Australian regional airline Regional Express experienced two incidents resulting in cancelled flights this week due to engine concerns. During take-off checklists, two separate flights operating Saab 340 turbo-prop aircraft reported smoke and flames emanating from the left engines.
The first incident occurred Tuesday, April 5 at Melbourne Airport when flight ZL 3937 bound for King Island was alerted by the ground staff of flames from the left side engine during start up procedures. In response, according to the ATSB, the flight crew “shut down both engines, discharged the left engine fire extinguisher and ordered an evacuation”, with passengers being told to jump from the Saab to the safety of the ground.
During the evacuation, the Sydney Morning Herald reported at least one passenger suffered an injured knee and elbow.
Following up on the incident, Rex stated, “emergency services in attendance found no evidence of fire,” adding that the shut down and evacuation followed standard procedures.
The following day, Wednesday, April 6, another Saab 340 had to be disembarked after boarding, with smoke observed from the aircraft’s left engine also.
The flight from Roma to Brisbane, previously operated by Qantas, was boarded and preparing for take-off when the crew directed passengers to leave using the stairs. No passengers were injured in the evacuation.
In another statement released by Rex, the airline explained the occurrence had “no connection whatsoever” to the incident in Melbourne the previous day. It has been suggested that the aircraft’s ground power unit had malfunctioned and caused some flaming around the engine in Melbourne.
While the ATSB investigates the incident at Melbourne, Rex has not grounded its fleet of Saab 340s at this point in time, with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority saying it has no concerns with Rex.
Passengers from both flights were accommodated on later flights.
Australian Flights Experiencing Turbulence
The aborted flights are just two of some major turbulence this week in Australian commercial aviation.
Wednesday saw major headlines across Australia highlighting the chaos of Sydney Airport, Australia’s largest and busiest. With passenger travel increasing as the Easter holidays loom, Sydney Airport staff have been unable to handle the sheer volume of passengers.
Terminals have been inundated with delays in security screening, noted to have been caused by staff shortages as Australia’s commercial flights increase to pre-COVID levels.
Additionally, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce suggested that the issues are resulting in part due to not “match fit” passengers, claiming they forgot to remove aerosols and laptops prior to security screening.
Following those comments, however, the Qantas CEO backtracked on his comments, stating “just to be clear, I’m not blaming passengers.”
Qantas Not Free From Issues
Despite Joyce’s commentary on passengers being the cause of some issues, Qantas itself has been forced to apologize for its poor customer service this week.
On Thursday, April 7, Qantas released an apology for the extremely long call wait times. Admitting they are “unacceptable”, the airline giant went on to explain they are unable to provide enough staff to assist passengers with flight changes, despite Qantas continuing to open up new routes.
According to one customer, Qantas kept them on hold for “four hours and disconnected,” with yet another statement that the reputation of Qantas is falling rapidly.
Qantas has stepped up its advertising campaign, with its latest advertisement including the famed Qantas children’s choir and notable Australian celebrities.
Qantas concluded its statement by saying, “We’re working every day to improve the experience for our customers.”
Mike’s love affair with flight and mechanical objects in the sky began at an early age, fascinated by space documentaries and the vintage Flight Simulator ’95. He currently works as an instructor for UAVs and is training to receive his Private Pilot Licence with the goal of working in manned flight instruction. An avid reader of all things aviation and manned space flight, Mike stays close to developments in aerospace while reminiscing and sharing the rich history of flight with others. He loves writing, engineering and science.
An Air Jamaica Boeing 737-800 landing at SXM (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ian McMurtry)
Formed in 1968, the government-backed Air Jamaica was the Caribbean island’s attempt at creating a flag carrier that would expand the island nation’s presence in the global aviation scene and allow for growth of the island nation for leisure travelers and Jamaican business travelers. Under government ownership, Air Jamaica would expand in various avenues over the years to achieve growth, at one point offering both Air Jamaica Express service between cities on the island and even pursuing Airbus A340s to launch London service, both the underwhelming statistics. However, Air Jamaica the route maps the airline had built were American-focused, with Airbus A320s, A321s and alone A319 making the north to south run consistently over the years.
The Decline of Air Jamaica
Air Jamaica had built a route map by 2008 that balanced its Kingston and Montego Bay hubs, with fights from the capital servicing Miami, New York-JFK, Toronto-Pearson, Nassau, Curacao, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, and Havana while Montego Bay would serve the same cities as well as Atlanta, Los Angeles, Baltimore/Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago O’Hare. While the airline had built an extensive route map, it was heavily indebted and the government was ready to cleanse itself of the cost burden that Air Jamaica had become, especially as other airlines had stepped up in Jamaica.
Fueled by Air Jamaica and the plethora of American carriers interested in the Caribbean, the 1990s and 2000s had seemed to achieve passenger numbers and growth for the island, with 2.9 million passengers between Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport and Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport in 1992 ballooning to 5.1 million passengers in 2008. Montego Bay had become the cornerstone to success for the island, with the airport quickly doubling Kingston’s traffic numbers over that period. These two airports would serve as the primary commercial airports, with occasional service to Ocho Rios’s Ian Fleming International Airport coming and going but the airport focuses on private traffic.
An Air Jamaica A340-300 (Photo: Adrian Pingstone [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)By 2011, Air Jamaica had retracted its route map as the fleet of Airbus A320s had trickled down to just four A320s, a single A321 and a single A319. The route map had had now existed of Montego Bay service to Ft. Lauderdale, Nassau, Philadelphia and New York-JFK while Kingston recorded flights to New York-JFK, Toronto-Pearson, and Nassau. The airline had also considered leasing a Boeing 777 to restore London service, but these plans were ultimately dropped.
