Southwest to Open New Crew Base

New domicile will support expanded flying and more than 2,000 employees.

Ryan Ewing

Friday, December 12, 2025 at 02:25 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

A Southwest 737 in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Shutterstock | lorenzatx)

Southwest plans to open a new pilot and flight attendant crew base in Austin, Texas, the carrier announced Friday.

The base is scheduled to begin operations in March 2026 and will initially include approximately 335 pilots and 650 flight attendants, according to the airline. Total staffing associated with the base is expected to grow to roughly 2,000 employees by mid-2027, including flight crews, base leadership, and support staff.

In its home state of Texas, the airline already has bases in Dallas and Houston. Earlier this year, Southwest closed its satellite flight attendant base in the Texas capital.

Flight Attendant Training

As part of the project, Southwest will also establish a recurring flight attendant training operation in Austin.

Southwest is currently the largest airline in Austin, operating more than 130 peak-day departures and serving 53 nonstop destinations. The airline said the new crew base will support continued growth in Central Texas and improve operational flexibility at the airport.

Alongside the base opening, Southwest outlined several additions to its Austin route network. The airline plans to add new nonstop service from the city to Fort Myers, Florida; Palm Springs, California; and Steamboat Springs (Hayden), Colorado. Daily nonstop service between Austin and Cincinnati is also scheduled to begin in June 2026, along with expanded seasonal service to Pensacola, Florida.

“This investment demonstrates our commitment to Austin and to our Customers,” said the carrier’s CEO, Bob Jordan, in a news release. “As the largest carrier at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, we appreciate the vision of Governor Abbott and Mayor Watson in clearing the way for Austin to become an even bigger part of our future.”

The move to open the new domicile follows a $5.5 million incentive agreement between the airline and the City of Austin.

Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.

Livery of the Week: TAAG Angola Airlines

The Angolan flag carrier’s livery centers on a national symbol unique to the country.

Ryan Ewing

Friday, December 12, 2025 at 02:08 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

TAAG's first A220 jet (Photo: Airbus)

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.

TAAG Angola Airlines’ current livery prominently features the Palanca Negra Gigante, a rare antelope species native to Angola, as the focal point of its tail design. The animal, long associated with Angolan national identity, is rendered in a stylized red and gold emblem set against a white vertical stabilizer.

The Palanca Negra emblem appears on the tails of TAAG’s Boeing 777-200ERs, 777-300ERs, and 787 Dreamliners, forming the most visually distinctive element of the airline’s exterior branding. The remainder of the aircraft uses a largely white fuselage.

TAAG introduced this livery as part of a broader brand refresh tied to fleet modernization and international expansion. The design replaced earlier liveries that placed greater emphasis on striping and text, shifting the focus instead toward a single national symbol recognizable both domestically and abroad.

“TAAG Angola Airlines” titles are applied in red along the forward fuselage.

The Palanca Negra motif aligns the airline’s visual identity with Angola’s cultural and environmental heritage, while the simplified fuselage layout reflects contemporary airline branding trends.

Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.

Ryan Ewing

Air Transat, Pilots Union Reach Tentative Deal

The agreement averts a strike announced by ALPA on Sunday.

Zach Vasile

Friday, December 12, 2025 at 01:06 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An Air Transat A330-200. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Air Transat and the labor union representing its pilots have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, averting a previously announced strike that forced the airline to cancel flights earlier this week.

The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents over 750 Air Transat pilots, did not provide specifics about wages and benefits but did say the deal will help make up ground lost under the current contract, which it described as “outdated.”

The pilots will vote on the proposal “in the coming days,” ALPA said.

“Our current pilot contract lags significantly behind industry standards in Canada and North America,” Captain Bradley Small, chair of the Air Transat ALPA Master Executive Council, said in a news release. “We believe this new agreement meets the needs of today’s profession, consistent with collective agreements other ALPA-represented pilot groups are signing with their employers.”

The union and Air Transat negotiated for 11 months before settling on terms.

On Sunday, before the deal was reached, ALPA issued a 72-hour strike notice, and the airline began suspending flights in preparation for a full shutdown.

