since those areas are deemed among the most “high touch” areas. Then, all interior surfaces will be cleaned overnight during the six to seven hour clean process. Of course, Southwest still offers sanitizing wipes onboard, upon request, to support Customer comfort.

That’s a whole lot of words, but I think the memo sent to flight attendants says it more clearly. Specifically:

As our flight schedule evolves, we are returning to standard turn times, which reduces the time available to clean between flights. In addition, we wanted to identify a solution that considered the feedback we received from our Employees, addressed our Customers’ concerns, and made the enhanced turn cleaning more efficient.

If this bugs you, well, you can always bring on your 12 oz of hand sanitizer and drench everything in sight.

Five U.S. Airlines Combine to Send 10,500 WARN Act Notices

2 Five major U.S. airlines — Alaska , Allegiant, Frontier, Hawaiian, and Spirit have recently sent WARN Act notices to more than a combined 10,500 members of their respective workforces about possible furloughs when the CARES Act expires on October 1.

The 10,500 figure represents more than 20% of the entire workforce of the five airlines, with Frontier & Hawaiian leading the way having sent a notice to more than 30% of their entire workforces.

Of major U.S. airlines, JetBlue has not yet sent any WARN notices out and Southwest has pledged not to lay off or furlough any workers involuntarily through at least December 31. In an effort to save jobs, labor unions are currently lobbying Congress to extend the CARES Act protections for airline workers beyond its current October 1 expiration date through as far into the future as March 31.

Hybrid Aircraft May Be Coming to an Airline Near You

3 Hybrid aircraft, designed to operate with passengers and cargo simultaneously, are closer to being put into use in the U.S. These aircraft are more common in other parts of the world, but — due to regulatory hoops — generally have not found a home with U.S. carriers. With airlines looking to get creative to recover lost revenue from the pandemic, the times are changing.

This past May, the FAA allowed airlines to begin carrying cargo in the passenger cabin provided the seats remained in place and the cargo was secure. Then in late July, the FAA stated that U.S. airlines could remove some seats in order to create more space for cargo. (“Yeah, we know”, many passengers said. “It’s called basic economy.”)

Delta, which is always willing to try new potential revenue opportunities, first informed the FAA of its invention to place cargo on its seats. It plans to offer cargo the same low-priced upgrades to Comfort+ and First Class it offers most passengers, in order to prevent even more medallions from receiving complimentary upgrades.

Delta’s engineering team believes it can convert just about any plane to a cargo hybrid, as the airline’s filing with the FAA covered nearly every type of passenger aircraft in the air today, including those not operated in the United States.

Virgin Galactic and Rolls-Royce Team Up

4 Virgin Galactic has signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce to build the engines for an aircraft it hopes to build that can fly at Mach 3 or faster and at altitude of 60,000 feet above the ground or higher. Why Virgin Galactic — a company that has so far focused on space travel — is trying to get into this market is entirely unclear.

The announcement comes just days after Rolls-Royce also agreed to work with Boom Supersonic on its Overture aircraft which will be a little slower but bigger than the proposed Virgin Galactic aircraft.

We’d suggest filing this under the “uh huh, sure, that’s gonna happen” category.

In Flight Entertainment: American Adds Apple+ While Alaska Removes Tablets

5 American Airlines is streaming Apple+ content aboard its aircraft via the free video streaming options available its app. The ability to stream Apple+ content in-flight is exclusive to American, and the airline will work with Apple to update the offerings regularly to reflect new releases on the Apple+ platform.

Apple hopes this will keep people still for long enough that the company can easily implant tracking tools into travelers’ brains. Meanwhile, American just hopes this distracts travelers from the fact that they are sitting in a middle seat with no legroom in the back.

That’s the good news. On to the bad: Alaska Airlines has permanently removed its inflight entertainment tablets in what the airline says is an attempt to lessen the number of interactions between passengers and crew. Alaska will still maintain the option for passengers to stream content onto their own devices, just don’t expect any Apple+ content streaming onboard Alaska aircraft.

Airline Potpourri

Aer Lingus is expanding the routes it serves to the U.S. with its A321neo.
Alaska and United are resuming service to Paine Field (PAE) after a 10-week hiatus for ramp resurfacing.
AirAsia X has temporarily halted taking reservations on its website, but plans to resume when it feels it is prudent to do so… or before then if that day never comes.
Allegiant has filed a supplemental request to the DOT with regards to its July 16 request to reduce service to 11 destinations.
Emirates will resume A380 service between Dubai and Guangzhou (CAN).
Kenya Airways restarted international flights on Sunday, serving 30 destinations from its Nairobi hub.
TAP introduced new service this past weekend from Lisbon to Montréal.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Bacon and eggs walk into a bar. The bartender says “Sorry folks, but we don’t serve breakfast.”