These cuts were coming at the cost of Kingston, whose passenger count dropped from 1.7 million passengers to 1.4 million in 2011, however, the American and European obsession with Montego Bay meant that passenger numbers nearly offset Air Jamaica cuts, with 4.99 million passengers becoming 4.83 million in the same timeframe.
The Caribbean Takeover
The integration into Caribbean Airlines would occur in 2011 and fleet simplicity would occur as Air Jamaica shed its all-Airbus fleet to focus on Boeing 737-800s in a new livery. The Caribbean would downsize Air Jamaica’s role at Kingston, removing overcapacity and cost-cutting as the fleet was overhauled. As a result, Norman Manley Airport would record a -0.8% passenger growth for 2011-2012 yet the Caribbean would maintain its role as the largest carrier for the airport at 49% of total traffic. Caribbean Airlines would attempt to make Air Jamaica more Florida-focused, with Kingston-Miami and Kingston-Miami but the second route would not make it past its first year of operations.
Over the next five years, Caribbean would continue to strip away services to Kingston and Montego Bay as the airline was restructuring its own difficult financial situation. Faced with government harassment with flying Trinidad and Tobago’s flag and registration on an Air Jamaica livery plane and the collapse of Air Jamaica’s fleet to just three Boeing 737-800s, Caribbean made the decision in 2015 to retire the Jamaican brand and move forward with a single Caribbean name. By this time Caribbean and Air Jamaica failed to break into the top 5 largest carriers at Montego Bay and were being rivaled by JetBlue for the largest airline at Kingston.
Despite Caribbean’s divestment from Jamaica, other airlines were there to offset capacity reductions. Passenger traffic at Kingston would bottom out in 2013/14 for the capital at 1.37 million passengers, climbing back to 1.58 million by 2016/17. Meanwhile, Montego Bay would climb from 3.34 million in 2011/12 to 3.86 million by 2015/16.
The notable increase in Montego Bay was fueled by external airlines and increased capacity from foreign operators on existing routes. The airport authority noted that new market growth prevented any slowdowns like the arrival and expansion of Southwest, increased service from American, JetBlue and the growth of European destinations. During this time the northern shore airport would welcome Eurowings and Thomas Cook Scandinavia. The other notable event of early 2013 was the arrival of Fly Jamaica Airways, which would operate a Boeing 757 from Kingston to Toronto-Pearson and New York-JFK and by 2015 would take up 5% of the Kingston passenger traffic.
However, the years following the dissolving of Air Jamaica would see continued growth at Jamaican airports. By 2018, passenger traffic at Montego Bay had ballooned to 4.5 million passengers per year while Kingston has recorded a smaller increase to 1.6 million.
Seeing the increasing returns of the public-private partnership being operated in Montego Bay and the underwhelming growth of Kingston, the Cabinet of Jamaica created a committee in 2016 to begin looking into a similar structure for the nation’s capital.
Taking about the reason for this change, Chairman of the Enterprise Team of NMIA’s privatization Paul Scott noted, “Governments worldwide, including in Jamaica, have turned to Public-Private Partnerships to design, finance, build and operate infrastructure projects. Our most recent successfully completed PPP concession was the Kingston Container Terminal transaction. PPPs are an excellent vehicle for unlocking the value of assets, reducing debt and mobilizing local and foreign direct investment in the economy and we look forward to the improvements to come at the NMIA.
Mexico’s Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB, who also had a majority stake in Montego Bay and had overseen its transformation since 2003, won the bid in 2018 and would take over the Norman Manley International Airport in October 2019, placing it under the operator’s name PAC Kingston Airport Limited. Since the creation of the abbreviated PACKAL group, the first large investment project has been undertaken. What was originally planned to be a $100 million investment for Kingston has transformed into a $200 million project for the two primary airports and Ocho Rios. The initial plan was stalled out due to COVID-19, but the next project has been given the green light which includes projects slated to take place between 2022 and 2025 including runway extension projects.
The Effect of COVID-19
On the airline side, the pandemic has reshuffled the airline listing for Kingston. Although Caribbean Airlines has not removed any routes in the recent past from either Kingston, service disruptions and government blockages have prevented the airline at 2019-levels. By 2021, Caribbean was the 6th largest airline at Kingston by aircraft movements and passengers. Kingston noted that 94% of its traffic originated or terminated in the United States, which would fuel the American airlines of American, JetBlue, Delta, Southwest and United taking the top five slots in the airport for passenger count and aircraft movement.
Caribbean’s route map at Kingston currently serves Antigua, Barbados, Ft. Lauderdale, Grand Cayman, Miami, Nassau, New York-JFK, Port of Spain, St. Maarten, Toronto-Pearson and seasonal flights to Orlando. Montego Bay has been stripped back to just New York-JFK and Ft. Lauderdale. Fly Jamaica, on the other hand, collapsed in March 2019 as a crash of their lone Boeing 757 four months prior left the airline with to scramble to find a Boeing 767 that in the end was not offsetting its cost to operate.
Now looking forward, with Caribbean Airlines finding its happy medium for the island of Jamaica, the airports of the island now brace for continued improvements in air service from American airlines as post-pandemic commercial service in the island recovers. Most notably, American is adding Ocho Rios back to the commercial world, launching November flights to Miami on Embraer E175s. American is also flying the E175 to Montego Bay, where it will connect Austin, Texas for the first time.
