A Porter E195-E2. (Photo: Shutterstock | The Global Guy)
Canadian airline Porter is expanding its warm-weather network in time for the winter 2026-27 travel season.
Starting Dec. 18, the carrier will connect Hamilton, Ontario, with Tampa, Florida. Flights will operate four times weekly, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Porter currently serves Tampa from Toronto and Ottawa. It also connects Hamilton to two other destinations in Florida – Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
On Nov. 6, the airline will bring a completely new destination into its network with the start of service between Toronto Pearson and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. Flights will run five times weekly, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
A second route to Turks and Caicos, from Ottawa, will launch Dec. 17. This service will operate twice weekly, on Thursdays and Sundays.
All three connections will use Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.
With the addition of Turks and Caicos, Porter will serve five destinations in the Caribbean, the others being Nassau, Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Aruba.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
Livery of the Week: Hawaiian Helps Launch New ‘Moana’ Movie
The carrier unveiled the first of three designs dedicated to the film.
Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321-271N in a special Moana livery (Photo | Hawaiian Airlines)
Editor’s Note: AirlineGeeks is proud to present our ‘Livery of the Week’ series. Every Friday, a team member will share an airline livery, which can be from the past, present, or even a special scheme. Some airline liveries are works of art. The complexity associated with painting around critical flight components and the added weight requires outside-the-box thinking from designers. The average airliner can cost upwards of $200,000 to repaint, creating a separate aircraft repainting industry as a result.
Have an idea for a livery that we should highlight? Drop us a line.
With just a month to go until the debut of the new Moana movie, a live-action adaptation of the animation blockbuster released by Disney in 2016, Hawaiian Airlines is launching the first of three liveries dedicated to the film.
Hawaiian, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, unveiled the design on June 11. Each of the three liveries will feature characters from the movie, including “shape-shifting demigod Maui as a powerful hawk wielding his iconic fishhook and the coconut-armored Kakamora catching rides in the sea breeze”, according to a press release.
Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321-271N in a special Moana livery. (Photo | Hawaiian Airlines)
“Voyaging is at the heart of who we are as the airline of Hawaii, a place grounded in a legacy that began with navigators who crossed the Pacific using traditional wayfinding techniques,” said Alisa Onishi, managing director of Hawaii marketing at Hawaiian. “We’re proud to continue carrying that spirit forward and bring Moana’s journey to life once again as we connect our island home to the world.”
The aircraft chosen to start the three-livery series is an Airbus A321-271N, one of the “neo” aircraft powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1133G engines, which was delivered to Hawaiian on Nov. 1, 2019.
Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321-271N in a special Moana livery. (Photo | Hawaiian Airlines)
It is configured with 189 seats divided between two classes; 16 seats are Premium Class seats in a 2-2 layout, while the remaining 173 seats are standard Economy seats in a 3-3 configuration. This aircraft is usually deployed on service to the U.S. West Coast and Thomas Cook Islands.
Before the release of Moana on July 10, two more special liveries will be unveiled on a widebody Airbus A330-243 and a Boeing 717-22A.
Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.
Vanni fell in love with commercial aviation during his undergraduate studies in Statistics at the University of Bologna, when he prepared his thesis on the effects of deregulation on the U.S. and European aviation markets. Then he pursued his passion further by obtaining a Master’s Degree in Air Transport Management at Cranfield University in the U.K. followed by holding several management positions at various start-up carriers in Europe (Jet2, SkyEurope, Silverjet). After moving to Canada, he was Business Development Manager for IATA for nine years before turning to his other passion: sports writing.
Sun Country to Resume Three Routes in 2027
The carrier is bringing back connections to Florida and the Caribbean.
The ultra-low-cost carrier said this week that it will resume service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Melbourne, Florida, and between Duluth, Minnesota, and Fort Myers, Florida. The Duluth-Fort Myers connection is seasonal.
Sun Country said it will relaunch all three routes in 2027 but did not provide exact start dates. The announcement came Tuesday as the airline officially extended its selling schedule through April 13, 2027.
The carrier said it will serve 11 destinations in Florida, six in Mexico, and 12 across the Caribbean and Central America throughout the winter season through April 2027.
Sun Country is in the process of merging with Allegiant. For now, the two airlines are maintaining separate operations.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
American to Resume Two International Routes
One connection will come back online in July, the other in November.
The carrier announced Friday that it will restart service between Miami and Maracaibo, Venezuela, on July 14. Flights will operate daily using Embraer E175 aircraft.