July 31, 2020

United to End Contract with ExpressJet

1 United Airlines will be ending its contract with ExpressJet over the next several months, opting to consolidate United Express flying with CommutAir instead based on financial considerations. Sadly, this means there won’t be a CEO death match to choose the winner.

In an effort to cut its costs in the wake of the pandemic, United said it would cut down from two regional operators to just one for its 50-seat Embraer 145 United Express operation. United holds a minority stake in both airlines but ultimately decided to focus on smaller CommutAir going forward.

Flying on behalf of United Express is the sole flying that ExpressJet currently performs, and the eventual loss of the contract with United will — barring some miracle or successful CEO death match challenge — result in the airline ceasing operations. ExpressJet said it will explore all options for the company’s future in 2021, while it expects to continue normal operations — as normal as can be in the pandemic –through the rest of this year.

United to Resume 25 International Routes This September

2 In somewhat less depressing United news, the airline announced Friday it will be resuming 25 international routes this September from all seven of its domestic U.S. hubs.

Internationally, UA plans to fly 30% of its schedule from September 2019. Highlights of United’s international schedule in September include the launch of previously-announced new service from Chicago/O’Hare to Tel Aviv and Hong Kong along with Los Angeles to Sydney.

United will return 40 new flights to 48 destinations as a part of its domestic schedule upgrade for September including a resumption of flying to Hilo and Kauai in Hawai’i. That assumes, of course, that Hawai’i wants people to start visiting again.

This all sounds great, but overall it’s just a 4% increase in capacity over August which… isn’t much.

British Airways to Retire A318 Fleet

3 British Airways announced late Friday that it would be retiring its fleet of A318s, the smallest plane in the A320 family. This may sound like a big move, but it’s not. That “fleet” had just one airplane. It was used by BA to solely fly the unique route between New York/JFK and London/City airport.

The flights, which had inherited from Concorde flight numbers BA001 and BA002, flew in an exclusive business class configuration with 32 seats on-board in eight rows of four. BA001 & 002 had been suspended in March and were expected to return later in the summer, prior to the decision to retire the A318. BA does not have another aircraft that can complete the route due to City Airport’s short runway.

BA will be making other fleet updates to cut costs due to the pandemic as the airline will ground four A380s and six 777s indefinitely. BA’s parent company, IAG, reported its Q2 financials on Friday, showing a loss of €1.365 billion while maintaining just over €6 billion in cash on-hand.

Air Canada Q2 Financial Report Released

4 Financial reporting north of the border isn’t much better than it is on our side as Air Canada posted an operating loss of C$1.6 billion. The airline carried a staggering 96% fewer passengers than it did in Q2 2019.

Air Canada has raised C$5.5 billion in new liquidity since the pandemic hit, which has allowed it to actually increase its cash holdings to C$9.1 billion compared to C$7.3 billion on December 31. It also holds C$100.1 billion in maple syrup reserves.

The airline was able to cut expenses 64% compared to Q2 last year and is looking to cut further for the remainder of 2020. The closure of the US-Canadian border to non-essential traffic has ground Air Canada’s revenue production to a halt with the airline only bringing in C$527 million, an 89% drop from last year’s C$4.7 billion.

On the bright side, cargo revenue did increase 52% to C$269 million, Tim Horton’s coffee is still better than Starbucks, and the NHL returns to action tomorrow.

Chinese Airlines to Offer All You Can Eat Fly Buffet

5 With the pandemic affecting every facet of life, the idea of the all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet on a corner in every city in America may have passed us by, but the Chinese all-you-can-fly buffet is ready for takeoff.

Two Chinese airlines, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have introduced unlimited domestic flying passes to drum up revenue in the latter half of 2020.

China Southern Airlines’ “Fly Happily” deal will cost you about $529, but gives customers passes for as many flights as they wish for throughout China from August 26 through January 6.

China Eastern Airlines launched a “fly at will” discount package in June that lets passengers book unlimited weekend flights until December 31 this year for a princely sum of $474. Although it seems a more proper name would be “fly at will on the weekend,” the package has proved quite popular as the airline says over 150,000 people have purchased and used the package so far.

Flight passes were popular in the United States a generation or two ago — whether or not this test in China will prompt U.S. airlines to give it a try remains to be seen, but it will likely be worth watching during the final months of 2020.

Airline Potpourri

airBaltic is launching a new route from its Riga hub to Rhodes, Greece (RHO).
ANA posted a $1.04 billion dollar loss for the quarter ending June 30.
Austrian will be launching 15 new routes as soon as today and tomorrow.
British Airways will reinstate service to Pakistan, using actual licensed pilots, on August 14 with 3x weekly service to Islamabad.
Delta is capping fares in and out of the Caribbean to destinations possibly affected by Tropical Storm Isaias.
Hawaiian will be delaying its debut of the Boeing 787 until 2022 or 2023.
Nok Air was granted bankruptcy protection in a Thai court.
Pobeda is taking virus safety very seriously as it has outfitted one of its aircraft with a mask.
Ryanair will launch 3x weekly service between Naples and Vienna in October.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

My friend’s son Luke is a huge Star Wars fan and thinks it’s awesome his parents named their kids after Star Wars characters. His younger sister Chewbacca — not so much.