Ultra-low-cost carriers are also getting in on the action, with Spirit and Frontier adding Philadelphia and Miami, respectively, this May. As a result of change and investments from other airlines, Air Jamaica’s former destinations remain mostly connected to the island, with the lone exceptions being Curacao and Los Angeles. Talk of another Jamaican flagged carrier is in the works as well, with Fly Oriole considering an ultra-low-cost model that could begin in the coming years starting with inter-island operations and expanding outside the island within months of their initial start.
Although Ian McMurtry was never originally an avgeek, he did enjoy watching US Airways aircraft across western Pennsylvania in the early 2000s. He lived along the Pennsylvania Railroad and took a liking to trains but a change of scenery in the mid-2000s saw him shift more of an interest into aviation. He would eventually express this passion by taking flying lessons in mid-Missouri and joining AirlineGeeks in 2013. Now living in Wichita, Kansas, Ian is in college majoring in aerospace engineering and minoring in business administration at Wichita State University.
JetBlue Airbus A321 departing London Heathrow [AirlineGeeks | James Dinsdale]
JetBlue announced its plans to offer twice daily flights from Boston to London this summer. The carrier will offer nonstop service from the Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to both London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW) and Heathrow Airport (LHR).
Flights between Gatwick and Boston will begin mid-summer on July 19, 2022, with its London Heathrow service beginning later in the summer on August 22, 2022.
Daily Schedule between Boston (BOS) and London Gatwick (LGW)
Beginning July 19, 2022 (Eastbound) & July 20, 2022 (Westbound)
BOS – LGW Flight #2104
LGW – BOS Flight #1926
6:37 p.m. – 6:35 a.m. (+1)
12:15 p.m. – 3:02 p.m.
Daily Schedule between Boston (BOS) and London Heathrow (LHR)
Beginning August 22, 2022 (Eastbound) & August 23, 2022 (Westbound)
BOS – LHR Flight #1620
LHR – BOS Flight #1621
6:32 p.m. – 6:30 a.m. (+1)
8:25 a.m. – 11:13 a.m.
“Our strategy of flying to both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports has been a success for us in New York, and we’ve secured slots to be able to do the same in Boston, becoming the only airline in New England offering flights to London’s two main airports,” said JetBlue’s chief executive officer, Robin Hayes.
“Our London service has been an incredible success so far and we’ve been able to go in with our unbeatable JetBlue service and experience and bring down fares on a traditionally overpriced route – the JetBlue Effect in action. We’re ready to do the same at Logan as we advance our growth strategies in both Boston and London.”
The announcement reinforced JetBlue’s commitment to the Massachusetts area. JetBlue continues to hold the title of Boston’s largest airline, serving more nonstop destinations than any other airline in Boston, with nearly 70 nonstop routes across the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. Boston is also home to nearly 4,000 JetBlue crewmembers, with plans to hire more this year.
“JetBlue has been a great partner to Logan for many years and we are excited that they are launching two London – Boston services this summer,” said Ed Freni, Massport’s Director of Aviation. “These new flights give our passengers even more choice when they cross the Atlantic.”
The New York-based carrier will utilize its Airbus A321 Long Range (LR) aircraft for both Gatwick and Heathrow routes. Within Jetblue’s unique Airspace cabin interior, the aircraft is configured with 24 redesigned Mint suites allowing extra privacy through the use of sliding doors and 114 Ultraleather ‘Core’ seats, each at 18.4 inches wide. Each guest will also have access to AC and USB-C power.
Passengers in both core and Mint can stay connected through JetBlues free inflight wifi. Currently, JetBlue is the only airline to offer unlimited, free high-speed Wi-Fi on all flights between Boston and London. Additionally, customers have access to a selection of live TV channels and a library of seatback entertainment.
Seats on the carrier’s new London routes went on sale Tuesday with introductory roundtrip fares for U.S.-originating travelers flying to Gatwick starting at $499 roundtrip for the core experience and at $1,949 for JetBlue’s premium Mint experience. Roundtrip fares to Heathrow will cost a bit more, starting at $549 for core and $1,999 for Mint. U.K.-originating travelers introductory fares start at £349 for core and £1,449 for Mint from Gatwick with roundtrip fares from Heathrow start at £399 for core and £1,499 for Mint.
Chase Hagl grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. His love and passion for Aviation landed him in Orem, Utah where he obtained a B.S. in Aviation Management with a minor in Business Management from Utah Valley University. Chase currently works as a flight attendant in Charleston, SC and is also the primary Inflight ASAP ERC representative for startup airline, Breeze Airways. His experience in the aviation industry spans back four years, working in areas including agriculture application, customer service, maintenance, and flight ops. In his free time, Chase enjoys road biking, astronomy, and flying.
Ryanair Posts Record High Passenger Numbers for March
Ryanair has posted positive gains in traffic figures for the month of March with the airline recording 11.2 million passengers carried. This is the highest number of passengers the airline has ever carried in March with the previous high being in 2019 when the Irish airline registered 10.9 million passengers. The figure is a definite cause for celebration given that it was achieved in spite of the cancellation of 2000 flights in the month due to Ukrainian airspace closures.
The airline operated over 67,800 flights in March and achieved an 87 percent load factor which was the highest in several months. Though the increasing load factor is a positive sign it is still some way off the 95 percent load factor achieved for the financial year ending March 2020.
Robust figures for the airline were also evident in Eurocontrol’s weekly summary of airline flight operations comparing 2022 figures with those of the same period in 2019. For the week ending 1 April Ryanair managed a gain of 14 percent over the pre-pandemic period three years ago with 2685 flights operating despite the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Only one other carrier posted a positive gain over 2019 with eastern European rival Wizz Air increasing flights by 10 percent with 622 in operation.