Air Transat officials slammed the move as “reckless” and said the two sides had been making good progress in recent weeks. It also criticized ALPA for planning a strike so close to the holidays.

According to its statement at the time, the airline was offering a 59% salary increase over five years and “major improvements” to pilots’ working conditions.

The new deal was reached on Tuesday, before the strike began.

“We are pleased to have finally reached a tentative agreement with the union representing our pilots, marking a complete overhaul of their collective agreement,” Air Transat President and CEO Annick Guérard said in a statement on Tuesday. “We would have greatly preferred to avoid the threat of a strike, which forced us to modify our operations. We are aware that this period has created significant uncertainty, and we extend our sincerest apologies to our customers whose flights were disrupted in recent days.”

Air Transat is headquartered in Montreal. It offers connections between Canada and Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and West Africa.

Zach Vasile

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.

Austin Signs Deal to Support 2,000 Southwest Jobs

The airline will get $2,750 for each new Austin-based hire.

Zach Vasile

Friday, December 12, 2025 at 12:59 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A Southwest aircraft taxis in Austin. (Photo: Shutterstock | Ceri Breeze)

The city of Austin, Texas, this week signed off on new incentives meant to support Southwest’s planned expansion in the area.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, the deal will help Southwest add as many as 2,000 jobs in the region. City officials have not said what kind of jobs the carrier is looking to bring to Austin, but public records show the positions would have an average annual salary of about $180,000.

The incentives package is worth up to $5.5 million, the American-Statesman reported.

As part of the deal, Southwest will receive $2,750 for each new Austin-based hire over the next five years. The airline will have to donate 10% of that amount to the city’s child care assistance program.

A representative of a local economic development organization told the American-Statesman that preliminary discussions between the city and Southwest include plans for a training center for pilots and flight attendants and a larger crew base.

The expansion project is expected to generate almost $20 million in local tax revenue and create an additional 5,100 jobs indirectly, in sectors like construction and hospitality.

Southwest, which has its headquarters in Dallas, is already the largest single carrier at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. It flies about 40% of all passengers there.

The carrier will expand its footprint in Texas’ capital city even further when a second concourse opens at Austin-Bergstrom in the early 2030s.

Zach Vasile

South Korea’s Air Premia Adds New Route to U.S. East Coast

Service will start in April 2026.

Zach Vasile

Friday, December 12, 2025 at 09:12 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An Air Premia Boeing 787-9. (Photo: Shutterstock | Komenton)

South Korean airline Air Premia is adding a new nonstop route between Seoul and Washington Dulles.

The carrier will launch the service on April 24, 2026, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles. Flights will operate four times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft configured for 320 passengers.

Washington, D.C., will be Air Premia’s fifth destination in the U.S. and its second on the East Coast, behind Newark, New Jersey. The Seoul-Newark connection came online in 2023.

“The launch of our Washington service marks a significant milestone in Air Premia’s expansion across North America,” Air Premia CEO Myungsub Yoo said in a news release. “By connecting Seoul with Washington, the political and economic hub of the United States, we aim to offer optimized service for both business and leisure travelers.”

Jack Potter, president and CEO of the airports authority, said the new route is expected to generate more than $50 million in local economic impact annually.

In addition to its destinations in the U.S., Air Premia also flies to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Da Nang, Vietnam.

Zach Vasile

American Shows Off Its New A321XLR

Carrier highlights premium cabin features and early route plans as the aircraft moves toward service entry.

Ryan Ewing

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 09:24 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

American's Flagship Suites on the A321XLR (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)

American Airlines offered an inside look at its first Airbus A321XLR on Thursday, unveiling the aircraft’s cabin configuration and premium amenities as it prepares for entry into revenue service later this month. The airline has a total of 50 A321XLR aircraft on order.

Company officials said the aircraft is central to American’s ongoing effort to elevate the customer experience across its network.

The A321XLR features the carrier's new Flagship Suites — The A321XLR features the carrier’s new Flagship Suites (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)

“Every aspect of our new plane was designed to feel premium in nature,” said Rhonda Crawford, the carrier’s senior vice president of customer experience design and strategy, during an event at New York-JFK, noting that the airline has “focused on differentiating that experience for our customers at every single touch point of the journey.”