July 30, 2020

17,000 Delta Employees Take Early Retirement or Unpaid Leave

1 Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo to employees on Thursday that 17,000 staff have accepted an offer for unpaid leave or early retirement. According to the memo, the average tenure at the airline of the 17,000 employees is 25 years, including one employee who’s been with the company 62 years — he or she is the only person to work at Delta long enough to remember when SkyMiles actually had value.

Delta, along with every other U.S. airline, is prohibited from furloughing or laying off employees involuntarily until October 1, but as that date fast approaches, airlines are offering incentivized packages for employees to leave before that date. Delta has already WARNed more than 2,500 of its 14,000 pilots about potential furloughs with further reductions expected throughout the company, both above and below the wing.

Delta Extends Change Fee Waiver, Makes Domestic Refunds Harder

2 It’s a busy news day for Delta, as the airline also announced an extension of its change fee waiver for another month. Delta customers can book travel through August 31, provided the travel is to begin by July 27, 2021.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Delta will now only allow refunds on domestic itineraries when a schedule change is 120 minutes or greater. Previously it was only a 90-minute change that would trigger a refund. International itineraries will continue to be eligible for a refund after a 90-minute change for some unknown reason. Got it? There will be a quiz after fourth period tomorrow.

United Pilots Brace for More Furloughs

3 United Airlines Senior Vice President for Flight Operations Bryan Quigley told pilots in an internal memo Thursday that the airline may be forced to furlough more pilots than originally thought. 2,250 UA pilots received WARN Act notices early this month, but the airline now believe it may need to furlough up to 3,900 — a third of its workforce.

Whether United is serious about the 3,900 figure or it is posturing to receive more federal aid — or a better deal from the union — remains to be seen, but the reality is setting in for airlines that the road to economic recovery is going to be long and unpleasant.

In a move designed to stave off involuntary furloughs, the airline has again extended its deadline for staff to take advantage of unpaid leave and early buyouts through early August. We’re guessing this will remain on the table until the day furloughs are done.

Alaska to Add Six New Routes on West Coast

4 How about some good news? In addition to its recently-announced LAX increases, Alaska Airlines says it will add six new routes to its West Coast operation in the coming weeks and months. The airline will go head-to-head with Southwest on one route and with United on two.

From San Diego, Alaska will inaugurate daily service to Missoula, MT (MSO) on March 11. The airline will launch two new routes from San Francisco, both competing with United: 2x daily to Boise and once daily to Missoula.

Lastly, Alaska will begin three new routes from the South Bay in San Jose, flying daily to Missoula and Redmond/Bend, OR (RDM) on March 11, and it will compete with Southwest on once-daily service to Spokane (GEG).

Text United to See How Clean Your Plane is… If You’re Really Bored

5 File this one under “good job, good effort.” United Airlines introduced an option to text the airline (robot operators are standing by) in order to receive automated responses with regards to cleaning and safety procedures in airports and aboard their aircraft.

The United Automated Assistant answers customers questions like:

How is United keeping airports cleaner and safer?
Are United Club locations still open?
How can I prepare for an upcoming trip?
What is the quality of the air onboard a plane?

The United Automated Assistant does not answers customers questions like:

Why was my flight from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2014 delayed for 3 hours? I missed happy hour because of it.
How’s that flight from Newark to Columbia doing?
Does Dr. Dao still fly United?
Do you prefer flying Delta and why?

Happy texting!

Airline Potpourri

British Airways is delaying resuming its short-haul operation out of London/Gatwick until November 9.
Cabo Verde Airlines secured a $16 million government loan.
JetSMART, a Chilean ULCC is considering expanding into Uruguay.
Korean is resuming service to Tianjin (TSN) in northeast China with bi-weekly service in August, and then weekly service in September.
Sky Mali, which is expected to have an array of on-board duty free options, plans to launch operation from its Bamako (BKO) hub to four cities in Mali. Seriously.
Singapore posted a loss of $726 million in its financial report released this week.
Volotea secured a syndicated €150 loan with eight Spanish banks.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I got a great deal on a new golf umbrella last week, but I’m really struggling to hit the ball with it.

July 29, 2020

There Can Only Be One: United to Drop a Regional Partner

1 Rumors have been circulating for days, and now Reuters has confirmed that United Airlines informed its two partially-owned regional airlines flying as United Express — ExpressJet and CommutAir — that it will be dropping its contract with one of them. Both airlines work exclusively with United and whichever one loses the contract would most likely disappear.

Prior to the pandemic, United had been expanding its domestic flying through its regional partners, including ExpressJet and CommutAir. But now with the pandemic continuing with no end in sight, United has been forced to look even deeper for ways to save money.