In a further promising sign, Eurocontrol reported that the U.K. market was the busiest state for the week from 31 March – 06 April. The U.K. averaged 4653 departures/arrivals per day across all airlines which sat at 78 percent of the comparable 2019 levels. All of the markets in the top 10 reported positive gains in flight numbers for the reported week with Turkey operating 97 percent of 2019 flights and Portugal 93 percent.
With the aviation industry seemingly on an upwards trend, there have been some negative events that threaten to hamper the recent gains. In addition to the situation in Ukraine airlines and airports in Europe and in other parts of the world have been facing staff shortages. The ongoing impact of the virus has been affecting staff sickness levels with an unsurprising spike in positive coronavirus cases since the removal of mask mandates and social distancing measures.
This staffing situation has been further exacerbated by the sudden removal of restrictions by governments leading to a surge in demand by passengers but limited time for aviation businesses to employ staff to cover the required positions. The shortages at Dublin airport have been affecting flight departures to the extent that Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary suggested calling in the armed forces.
The Irish Mirror reported Mr O’Leary as saying, “It’s going to take six or eight weeks to hire and train about 200-300 additional security staff but during that six or eight weeks they need help. We need Minister Ryan, who is the Minister for Transport, to get involved in this. We’re proposing that 200 members of the Army be called in to help do the patting down at security screening.”
The continuing impact of CoVid-19 related issues on U.K. carriers was highlighted by Eurocontrol’s comparison figures for easyJet and British Airways. The low-cost airline was operating 15 percent fewer flights than in the same week of 2019 with British Airways flight numbers down a whopping 36 percent. Though both airlines had been seeing gains from the previous week in 2022 with easyJet flight numbers up 29 percent and British Airways a slender 6 percent.
John has always had a passion for aviation and through a career with Air New Zealand has gained a strong understanding of aviation operations and the strategic nature of the industry. During his career with the airline, John held multiple leadership roles and was involved in projects such as the introduction of both the 777-200 and -300 type aircraft and the development of the IFE for the 777-300. He was also part of a small team who created and published the internal communications magazines for Air New Zealand’s pilots, cabin crew and ground staff balancing a mix of corporate and social content.
John is educated to postgraduate level achieving a masters degree with Distinction in Airline and Airport Management. John has held the positions of course director of an undergraduate commercial pilot training programme at a leading London university. In addition he is contracted as an external instructor for IATA (International Air Transport Association) and has been a member of the Heathrow Community Fund’s ‘Communities for Tomorrow’ panel.
A LATAM Brasil A350-900 lands in São Paulo/Guarulhos. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | João Machado)
To support humanitarian crises worldwide, LATAM group will make free passenger and cargo transport available to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This aid is intended to support people who have had to leave their homes in search of safety.
This arrangement allows for the transfer of cargo at no cost, and contribution towards in tickets to destinations within the LATAM network. The initiative is part of the LATAM group’s “Solidarity Plane” program which seeks to generate value in society by providing free transportation to cover different needs in South America.
“It is essential for UNHCR to be able to count on the support and cooperation of companies with a social commitment to guarantee protection and help to displaced individuals. We are grateful for the immense wave of solidarity from people and companies worldwide with the emergency in Ukraine. Thanks to LATAM for this strategic alliance, which will help us reunite displaced families, and transport aid materials for those who had to flee their homes in Ukraine and in other parts of the world, including Latin America,” said José Samaniego, Regional Director UNHCR for the Americas.
“At LATAM we understand that as a company we are also a social actor, that gives us rights, but also an obligation to work for the benefit of the societies where we operate. The terrible situation in Ukraine and the consequences of conflict on millions of people led us to approach UNHCR, and today we are proud to be able to make transportation of refugees, donations, and humanitarian aid available to them and their families in all the destinations of our network,” said Roberto Alvo, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group.
According to the UNHCR Global Trends report, 1% of humanity was forced to flee their homes in 2020.
A major humanitarian crisis is currently unfolding in Ukraine and neighboring countries, which has displaced more than 10 million people.
Latin America and the Caribbean is no exception, with more than 18 million displaced people in need of aid. In addition, “we cannot forget places like Afghanistan, Syria, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Myanmar and many others that continue to need the support of UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations,” said Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
LATAM’s “Solidarity Plane” program is part of the group’s sustainability strategy and seeks to generate value in society through free passenger and cargo transportation.
During the pandemic, “Solidarity Plane” has played an active role in the transportation of vaccines within the countries where it operates, mobilizing more than 232 million doses, in addition to transporting more than 3,400 health professionals to attend to urgent needs related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recently, the program announced alliances with solidarity and civil society organizations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, making available to them the expertise, infrastructure and connectivity through tickets and cargo transportation at no cost to organizations.
The three things Juan Pedro loves most about aviation are aircraft, airports, and traveling thousands of miles in just a few hours. What he enjoys the most about aviation is that it is easier and cheaper to travel around the world and this gives you the opportunity to visit places you thought were too far away. He has traveled to different destinations in North, Central, South America and Asia. Born, raised and still living in Perú, Juan is a lawyer, soccer lover, foodie, passionate traveler, dog lover, millennial and curious by nature.
Emirates SkyCargo Transports Over 1 Billion COVID-19 Vaccines
An Emirates Boeing 777F departing Los Angeles. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
News of Covid-19 vaccines available for distribution around the world buoyed industry practitioners both above and below deck with cargo carriers with climate-controlled facilities suddenly having a business opportunity in the worldwide distribution of billions of doses of vaccines.
Among the carriers that benefited immensely from the supply chain of Covid-19 vaccines is Emirates SkyCargo — Emirates airline cargo and airfreight division — which announced it transported more than one billion Covid-19 vaccines doses worldwide, in the 18 months after its first trial shipment of doses in October 2020.