The A321XLR will feature 20 Flagship Suite business-class seats with privacy doors and lie-flat beds, along with 12 premium economy and 123 regular economy seats. The airline also plans to expand mattress pads to long-haul Flagship Business flights beginning next year.

Flagship Suite on American's A321XLR — Flagship Suite on American’s A321XLR (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)

Premium Economy includes new headrest wings, footrests, and updated trim and finishes. Additional cabin features include wireless charging, water bottle storage, and USB-C and AC power at every seat.

Flagship Suites on American's A321XLR — Flagship Suites on American’s A321XLR (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)

“It’s designed to be your favorite recliner in the sky,” Crawford added.

Onboard Wi-Fi and First Routes

Connectivity was a major focus, with executives noting that AAdvantage members will receive complimentary onboard Wi-Fi beginning in 2026 through a partnership with AT&T. “Offering complimentary Wi-Fi is the pinnacle of elevating that experience for both AT&T and American Airlines customers,” said AT&T executive Jenifer Robertson.

Premium Economy on American's A321XLR — Premium Economy on American’s A321XLR (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)

Network details were also outlined at the event. American’s network planning chief Brian Znotins said no team is “more excited about receiving this A321XLR,” adding that the aircraft will first replace American’s A321T fleet on transcontinental routes, including New York–Los Angeles, New York–San Francisco, New York–Orange County, and Boston–Los Angeles.

The first announced long-haul route will be New York-JFK–Edinburgh, which is slated to begin in March.

Economy seating on American’s A321XLR (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ryan Ewing)

Airbus executives noted the milestone represented by the delivery.

“It’s the very first A321XLR that’s been certified by the FAA… and the very first XLR that’s going to be flying in America,” said Airbus Head of North American Sales Stan Shparberg.

A handful of carriers currently operate the long-range narrowbody jet since it was first delivered in October 2024, including Iberia, Aer Lingus, Wizzair, and Qantas. American has taken delivery of three A321XLRs so far.

In the U.S., United also has orders for 50 A321XLRs.

Ryan Ewing

Royal Air Maroc Adds New U.S. Route

Service will start in June 2026.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 05:06 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Royal Air Maroc is preparing to launch the only nonstop connection between Africa and the U.S. West Coast.

The airline announced Thursday that it will start service between Casablanca, Morocco, and Los Angeles on June 7, 2026.

Flights will operate three times per week using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Airline officials said the new route will help tourists reach Los Angeles during the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. is hosting together with Canada and Mexico. It is also expected to serve U.S. tourists traveling to Morocco and Moroccan and African diaspora communities in Southern California.

“This direct route to Los Angeles is much more than a new destination, it marks a historic milestone for Royal Air Maroc and for air connectivity across the African continent,” Hamid Addou, chairman and CEO of Royal Air Maroc, said in a news release. “It embodies our ambition to bring Morocco closer to major global economic, tourism, and cultural hubs while supporting the kingdom’s momentum of global engagement.”

Royal Air Maroc currently serves five destinations in North America – New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, Toronto, and Montreal.

Zach Vasile

Spirit Pilots Endorse Temporary Pay Cuts

The struggling ultra-low-cost airline expects to save about $100 million per year through the contract modification.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 01:12 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A Spirit Airbus A321neo aircraft. (Photo: Shutterstock | Kevin Hackert)

Spirit’s pilots have signed off on a labor contract modification that will drop wages and benefits while the ultra-low-cost carrier restructures and works to emerge from its second bankruptcy.

The pilots voted in favor of a deal worked out by Spirit and their labor union, the Air Line Pilots Association, by 82%, with over 78% of the work group participating, ALPA announced on Thursday. The modification is subject to approval by the U.S. bankruptcy court overseeing Spirit’s case.

As part of the agreement, hourly pilot wages will be cut by 8%, and Spirit will decrease 401(k) defined contributions from 16% to 8%. The reductions will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

ALPA acknowledged last month that the cuts will be difficult for members but said they were needed to avert an even worse outcome that could have been imposed through a Section 1113 filing.

Full restoration of pay will take place through guaranteed increases on Aug. 1, 2028, and Jan. 1, 2029. Company-funded retirement contributions will be fully restored by July 1, 2029.