Eliminating one airline could save a significant amount in wages. If that’s the most important criteria, then CommutAir appears to be best-positioned. ExpressJet has a more senior (read: expensive) pilot group than CommutAir and a larger fleet of about 95 planes, versus around 37 at CommutAir. Rumors that ExpressJet is pushing for a CEO death match instead seem to be unfounded.

Hawaiian Releases Q2 Financials

2 Hawaiian Airlines became the latest U.S. airline to release its gloomy Q2 financial report with the airline posting a Q2 loss of $107 million compared to a Q2 2019 profit of $58 million.

The loss comes despite Hawaiian managing to reduce its expenses by 66.5% from a year ago, from $623 million down to just $209 million.

The airline reported only $60 million in revenue in Q2 with the state’s quarantine shutting down almost all air travel to and from Hawai’i. In Q2 2019, Hawaiian saw revenue of $712 million, showing a 91% drop this year.

Hawaiian ends the quarter with $761 million cash and 11,000 gallons of POG juice on-hand.

JetBlue Gets Ultra Serious About Cabin Cleaning

3 The arms race between U.S. airlines to outdo one another with regards to cleaning standards, partnerships, and brand names has seen another salvo as JetBlue is introducing a partnership with Honeywell for an Ultraviolet Cabin System. The UV Cabin System is designed to help reduce viruses and bacteria on surfaces throughout the aircraft.

With its mechanical wings fanning out over seats — in its booked cabin only, we presume — into galleys and lavatories, the Honeywell UV Cabin System is designed to harness the power of ultraviolet-c light (UV-C) technology that, when properly applied, reduces certain viruses and bacteria on airplane cabin surfaces. It is supposed to be able to treat an aircraft in less than 10 minutes.

If JetBlue decides it wants to start boarding during the process instead of waiting for it to finish, we suggest all Mint passengers be given sunglasses to avoid the bright and dangerous rays. Coach passengers can just squint and avert their eyes. Basic economy passengers can just operate the machine and earn their keep.

Allegiant Also Releases Q2 Financials

4 Allegiant Air announced its Q2 financials today, posting a loss of $93 million on revenue of $133 million. A year ago, Allegiant made $70 million on revenue of $492 million, so this year is…worse.

Allegiant was only able to reduce its costs by 35% as compared to Q2 in 2019, but in the airline’s defense, its costs were already quite low compared to other legacy carriers. The airline spent just $246 million this year, after expenses of $383 million in 2019. We assume the airline could have reduced its costs further, but it instead went crazy spending millions in legal fees for a myriad of DOT exemption requests under the CARES Act.

Allegiant’s daily cash burn during the quarter was $900,000 and the airline remarkably achieved cash breakeven in June. That is unlikely to last as leisure travel to Florida has dropped precipitously. Ending the quarter, Allegiant has $663.1 million cash on-hand.

Ryanair to Shut Down its Austrian Subsidiary

5 European LCC Ryanair plans to end operations of its Austrian subsidiary Lauda, moving its assets into the new Malta-based Lauda Europe which plans to launch operations in November.

Ryanair said that Austria’s tax laws made continuing the Austrian-based airline untenable, and the switch will allow Ryanair to relocate many of the subsidiary’s employees to Germany and Spain. Specifically, all employees of the Austrian company were required to pay Austrian income tax regardless of their place of residence.

With the move from Lauda to Lauda Europe, employees outside Austria won’t be required to pay Austrian taxes while ~~wizzing~~ buzzing around Europe. Employees will be required to pay Ryanair €39.99 each as a fee for new uniforms due to the change in name. Staff will also be responsible for the €2.99 processing fee and €4.99 unpacking fee when the new uniforms arrive.

Airline Potpourri

British Airways & and its parent company IAG sold $965 million worth of Avios to American Express.
Emirates is matching Etihad’s requirement of a negative PCR test within 96 hours of departure to enter or transit the UAE.
Hawaiian has extended its suspension of service to Pago Pago in American Samoa through August 31.
Pobeda is is looking to cancel its pending order of 15 737 MAX aircraft.
Silver has been granted permission from the DOT to reduce its presence at Miami and Orlando from 3x weekly to 1x weekly through September 30.
Turkish, who we know will codeshare with anyone, will begin a codeshare with TAROM beginning next month.
Vietnam Airways is suspending flights to and from Da Nang (DAD) for 15 days due to a virus outbreak in the city.
Vistara plans to operate flights in August from its Delhi hub to Frankfurt, London/Heathrow and Paris/CDG.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

In high school I worked each summer with a lumberjack to make some extra money. In the four years I worked for him, I cut down exactly 31,844 trees. I know because I kept a log.

July 28, 2020

JetBlue’s Q2 Financials Leave the Airline Feeling, Well, Blue

1 JetBlue released its Q2 financials on Tuesday and it showed a $450 million dollar loss for the airline, compared to a profit of $236 million in 2019.