More than 4,200 metric tons of Covid-19 vaccines — equivalent to over 1 billion doses — were moved to over 80 destinations on over 2,000 Emirates flights and close to two-thirds of the 1 billion doses were transported to developing countries, the UAE-based carrier announced earlier this week.
Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional Senior Vice President, cargo, said, “From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo has been focused on supporting global communities in their recovery from the devastating effects of the virus and we have prioritized assistance to developing countries. The strategic location of our Dubai hub combined with the strengths of our modern fleet of widebody aircraft, our purpose-built facilities, and capabilities in moving temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals allowed us to transport COVID-19 vaccines securely, reliably and rapidly from one corner of the globe to another. Ahead of World Health Day, we’re incredibly proud of our global Emirates SkyCargo team who have pulled out all stops during the pandemic to keep supply chains for essential goods like vaccines up and running. ”
Transportation of Humanitarian Supplies
In addition to Covid-19 vaccines, the airline transported other critical medicines and treatments on its flights across its route network.
This is in addition to the carrier being one of the first global air cargo carriers — as early as August 2020 — to begin mapping the global logistics for the movement of potential Covid-19 vaccines.
In October 2020, Emirates announced it would be setting aside a dedicated GDP-certified airside hub for the transport of Covid-19 vaccines, working with its logistics partners, the cargo division of Emirates, which transported trial shipments of Covid-19 vaccines through Dubai.
“In January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo teamed up with leading Dubai-based companies to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up distribution of vaccines through Dubai to developing countries,” the airline said in a statement. “In February 2021, the carrier signed an MoU with UNICEF to prioritize the transport and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX initiative. By early April 2021, Emirates SkyCargo had already transported more than 50 million doses of vaccines.”
The SkyCargo expanded its pharma cool chain infrastructure at Dubai International Airport in June 2021, allowing it to store an estimated 60-90 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines at any point in time.
The global scaling up of vaccine distribution enabled the Emirates’ cargo division to facilitate the transportation of larger volumes of vaccines from manufacturing origins to destinations, reaching 250 million doses by September 2021 and 600 million doses by December 2021.
Boosting Cargo Shipment
While it is easy to see why fortunes for transporting cargo could be viewed favorably by observers searching for a silver lining, from an economic standpoint, it is safe to say airports and airlines with cargo-diversified revenue streams have largely managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic’s ravages.
Last month, Emirates SkyCargo announced that it will be reactivating its cargo hub at Emirates SkyCentral DWC — Dubai World Central Airport — for dedicated freighter aircraft operations beginning March 26.
The move marks the return to dual-hub cargo operations in Dubai for the air cargo carrier after a period of nearly two years. The DWC facility has been utilized as a vaccine hub during the pandemic.
Victor Shalton's love for aviation can be traced to when he was 11-years-old. As a seasoned aviation writer, he takes pride in providing the best aviation coverage around the globe and is passionate about advancing his skills in the aviation space. In addition, he loves travelling, writing, arts and while his speaking engagements have taken him around the world, he is proud to call Nairobi home.
On Tuesday, news leaked that JetBlue had made a $3.6 billion takeover offer for Spirit Airlines, the Miramar, Fla.-based ultra-low-cost carrier that in February agreed to terms for a merger with close competitor Frontier Airlines.
The early announcement — in addition to a formal release from the airline after the market closed — led to a flurry of speculation as to what the airline saw in Spirit that led it to top Frontier’s offer. Frontier and Spirit have remarkably similar business models that rely on bare-bones base offerings augmented with fees for just about any auxiliary service, while JetBlue has touted its free WiFi, onboard entertainment and food and beverage offerings as hallmarks of its differentiated, though still low cost, product.
In addition, questions abounded as to whether JetBlue would be able to overcome scrutiny from the Department of Justice, which is already suing the airline and Fort Worth, Texas-based competitor American Airlines over renewed cooperation out of New York City and Boston that the carriers have taken to calling the Northeast Alliance.
One New Strategy
JetBlue has sought in recent years to continue to differentiate itself from the big four U.S. legacy carriers by offering lower cost tickets while still providing some complimentary perks to passengers. On routes it has entered to compete directly with its larger competitors, it has largely found a foothold by undercutting those carriers and looking to capture more price-sensitive travelers. It offers its cheapest tickets through its Blue Basic fare, its few-frills option that the carrier said comprises a “significant” portion of sales.
That strategy is not entirely different from ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier, and on a call Wednesday morning with analysts and members of the media, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes looked to underline those similarities but stressed the proposed merger would benefit current Spirit customers when they took a flight on the combined airline.
The airline said in on the call that it would retrofit Spirit’s aircraft to resemble JetBlue’s, a move that would decrease the number of seats on the airline’s aircraft by 10-15%, according to JetBlue executives. As such, the airline would move away from Spirit’s ultra-dense configuration — from 180-182 seats on the Airbus A320 according to SeatGuru — to JetBlue’s, which is markedly less so. (The carrier features 162 seats on its most crowded version of the same aircraft.)
This transition would mean the airline would more likely shift entirely toward the JetBlue model, in many ways eschewing the ultra-low-cost structure that has brought Spirit both success and notoriety. This, of course, is in direct competition with Frontier’s plan, which would see a combined carrier devoted entirely to the future of the ultra-low-cost model.
Creating a New Competitor
JetBlue continues to put outsized focus on making clear its offer would create a more competitive marketplace for the routes on which it would operate. Similar to Frontier and Spirit’s previously agreed-upon merger, the combination of JetBlue and Spirit would create the U.S.’s fifth largest airline as measured by total seats.