American previously served Maracaibo from Miami but terminated the connection in 2019 when the U.S. government banned all nonstop passenger and cargo flights to and from Venezuela.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy lifted that ban earlier this year, and American became the first U.S. carrier to return to the country with the launch of service to Caracas in April.
Later this year, on Nov. 1, American will resume flights between Miami and Cap-Haitien, Haiti. The service will operate daily using Boeing 737 aircraft.
American paused all flights to Haiti in 2024 due to unrest there.
Airline officials said the country is the biggest market in the Caribbean “by demand unserved by a U.S. carrier.” They also highlighted the large Haitian-American population in South Florida, which they said will benefit from the restored connection.
“American connects the U.S. with Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America better than any other airline,” American Chief Commercial Officer Nat Pieper said in a news release. “We are committed to serving the needs of travelers by offering the most flights to the most destinations in the region of any U.S. carrier.”
With the re-addition of Maracaibo and Cap-Haitien, American will serve a total of 100 destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America, the carrier noted.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
Delta Expands Service to Caribbean Destination
The carrier is adding a new route from the Midwest.
A Delta Airbus A321neo. (Photo: Shutterstock | Kevin Hackert)
Delta is strengthening service to an in-demand Caribbean destination for the winter of 2026-27.
On Dec. 19, the carrier will launch a new seasonal route between Detroit and Aruba. Flights will operate weekly, on Saturdays, through April 11, 2027.
Delta has never before linked Detroit and Queen Beatrix International Airport in Oranjestad.
In that same interval – Dec. 19 to April 11 – the airline will add a second daily flight from Boston to Aruba, and shift its connection from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Saturdays. Delta officials said the changes will give customers more flexibility and better align with passengers’ preferences.
Delta also serves Aruba from New York-JFK and Atlanta.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
FAA Says Planned Trump Arch Will Need Red Safety Lights
The proposed monument would be just north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Photo: Shutterstock | TJ Brown)
A 250-foot triumphal arch proposed by President Donald Trump would need red safety lights but otherwise is not a hazard to aircraft departing and landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the FAA has determined.
In a statement provided to AirlineGeeks, the agency said it conducted a preliminary feasibility study and “found no adverse impacts to operations at DCA.”
Experts “determined the only requirement would be the top of the structure would need to be lit with red obstruction lights – a common safety tool,” the statement read.
A rendering of the Memorial Circle triumphal arch. (Credit: U.S. Commission on Fine Arts)
The FAA is one of several federal agencies examining the potential impact of the arch, which would be located across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial and north of Washington National. The agency will next conduct a full aeronautical study in coordination with the National Park Service.
Trump is looking to build the arch in a traffic circle on Memorial Drive between the western end of Arlington Memorial Bridge and the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. While across the Potomac River, Columbia Island, where the monument would be built, is considered part of D.C.
The arch is controversial, as its height would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial and come close to rivaling the Capitol Building. A public advocacy group has sued to block construction on the grounds that the project has not been approved by Congress and would break the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington.
The U.S. Commission on Fine Arts approved the arch’s preliminary design last month.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
Final Report on Air India Crash Will Likely Be Delayed
The investigation will continue past the one-year anniversary on Friday.
An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner departing London Heathrow. (Photo: James Dinsdale)
Indian investigators will likely push back the release of their final report on the fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 last June, past the accident’s one-year mark.
Reuters reported Thursday that analysis of the aircraft’s engines remains ongoing. The engines were sent to the U.S. for study.
Under international guidelines, investigations into aviation accidents should generally be completed within a year. If that is not possible, investigators are expected to issue a statement on the one-year anniversary.
Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025. The 787 hit the campus of a medical college, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground.
The airplane’s GE Aerospace engines have been at the center of the ensuing investigation. A preliminary report released last July found the aircraft’s fuel control switches were moved from the “Run” to “Cutoff” position, one right after the other. As a result, the engines shut down mid-climb.
The flight’s cockpit voice recorder captured one pilot asking the other why he turned off the fuel switches, and the second pilot responding that he did not. The switches were then reversed, and the engines were in the process of coming back online when the aircraft crashed.
The preliminary report referenced a 2018 advisory from the FAA, which encouraged airlines operating Boeing aircraft to inspect the locking mechanism on the fuel switches to ensure they could not be moved by accident. Air India did not follow this guidance, the report stated.