Despite seeing an uptick in travel and bookings in May and June compared to April, JetBlue still saw a an 85% reduction in capacity year-over-year. JetBlue managed to reduce its expenses by 66% in Q2 to reduce its cash burn to an average of about $5 million per day.

The airline currently has $2.9 billion in cash and $100.2 billion in Terra Blue chips available and on-hand. (They overbought in the early days.)

If at First You Don’t Succeed…Congress Introduces Fly Together Act

2 Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Congressman Anthony Brown (D-MD) on Tuesday introduced H.R. 5292, the Fly Together Act, legislation to ensure families with young children are seated together on flight at no additional charge. This annual tradition from the Congress has no chance of passing but shows a spirited effort from our elected officials.

The bill is designed to override basic economy fares that do not come with seat assignments, as well as ULCC airlines that do not offer seat assignments for free. It calls for airlines to seat families with young children, defined as 13 years old or younger, at no charge. It provides for exceptions when to do so would require an upgrade to: a different class of travel, a seat with extra legroom, or seat pitch for which additional payment is normally required.

There is seems to be general support for the bill amongst all single Congressmen and women, as well as those with grown children. We’d expect Members of Congress with school-aged children to vote against the bill as a bloc, as they say basic economy flights are their only chance to get away from their kids and make them someone else’s problem for a few hours.

Delta Tightens Mask Policy

3 Delta Air Lines tightened its mask policy, further defining what it considers to be an appropriate face covering to fly. Fortunately for Jedis, Darth Vader masks did not make the cut due to their vents.

In fact, any mask or face covering that has an exhaust valve is out. Some face coverings — including some of the famed N95 respirator masks — have exhaust valves and that’s a problem. The valves emit particles from the wearer which while protecting the person wearing the mask, does nothing for those around that person.

Wizz Air Requests European Commission End Suspension of Slot Waiver

4 Wizz Air is buzzing in aviation circles as it has asked the European Commission to end the suspension of the 80/20 “Use it or Lose it” slot rule, hoping it can get some of those unused slots at major airports. The rule normally requires airlines to operate at least 80% of their slots at restricted European airports or risk losing them to competitors. The rule was suspended temporarily in March, but the suspension is set to expire at the end of summer.

The commission is currently considering an extension of the waiver with A4E — Europe’s main airline lobbying group of which Wizz Air is not a member — having requested the suspension remain in place at least through the winter, if not as far out as July 2021.

Major airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa, and Wizz Air competitor easyJet claimed that they were flying empty planes in the spring to maintain their slots and that the suspension of the rule is vital to their economic survival.

When asked to comment, Wizz Air CEO József Váradi may have said that it was time for European airlines to “sh*t or get off the pot, because we’ll fly the crap out of those things even if our planes are empty.”

Alaska Extends Change Fee Waiver Through September 8

5 Alaska Airlines is extending its change fee waiver for travel booked through September 8. The original expiration date had been next Friday, August 8. The fee waiver is valid for travel scheduled to take place by August 8, 2021 and must be completed no later than one year from the original date of travel.

One airline, we’ll let you guess which, had been rumored to be considering a pilot fantasy camp where passengers paid $799 for a 5-day experience in the simulator and the day-to-day life of a pilot. Then on the final day of camp, the campers could fly an actual flight with actual passengers for the airline as part of their “graduation.” ~~PIA~~ The unnamed airline is denying that this is a program it is considering. For now.

Airline Potpourri

Air Leap has added the first ATR to its fleet.
Air New Zealand has resumed its service to San Francisco, with 3x weekly flights from ~~Oakland~~ Auckland.
Alitalia will operate 1,630 flights to 45 destinations in October, approximately 46% of what had been planned prior to the pandemic. As always, some of them will operate on-time.
Emirates will resume service to Nairobi (NBO) on August 2, and both Baghdad (BGW) and Basra (BSR) on August 10.
Gulf Air is resuming service to Kuwait (KWI) this Friday, August 1.
Qatar resumes its 3x weekly service to Helsinki tomorrow, July 29.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I played a match of quiet tennis today. It’s just like regular tennis, but without the racket.

July 27, 2020

Hawaiian Sends its Longhaul Aircraft to the Mainland

1 With Hurricane Douglas bearing down on the Hawaiian islands this past weekend, Hawaiian Airlines made the decision to transfer the bulk of its longhaul fleet to the mainland for safety.

With the hurricane expected to make landfall on Oahu with 90 MPH winds, the airline wanted to get its aircraft to safety. Much of its 717 fleet which it uses for inter-island flying was sent to Kona on the Big Island which was not expected to receive a direct hit.