A JetBlue/Spirit combination would see the merged carrier become the fifth largest in the U.S. as measured by total seats. (Photo: JetBlue)
In addition, and perhaps most crucial to JetBlue given its current hopes for growth, the combined airline would boast a substantially larger fleet and order book moving forward.
According to projections from the airline, it expects to have 346 aircraft — 100 Airbus A220s in addition 246 from the Airbus A320 family — by 2027. That includes a current order book of 156 aircraft and a desire to retire 60 Embraer E190 regional jets currently in the fleet. Those aircraft currently operate many of the airline’s high frequency routes in the Northeast, but JetBlue currently plans to phase them out between 2023 and 2026, replacing them with the A220.
Spirit brings to the table an order book that also includes 156 aircraft across the Airbus A320 family, which would help the projected fleet for a combined airline jump to 675 aircraft by 2027, 48% more than their combined operating fleets at the end of 2021. That growth dwarfs the 22% jump JetBlue is expecting on its own over the next six years and is at the front of the airline’s mind in its $3.6 billion offer. Airline executives noted multiple times on Wednesday’s call the difficulty in securing narrowbody aircraft in the short-term given high demand for the types worldwide.
A combined airline would also serve over 130 destinations, combining JetBlue’s current network of 98 destinations with Spirit’s 84.
JetBlue and Spirit’s combined route network. (Photo: JetBlue)
JetBlue thinks the new airline’s size will be a critical piece of its mission to compete at a large scale with the four largest U.S. carriers. But as it faces a somewhat hostile Department of Justice, it is also looking at price competition as a likely sticking point for regulators to approve the deal.
Hayes said the airline would not be willing to give up its Northeast Alliance with American Airlines to appease the DOJ to help push the merger through. Hayes stressed that the airline’s entry into new markets has lowered ticket prices across the board, while the same is not true for ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit. The airline has not made data supporting that claim publicly available though said it would continue to work with regulators to illustrate that point should its proposal be accepted.
Frontier released a statement yesterday claiming just the opposite, likely hoping those concerns will prove to be a sticking point in Spirit’s board as it considers what is, purely in terms of valuation, a significantly better offer.
“Unlike the compelling Spirit-Frontier combination, an acquisition of Spirit by JetBlue, a high-fare carrier, would lead to more expensive travel for consumers,” a Frontier spokesperson said in a statement. “In particular, the significant East Coast overlap between JetBlue and Spirit would reduce competition and limit options for consumers. It is surprising that JetBlue would consider such a merger at this time given that the Department of Justice is currently suing to block their pending alliance with American Airlines.”
Hayes also said the airline is looking to growth at legacy airline hubs such as Dallas and Atlanta — two markets among many where Spirit has pushed its expansion in years past — as a key source of increased competition.
The airline also said the proposal includes a breakup fee JetBlue would pay to Spirit in the event antitrust regulators disallow the deal.
The Financial Question
JetBlue is already offering approximately 40% more than Frontier was slated to pay in its agreement with Spirit. But the airline has said this price is justified by the potential synergies — both lower costs and higher revenues — it sees in a combined carrier. JetBlue said today it projects these at $600-$700 million per year, approximately 4.5% of combined annual revenues. That would make it the third most-successful recent major U.S. airline merger with regard to synergies, behind only the America West-U.S. Airways and Delta-Northwest Airlines combinations.
Importantly, however, JetBlue CFO Ursula Hurley said on the airline’s call today that approximately $650 million figure is expected to materialize with all of Spirit’s aircraft operating in the JetBlue configuration, a process that could take years to complete.
Hurley said the airline expects to achieve 33% of those synergies in the first year of combination, a stark comparison to Frontier’s model, which actually accounted for negative synergies in the first year on account of increased integration costs. Because of those synergies, however, JetBlue was able to say it expects a merger with Spirit to be accretive in the first year after closing, meaning earnings per share would be higher than adding the two airline’s independent projections.
Even as the integration is ongoing, the airline will have to contend with higher costs. For the fiscal year ending December 2021, Spirit’s cost per available seat mile (CASM) totaled 6.74 cents excluding fuel and special items — those are often excluded to give a picture of what the airline’s base operations cost given fuel’s price variability and the unpredictable nature of one-time charges. JetBlue’s, however, sat at 10.11 cents, meaning the combined carrier may have to stomach a 50% jump in costs over time as it brings Spirit’s old aircraft into its fleet. (Frontier’s CASM excluding fuel was 5.96 cents for the same period.)
The airline said it expects debt to be approximately three times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — a common measure of operational profitability — upon closing, with that figure decreasing in the years to follow. It also said it would evaluate the cheapest financing path should the proposal be accepted and did not rule out raising equity to help raise cash for the deal.
Parker joined AirlineGeeks as a writer and photographer in 2016, combining his longtime love for aviation with a newfound passion for journalism. Since then, he’s worked as a Senior Writer before becoming Editor-in-Chief of the site in 2020. Originally from Dallas and an American frequent flyer, he left behind the city’s rich aviation history to attend college in North Carolina, where he’s studying economics.
Aeromexico Announces Third Destination From Mexico City‘s New Airport, Reverses Initial Decision
An Aeromexico B737 MAX 9 jet prepares for a flight to Mexico City at Tijuana International Airport. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Albert Kuan)
Aeromexico recently announced a new destination out of Mexico City’s Felipe Ángeles Airport this past Friday — less than two weeks since the airport’s inauguration. Beginning May 1, the airline will fly to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico four times weekly from the new international airport.