“This vote represents Spirit pilots’ direct investment in the airline’s future,” Captain Ryan P. Muller, chairman of the Spirit Airlines Master Executive Council, said in a statement. “Spirit pilots made a difficult choice that provides the company with what it needs from labor to secure financing and complete its restructuring.”

All core work rules, including all scheduling and quality-of-life provisions, were preserved, Muller added, and new protections ensure that union members will not face a court-imposed contract rejection.

The pilots also won a $278 million unsecured bankruptcy claim, which gives them a “meaningful stake” in the airline’s future, ALPA said.

Zach Vasile

American in Talks With Amazon For Satellite Internet Service

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is building a network of thousands of low Earth orbit satellites.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An American Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

American Airlines has held discussions with Amazon about using the tech company’s satellite internet constellation to provide Wi-Fi on flights.

In an interview with Bloomberg, American CEO Robert Isom confirmed the airline is considering partnering with Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, which is building a network of thousands of low Earth orbit satellites. The constellation is expected to provide low-latency broadband connectivity for subscribers.

“We’re making sure that American is going to have what our customers need,” Isom told the outlet.

He declined to comment on the status of the discussions.

Amazon currently has over 150 satellites in orbit. In November, the company said it is launching a “preview program” for select enterprise users as it continues testing the network. A broader commercial rollout is planned for 2026.

American currently offers wireless internet to passengers through providers like Viasat and plans to make free Wi-Fi available to loyalty program members as part of a deal with AT&T. Isom said that, as satellite internet technology matures and expands, American will look at new opportunities.

“I do think that there’s going to be advancements and, as that comes, I think that there’s going to be better deals to be had,” he said.

Several major airlines have signed deals with satellite internet providers over the last year and a half in an effort to draw in customers who increasingly expect constant or near-constant connection.

United, Alaska Airlines, and Emirates have partnered with Amazon rival Starlink, a subsidiary of aerospace company SpaceX.

Zach Vasile

JetBlue Set to Open Its First Airport Lounge

The Art Deco-inspired “BlueHouse” covers 9,000 square feet across two floors of New York-JFK’s Terminal 5.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 09:24 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Inside JetBlue's first airport lounge (Photo: JetBlue)

JetBlue will officially open its first ever airport lounge at New York-JFK next week, the carrier announced on Thursday.

The lounge, known as BlueHouse, covers 9,000 square feet on two floors of JFK’s Terminal 5. It features high-speed wireless internet, a game room, open seating and quiet areas, and various food and drink options.

The lounge will open to eligible JetBlue customers at 5 a.m. on Dec. 18.

“BlueHouse helps make our flagship terminal feel more like home,” JetBlue President Marty St. George said in a news release. “It’s warm, comfortable, and elevated in a way that’s distinctly JetBlue, with the hospitality and thoughtful amenities our customers have been asking for. As our first lounge, it represents an exciting milestone in our JetForward journey as we focus on bringing affordable, premium experiences from the aircraft to the airport.”

BlueHouse was designed to look and feel like a classic New York apartment, JetBlue officials said, with Art Deco aesthetics, decorative molding, brass accents, and a lobby-style entry.

JetBlue's BlueHouse — JetBlue’s BlueHouse at New York-JFK. (Photo: JetBlue)

Grab-and-go food options are being curated by Union Square Events. Offerings could include bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches in the morning and pastrami on rye or chicken Caesar wraps later in the day, the airline said.

Beverages, including beers, cocktails, artisan wines, and espresso drinks, will come courtesy of New York-based vendors.

The game room, meanwhile, has been stocked with JetBlue-branded playing cards, chess, checkers, and children’s toys.

Mosaic 4 members, JetBlue Premium Card holders, and transatlantic Mint customers will get complimentary access to BlueHouse starting next week. Limited access passes will become available for purchase in February 2026 for Mosaic 1-3 members, JetBlue Plus and Business Card members, non-transatlantic Mint customers, and annual BlueHouse members.

JetBlue said the opening of BlueHouse is one part of a larger refresh of Terminal 5 that will bring in more than 40 new retailers and amenities.

Zach Vasile