But as for the fleet of A330 and A321s, Hawaiian sent them to the West Coast to wait out the storm. Using multiple airports — including Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, Sacramento, and San Francisco — Hawaiian flew them out of harm’s way en masse over the weekend. To which the planes said to each other “I moved to Hawai’i for a reason – why the hell am I spending the weekend in Sacramento?”

In the end, the hurricane wobbled north of O’ahu and did not make landfall, so the move was likely unnecessary. Better safe than sorry.

Delta Cleans Up its Act

2 Delta Air Lines has partnered with worldwide hygiene, health, and nutrition conglomerate RB — better known as the maker of Lysol — as a part of its Delta CareStandard program.

The airline will work with Lysol and use its products to keep surfaces throughout the customer journey clean and disinfected. Microbiologists and germ-kill experts from Lysol will coordinate with Delta’s Global Cleanliness team (that sounds like a wild and carefree group of people) to develop protocols for disinfection that will help protect customers.

The partnership comes just as the EPA approved both Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfecting Wipes as the first products to test effective against the novel coronavirus when used as directed on hard, non-porous surfaces. If there’s anything a trip through the airport and airplane is full of, it’s hard, non-porous surfaces, so the tie-up between the two companies is natural. The Miami Marlins — via Delta.com’s “contact us” form on Delta.com — asked the airline “You couldn’t have started this partnership last week?”

Korean Air Begins to Phase Out First Class

3 With global demand for air travel at an all-time low, Korean Air is removing first class inventory from sale on most of its long-haul routes. The cost-cutting measure will allow Korean to save on the overhead costs of providing all the amenities a proper international first class cabin demands, including having to return an aircraft to the gate if a passenger isn’t happy with how they’re served pre-flight macadamia nuts.

First class will remain on the airline’s flagship routes from Seoul/Incheon to Los Angeles and New York/JFK.

Etihad to Require Negative COVID Test for All Passengers

4 Effective this Friday, August 1, Etihad Airways will require a negative PCR test from all passengers within 96 hours of departure in order to fly. The rule is in place for all customers 13 years or older. It applies to all passengers flying to Abu Dhabi whether that’s their final destination or they are connecting beyond.

For passengers starting their journey in Abu Dhabi, Etihad will require the negative result for anyone going to the EU, UK, or anywhere it is mandated by the authorities at the destination. Etihad has partnered with with Mediclinic Middle East to offer departing passengers the option of convenient PRC testing, for a fee, at their home, or at Mediclinic facilities throughout the UAE.

Turkish Will Codeshare With Anyone

5 Turkish Airlines plans to introduce a new bilateral codeshare agreement with the official airline of the Cranky Daily — Pakistan International Airlines. “Fake pilots be damned,” a Turkish official might have said. “We want to dominate the Karachi to Istanbul market and this is how we’re going to do it.”

PIA passengers will be able to connect seamlessly on Turkish from Istanbul to destinations throughout the world, including the EU and US, since PIA can no longer fly there itself.

All passengers on the flight will receive pre-flight face-to-face meeting with their pilot with the option to ask questions, check his or her credentials, and offer an aviation pop quiz. If pilots do not pass the quiz or their credentials are deemed invalid, passengers will receive a $25 gift card from PIA for future travel.

Airline Potpourri

Condor reached an agreement to avoid layoffs for its 4,200 employees.
Frontier has dropped its plans for an IPO, because, well, who would buy that now?
Qatar is shifting its operation at London/Heathrow to Terminal 5.
Singapore’s flight to London/Heathrow will upgrade to daily service on August 1.
SKY Airline plans to issue $100 million bond in advance of an IPO in 2024.
TAP plans to operate to 66 destinations in August, increasing to 76 in September.
United has requested an extension of its suspension of service to Aguadilla, PR (BQN) until the airport is reopened to passenger service from the mainland.
Volaris posted a loss of $75 million in Q2.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Fact of the day: Before the crowbar was invented, most crows drank at home.

July 24, 2020

Southwest Pledges No Layoffs or Furloughs Through 2020, Empty Middles Through October

1 During its earnings call on Thursday, Southwest Airlines announced it would not be laying off or furloughing any staff through the end of the calendar year. Airlines are not permitted to let anyone go until October 1 when the CARES Act funding expires, but Southwest becomes the first U.S. airline to guarantee all of its jobs are safe beyond October 1.

Famously, Southwest has not laid off or furloughed any employees in its 50-year history. Thus far, 7% of the workforce has accepted an early retirement buyout package, while 27% have accepted the buyout or extended unpaid leave.

Despite posting a $915 million loss in Q2, Southwest ended the quarter with the strongest liquidity of the big four U.S. airlines. It had $15.5 billion of liquidity at the end of June with an estimated Q3 daily cash burn of $21 million.

Southwest also has extended its empty middle seat policy another month through the end of October. Originally, it was set to expire on September 30, but passengers can now book on Southwest knowing they’ll have an empty middle seat at least through Halloween.