The new Puerto Vallarta, Mexico service, AM 880, leaves Felipe Ángeles Airport at 12:35 p.m. and arrives in Puerto Vallarta at 2:07 p.m. The return flight, AM 881, departs the city at 2:50 p.m., arriving back in Mexico City at 4:13 p.m. Flights to Puerto Vallarta will be operated on Aeromexico Connect’s Embraer 190.
Aeromexico is the first airline to add flights from the new airport since its opening day on March 21.
With this announcement, the Mexican flag carrier will now serve a total of three destinations and will be all domestic. Flights from Felipe Ángeles Airport to Mérida, Mexico will operate once a week, while flights to Villahermosa, Mexico will operate three times a week. The new flights to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico will be the carrier’s third destination.
Aeromexico confirmed it would continue to operate flights to these three destinations from its hub at Mexico City’s Benito Juárez Airport, more commonly referred to as Mexico City International Airport. The addition of complementary services out of AIFA helps the airline increase capacity to popular beach destinations in Mexico in time for the peak summer travel season.
At Mexico City’s Benito Juárez Airport, flights to the three destinations will operate daily. In May, the frequencies for Benito Juárez Airport are as follows: Mérida, Mexico with 67 weekly flights, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with 42 weekly flights and Villahermosa, Mexico with 40 weekly flights. According to Aeromexico, offering these complementary services out of both Felipe Ángeles Airport and Benito Juárez Airport allows the airline to offer up to 223,000 seats each month between Mexico City and these three destinations.
Benito Juárez Airport — the airline’s current, main hub — is within the limits of Mexico City, which makes it far more convenient for many residents of the capital than Felipe Ángeles Airport, which is located about 25 miles away from the city center, in the State of Mexico. Travelers coming from the city center have reported travel times of up to two hours to reach the new airport.
As there is no crew base for Felipe Ángeles Airport, Aeromexico’s pilots and flight attendants operating early morning flights out of the new airport spend the night at the new Holiday Inn on the airport’s grounds, as it is very difficult for them to be at the airport in time to operate a flight.
Benito Juárez Airport still remains the carrier’s main operations center where the airline currently operates more than 80 routes — both domestic and international. Delta — its Skyteam partner and major shareholder — is said to be proposing plans to offer flights between the United States and Felipe Ángeles Airport.
The Airline’s Revised Decision
Back in November 2021, several months before the airport’s opening, Aeromexico confirmed it would not operate out of Felipe Ángeles Airport providing the reason that there were no passengers to fly out of the airport when it opens. The airline even said its decision was firm.
Less than two months before the airport’s opening, the airline changed its position at Felipe Ángeles Airport and announced two preliminary destinations out of the new airport, Mérida and Villahermosa.
“We decided to start with these two destinations because we have in Club Premier, which is our loyalty program, information from our customers,” Andrés Conesa, Aeromexico’s Chief Executive Officer, said. “We know where they travel to, where they leave from. We saw that from the area of influence of (Felipe Ángeles Airport), 20 kilometers to the round, these two routes were the most used.”
Conesa even advised his airline is open to the opening of further new routes out of Felipe Ángeles Airport. He explained it depends on the demand that there is in the future.
Most people hate long flights or overnight layovers, but Albert loves them. The airport and flying parts of traveling are the biggest highlights of any trip for him – as this avgeek always gets a thrill from sampling different airline cabin products and checking out regional developments happening at local U.S. airports. He’s flown on almost every major carrier in the U.S. and Asia Pacific, and he hopes to try out the new A350s soon.
Albert recently completed his undergraduate studies in Business Accounting at USC in Los Angeles and he is currently recruiting for a corporate analyst position at one of the U.S. legacy carriers. During his college years, he interned at LAX for Los Angeles World Airports working behind-the-scenes (and on the ramp) in public relations and accounting. Outside of writing for AirlineGeeks, he enjoys trekking the Hollywood hills, visiting new hotspots throughout SoCal, and doing the occasional weekender on Spirit Airlines.
A United Express CRJ-200 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg, two airports in northern New York state, have been in aviation news a substantial amount in the past three months. Both are Essential Air Service cities, and in mid-January 2022, SkyWest announced it would be terminating service to these communities in 90 days, a proposal that was swiftly rejected by the DOT until a replacement carrier could be found.It wasn’t known at the time, but it was just the start, as SkyWest would go on to announce the requested termination of 29 additional EAS communities just two months later.
The two communities weren’t the only cities that would face the wrath of air service cuts, but they were the first two in the EAS community. Both airports had weekly round-trip flights reduced from 12 to just seven apiece, amounting to only a single daily flight from each community to Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport. Now, in a very peculiar turn of events, Skywest has announced it will increase flights to both cities and add a new destination, but for only for two months.
The terminal building in Ogdensburg, N.Y. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
First announced by the local online news platform, NNY360, this new increased service will start on May 2 and run until June 27, and will include twice-per-week flights operating on Mondays and Fridays. On those two weekdays, the aircraft used on the route will begin its day in Chicago, flying nonstop from O’Hare International Airport to Ogdensburg. From there, the aircraft will fly nonstop between Ogdensburg and Plattsburgh and again in reverse, before finally returning to Chicago from Ogdensburg in the late afternoon.
The nonstop flights from both airports to Dulles will remain unchanged at seven per week. This will bring Ogdensburg’s weekly flights up to 11 — seven to Dulles, two to Chicago O’Hare, and two to Plattsburgh. On the other side of the state, Plattsburgh will have nine weekly flights — seven to Washington Dulles, and two to Ogdensburg. While the Chicago link is new for Plattsburgh, it isn’t for Ogdensburg, as that city had nonstop flights to Chicago up until August 2021.