The FAA responded to the report by saying that its 2018 advisory was based on information that fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged. This does not make the devices themselves unsafe, the agency said.
The theory that one of the pilots may have cut off the engines deliberately is highly controversial in India, and within the country’s largest pilots union. The organization has urged investigators to obtain more technical data from Boeing and Air India as part of their inquiry.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
After Years of Planning, New Sydney Airport Sets Opening Date
The gateway will supplement Sydney Airport, currently the busiest airport in Australia.
Construction of the Nancy-Bird Walton International Airport runway, Western Sydney. (Photo: Western Sydney Airport)
After 15 years of planning and nearly eight years of construction, Western Sydney Airport is almost ready to welcome its first passengers.
Officials announced this week that Sydney’s second international airport will open to the public on Oct. 25. Cargo operations will start earlier, in July.
Western Sydney Airport, also referred to as Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, is located in Luddenham and Badgerys Creek, about 30 miles west of downtown Sydney. It will supplement Sydney Airport, the busiest airport in Australia and the main hub for flag carrier Qantas.
So far, four airlines – Qantas, Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, and Air New Zealand – have announced plans to operate from the new airport.
Jetstar will operate the first flight out of Western Sydney Airport on Oct. 25, bound for Gold Coast, Queensland. The low-cost carrier will operate up to 14 flights per week between Western Sydney and Melbourne, four flights per week to the Gold Coast, and three flights per week to Brisbane.
Air New Zealand will start service that same month, on Oct. 26, with three weekly flights to Auckland.
On Nov. 23, Singapore Airlines will commence daily flights to Changi Airport in Singapore.
Qantas will offer flights to Brisbane and Melbourne starting in March 2027.
Australian officials debated building a second international airport in Sydney for decades. The federal government selected the site for Western Sydney Airport in 2014, and construction on the main facilities began in 2018.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
IATA Chief Slams OEMs: ‘Stop Gouging Us’
Willie Walsh said it is “totally unacceptable” for supply chain issues to drag on into the 2030s.
Rolls-Royce engines power the A330neo. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
The head of the world’s largest airline trade association has some harsh words for aircraft manufacturers and suppliers.
In remarks at the International Air Transport Association’s annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, director general Willie Walsh called out manufacturers, and specifically engine manufacturers, for, in his view, not doing enough to resolve longstanding supply chain issues.
The global aircraft order backlog is now over 18,000, Walsh noted, and the average fleet age has reached a record 15.2 years. Carriers saddled with aging aircraft are paying the price in the form of missed efficiency gains, higher lease rates, and climbing maintenance costs, he said.
In total, supply chain issues are believed to have cost the airline industry about $11 billion in 2025 alone.
“Deeply disappointed customers have not dented manufacturer finances,” Walsh said. “For example, most engine manufacturer profits were up double digits. I cannot share my reaction to this paradox in polite company, so I leave you to draw your own conclusions.”
A combination of factors has slowed aircraft engine production and deliveries over the past six years, including labor and material shortages and quality and reliability issues. Probably the most notable example of the latter is the ongoing mass recall and repair of Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G; some of the engine’s parts became susceptible to cracking due to contamination of powdered metal used in production.
“My message to the engine OEMs is simple – stop gouging us and get back to making great engines that work and that last,” Walsh said. “Allowing these failures to extend into the next decade is totally unacceptable to the customers.”
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
Report: Air Fares Up Nearly 27% Over Last Year
The Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed prices across U.S. cities.
Between May 2025 and May 2026, airline ticket prices in U.S. cities rose by 26.7%, the bureau found. The figure was included in a broader BLS report that showed inflation in the U.S. reached 4.2% in May, a three-year high.
Analysts have linked the uptick to higher energy prices stemming from the war in Iran. After joint air attacks by the U.S. and Israel in late February, Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 25% of the world’s seaborne oil passes in peacetime, as well as about 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas.
In the months since, jet fuel prices have doubled, leading airlines to raise ticket prices and fees, including for baggage.
Industry trade organizations, including Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association, have remained generally optimistic about the sector’s near-term outlook, however. Both groups have cited continuing strong demand for air travel, suggesting that consumers have either accepted the higher rates or are following through on pre-planned summer travel in spite of them.
The industry could also be seeing a bump from travel connected to the FIFA World Cup, which starts Thursday. Over one million people are expected to fly internationally to reach tournament matches in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
At the IATA’s annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, director general Willie Walsh said signs are positive that strong demand will continue through late 2026 and into early 2027.
Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
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