And those that are flying with the empty middle seat will need to wear a mask — no exceptions — as mentioned in yesterday’s Daily. CEO Gary Kelly on CNBC Thursday made the point “You have to wear pants, why can’t we mandate that you have to wear a mask in a pandemic?” To that, mask-refusers replied — “Good point. I shouldn’t have to wear pants either. DOWN WITH PANTS!”

Emirates to Offer Coronavirus Travel Insurance

2 As airlines continue to jockey amongst themselves to find new ways to improve customer confidence and encourage bookings, Emirates will become the first airline to guarantee to cover expenses for customers infected with the virus while traveling overseas.

Customers can book on the Emirates website or via their friendly travel agent (maybe Cranky Concierge?) and are covered for 31 days after the date of the first flight in the itinerary. Upon hearing this news, Floridians instantly booked flights for early next week and went to the beach without masks.

The offer is valid through October 31 and includes €150,000 coverage for virus-related expenses as well as quarantine housing expenses up to €100 a day for 14 days.

Alaska Will Need 7,000 Fewer Employees

3 Alaska Airlines is the latest airline to caution that it might be forced to furlough employees when CARES Act funding dries up on October 1.

During its earnings call on Thursday, CEO Brad Tilden warned that the airline may need to take the drastic measure in spite of it reducing daily cash burn by 70%

Alaska currently has 30% of its staff on voluntary leave, but will still be forced to send WARN Act notices on August 1 to prepare for additional layoffs if needed. Additionally, the airline is also reducing its management positions by 300 people, representing approximately 15% of the current workforce.

Via Air to be Rebranded and Relaunched

4 Via Air, which declared bankruptcy and halted operations in October of 2019, is back… sort of. Wexford Capital LP thinks now is the right time to start an airline, so someone there must read the Cranky Daily. Wexford is acquiring much-maligned Via Air via bankruptcy court and plans to rebrand the airline and get it back in the air.

Wexford and the new airline’s COO Wayne Heller stated the familiar refrain we’ve read from each of the new airlines that have announced their launch in the last two weeks: it plans to serve small, underserved markets.

Wexford has a history of investing in the airline industry, such as founding Republic Airways who’s COO was…wait for it…Wayne Heller. It’s taking another crack at it in the post-pandemic world, joining an ever-growing list of airlines that (probably incorrectly) see this as an opportunity

Iran Claims U.S. Fighter Jet Intercepted Iranian Passenger Flight

5 Media reports in Iran — so take it for what it’s worth — claim that a US fighter jet flew perilously close to an Iranian passenger plane in Syrian airspace. The U.S. government doesn’t deny there was a fighter jet close to the Mahan Air aircraft, but it does deny that it was too close.

Iran’s Irib state news agency alleges the pilot of the Mahan Air aircraft had to quickly change altitude which resulted in injuries to several passengers.

Video posted by Irib shows one jet from the window of the plane and a passenger who had blood on his face. The U.S. government said that its jet was at a safe distance and that the bleeding was clearly caused by an allergic reaction to Mahan Air’s appalling in-flight catering.

The Mahan Air flight, which was en route from Tehran to Beirut, landed safely in Beirut before refueling and returning to Tehran incident-free.

Airline Potpourri

Air India has pledged that no employees would lose their jobs due to the pandemic.
Air New Zealand expects to be back to 70% capacity in August.
British Airways has extended its change fee waiver to all bookings made through September 30.
El Al has a suitor as Eli Rosenberg has made a $75 million offer for a controlling stake of the airline.
JetStar Asia has extended its service suspension through August 14 with the exception of twice-weekly service to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur plus once-weekly service to Manila.
KLM has resumed service to China with a once-weekly to Shanghai/Pudong.
Lufthansa will begin new service to the Canary Islands with twice weekly service from Frankfurt to both Gran Canaria (LPA) and Tenerife (TFS) on October 3.
Singapore Airlines raised an additional $540 million to increase its liquidity.
Stobart Air will launch a new route from Manchester (MAN) to to Belfast (BHD) beginning September 14.
WestJet is retiring its fleet of 767s.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

Not to brag, but I made six figures last year. I was named worst employee at the toy factory.

July 23, 2020

Southwest, American, and United to Require Masks to Board — Without Exception

1 Southwest Airlines announced that it would require all passengers over two years old to wear masks with no exceptions. Southwest’s new policy was the strictest amongst U.S. carriers and came after United announced earlier this week it would require masks throughout the airport as well as onboard the plane but would still allow medical exemptions. Now, American has banned medical exemptions, and United has followed as well.

Southwest stated simply, “If a Customer is unable to wear a face covering or mask for any reason, Southwest regrets that we will be unable to transport the individual. In those cases, we hope the Customer will allow us to welcome them onboard in the future, if public health guidance, or other safety-related circumstances, regarding face coverings changes.” That leaves Delta as the best option for those who can’t wear masks, but even that will require an in-depth evaluation at the airport.