A map of the flights to Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg (Screenshot: GreatCircleMapper)
The flight between Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg would cut a nearly 2-hour 30-minute drive down to a near 50-minute flight. The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority did not respond to a request for comment.
The flight between Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg (Screenshot: United.com)
Joey has always been interested in planes for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself, the first thing he did with his driver's license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. He graduated from Western Michigan University in 2022 with a B.S. in Aviation Management & Operations and a Minor in Business, and currently works for a major airline in his hometown.
JetBlue Announces $3.6 Billion Offer for Spirit, Topping Previously Announced Frontier Deal
A JetBlue Airbus A320 on the ground in Boston. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Following reports by the New York Times earlier Tuesday, JetBlue announced this afternoon that it had submitted a $3.6 billion all-cash offer for Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit Airlines, putting the New York-headquartered carrier in direct competition with Frontier Airlines — the ultra-low-cost carrier with which Spirit had agreed to merge earlier this year.
Spirit’s shares jumped over 20% in trading though fell well short of the implied value of $33 per share, as investors weighed the likelihood of success for the new offer. The deal Frontier and Spirit agreed to in February valued Spirit at $25.83 per share at the time — a total equity value of $2.9 billion.
However, that deal included a small cash payment plus nearly two shares of Frontier stock, but as Frontier’s stock price has faltered slightly since the time of the offer, the total value entering Tuesday was only around $24, almost 30% less than JetBlue’s new proposal.
Frontier may seek to counter the offer in the days and weeks ahead, particularly if it feels it can find more value in Spirit than its Long Island City, N.Y.-based competitor.
Any deal would likely be put under the antitrust lens before it could be given the final sign-off. JetBlue has already been under scrutiny from government regulators, with the Department of Justice having sued the carrier and Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines for the companies’ cooperation through what they call the Northeast Alliance. The DOJ argued that the agreement, which has already led to codesharing across the airlines’ networks, hurts cooperation at hubs like Boston Logan International Airport and at other New York airports.
Whether a Frontier-Spirit combination would be subjected to less intense probing is unclear or how the DOJ would react to a potential JetBlue-Spirit combination. When the two airlines announced their combination of February, they stressed that a combined ultra-low-cost carrier would be a stronger competitor against American, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines than the two of them separately, messaging JetBlue has pushed today in both its own releases and executive interviews.
“When we grow and introduce our unique value proposition onto new routes, legacy carriers lower their fares and customers win with more choice,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a prepared statement. “The combination of JetBlue and Spirit – coupled with the incredible benefits of our Northeast Alliance with American Airlines – would be a game changer in our ability to deliver superior value on a national scale to customers, crewmembers, communities and shareholders.”
Two Different Visions
Frontier and Spirit’s merger announcement was a blockbuster in the relatively stagnant world of U.S. aviation industry giants, but the logic behind the deal took few in the industry by surprise. Both airlines are commonly placed in the “ultra-low-cost carrier” bucket — a set of carriers set apart by their relentless unbundling of the air travel experience. Notably, not just checked bags, but seat assignments, carry-ons, snacks and even water could cost extra.
Thus, Frontier and Spirit would both be coming to the table as a combined company with a similar philosophy on how to turn a profit, already catering to a similar type of passenger on all the routes they operated.
In regards to those routes, the airlines seemingly complemented each other well. Spirit is the East Coast’s ultra-low-cost powerhouse, a prospective outcome that fits given its headquarters sits in Florida. Its network expands across the U.S. and has a substantial presence in Latin America, but its past focus is clear in its operations. Denver-based Frontier is similar in that it does cover almost the entire country with its route network. But out of its Denver International Airport hub, it maintains a stronger presence in the western U.S.
JetBlue, however, on face value fails to fit either of those two criteria. As it has expanded in recent years, it has invested heavily in capturing the premium business traveler that has historically been a customer of large legacy carriers rather than those like Spirit and Frontier. Its premium Mint product — introduced for its transcontinental routes in 2013 — has been a particularly visible piece of that shift. Furthermore, the shift has continued as a cornerstone of the airline’s expansion into premium markets like New York City to London — and, as the airline announced Tuesday, Boston to London.
JetBlue’s A321LR is premium-heavy with 24 Mint seats (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Taylor Rains)
In addition, JetBlue prides itself on its New York presence. While the airline expanded substantially across the U.S. over the past decade, its East Coast presence is a significant share of its network. The airline maintained in its announcement on Tuesday that this made it a better bidder for Spirit, stressing that the airline’s substantial presence in both its and Spirits’ headquarters states would allow it to best compete with the four largest U.S. carriers.
“The combined airline would offer more than 170 daily flights at [Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport], building JetBlue’s relevance as a stronger low-fare competitor in South Florida. At Orlando International Airport, JetBlue would grow to more than 130 daily flights,” the airline said in a statement.
“Our Northeast Alliance with American Airlines has supercharged our growth in New York and Boston, unlocking opportunities for us to grow where we could not have before,” Hayes said in the release. “We view a combination with Spirit as perfectly complementing the NEA. These strategic moves aim to increase our relevance and bring the JetBlue competitive effect to more places while deepening our roots in the communities we call home.”
Parker joined AirlineGeeks as a writer and photographer in 2016, combining his longtime love for aviation with a newfound passion for journalism. Since then, he’s worked as a Senior Writer before becoming Editor-in-Chief of the site in 2020. Originally from Dallas and an American frequent flyer, he left behind the city’s rich aviation history to attend college in North Carolina, where he’s studying economics.
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