In an effort to further stop spread of the COVID-19 virus, Southwest also shared that it would be launching a pilot program at Dallas Love Field to screen passengers for elevated temperatures using thermal screening cameras. Despite its name, the airline’s pilots have nothing do with the program. It is believed that those purchasing Early Bird and A-list preferred will have their temperature taken with a thermal scanner from a distance. Passengers in the B boarding group will have a thermometer placed under their tongue, while passengers in the C boarding group will have their temperature taken…the old-fashioned way. That $15 for Early Bird doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?

Americans (Lack of) Earnings Report + DFW Terminal Update

2 American Airlines posted its Q2 earnings today with a better than expected loss of $3.4 billion thanks to revenues being down only 86%. There’s a phrase you probably never thought you’d hear.

AA was able to slow its cash burn to just $30 million per day in June compared to a high of $100 million per day earlier in the Spring. AA ended the quarter with $10.2 billion cash on-hand — and another ~$5 billion on the way — which it is choosing not to spend on its new terminal at DFW. Construction has been halted indefinitely on the new $3 billion terminal that was supposed to open in 2025.

In an attempt to raise much-needed funds, the airport is considering mandating a $17.50 minimum price on tuna sandwiches in all gift shops, a slight increase over whatever insane price is currently charged.

Alaska is Officially Invited to Join Oneworld, Posts Q2 Loss

3 Alaska was formally invited to become the 14th member of the Oneworld Alliance on Thursday, speeding up a process that was first expected to take well into 2021. The airline is now a member-elect of the alliance with full membership expected to occur before the end of the calendar year.

Alaska will become the second member to join Oneworld in 2020, after Royal Air Maroc got the secret password to the Oneworld treehouse in April. Alaska will add 34 new destinations to the Oneworld footprint throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The airline will now receive sweet jackets and other oneworld gear that will allow them sit at a cool table at the next meeting of the world’s airlines and not off at the weird “not in an alliance” table.

Alaska also announced its Q2 financials, something it smartly did AFTER getting the official invite from oneworld. Alaska officials were heard saying “No backsies!” after the announcement, to which American just laughed and said “don’t worry, wait til you see ours.”

Alaska posted a net Q2 loss of $214 million, on revenue of $309 million. This compares to a $262 profit in Q2 2019 on just over $2 billion in revenue. Alaska heads into the second half of the year with $2.8 billion in cash on-hand and has reduced its daily cash burn to just $4 million per day.

Southwest Posts a Rare But Expected Q2 Loss

4 As part of the Airline Industry Torture Program (AITP) targeting media and analysts, Southwest ALSO announced its Q2 financials on Thursday. It continued the theme of the week — not great, Bob.

The airline posted a staggering Q2 loss of $915 million dollars on revenues of $1 billion. On the bright side, the airline does have $15.5 billion cash on hand, easily enough to take everyone in Texas out to Whataburger a few times.

Southwest remains the only investment-grade credit rating in the U.S. airline industry by all three agencies; it has unencumbered assets of $12 billion, including $10 billion in aircraft and $1.4 billion in packets of honey roasted peanuts it never distributed.

Taiwan Passes Proposal to Rebrand China Airlines

5 The parliament of the Republic of China — Taiwan — has passed a proposal to rebrand the flag carrier of the island which is currently flying as China Airlines.

The name often causes confusion with Air China and other mainland Chinese airlines, something the Taiwanese government seeks to avoid. Since the pandemic, repatriation and aid flights operated by China Airlines were confused as to being flown on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. A U.S. political ad that ran in recent weeks showed a China Airlines plane when referencing a travel ban to mainland China.

Expect Taiwan to move slowly on the rebrand, as any name that explicitly has Taiwan in it is bound to upset the PRC government. The first option the airline might consider is “Not That China Airlines,” or “China Airlines, You Know, the Good One.” We would like to suggest Joon which is available after Air France scrapped its hip alternative airline less than two years after launch. If they’d like to kick the political football, and ramp up the confusion factor, “Air China II” with callsign “The Deuce” will need to be considered.

Airline Potpourri

Air France and United have resumed service to Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, from Paris and Newark & San Francisco, respectively.
American expects its Q3 capacity to be down 60% YoY as demand weakens.
British Airways will double the number of cities its serves in Jamaica, launching service to Montego Bay (MBJ) from London/Gatwick beginning Oct 13. (Kingston is the other one.)
Emirates is returning service to the Seychelles (SEZ) with 5x weekly service beginning August 1.
Qatar is introducing new service to the very tropical Cebu (CEB) in the Philippines with 3x weekly service beginning tomorrow, July 24.
TAP Air Portugal started 3x weekly service earlier this week from Boston to Ponta Delgada (PDL) in the Azores.

Andrew’s Moment of Levity

I have a weird OCD where I always place my plates in the cabinet in the order of the year they were bought. It’s an extremely rare dish order.