Atlantic Update Archives – London Air Travel

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 11 March 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

Hello and welcome to London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America. The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 GMT.

Coronavirus In The US

The whole world is watching the progress of Coronavirus.

At the time of publication there are over 950 cases of Coronavirus in the US and 29 people have died.

This is expected to increase significantly, and if it does, the global economic impact could be significant. And if there’s one country that is ill-equipped to handle such an outbreak, it’s the US.

It’s a large country with freedom of movement between states. There is no national public health care service. Workers rights are limited, many employees receive very limited paid sick leave. There are also pockets of deep mistrust towards federal government and strong ideological objections to universal health care. Individual freedoms and rights take priority. Add to that a deeply partisan and toxic political culture where party loyalty trumps all else. And Donald Trump.

American Airlines has announced significant network wide changes in response to Coronavirus.

There are no route suspensions from London Heathrow. However, a number of seasonal and year-round transatlantic routes from mainland Europe have been suspended until early June. Full details of the network changes are available from American Airlines.

Delta has also announced capacity reductions of around 15-20% on transatlantic routes.

Norwegian has announced it is to cancel approximately 3,000 flights up to mid June 2020.

This represents approximately 15% of its network capacity. Some employees will also be temporarily laid off. Interestingly, Norwegian’s CEO Jacob Schram also calls for “the authorities to immediately implement measures to imminently reduce the financial burden on the airlines in order to protect crucial infrastructure and jobs”

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 4 March 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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Delta Airbus A350-900 Aircraft (Image Credit: Delta Air Lines)

Delta Launches London Heathrow – Seattle

American Airlines and Delta seem to be engaged in a tit-for-tat battle.

Delta swoops American’s alliance partner LATAM out of Oneworld and targets American’s hub in Miami.

American announces a new route from London Heathrow to Seattle and a partnership with Alaska Airlines to grow in the Pacific North West.

Delta has now responded with a planned launch of a new route from London Heathrow to Seattle from March 2021. This will complement Virgin Atlantic’s existing service to Seattle. However, Delta has yet to confirm the schedule and aircraft.

Together, the two airlines will offer up to three daily flights. As will American and BA, which seems excessive for the market the size of Seattle.

American Airlines Launches Refreshed Uniforms

American Airlines New Staff Uniforms (Image Credit: American Airlines)

If you’ve taken an international flight with American Airlines you’d be forgiven for sometimes assuming male members of cabin crew were passengers, such are the seemingly broad, and sometimes very sloppy, uniform standards.

American Airlines has launched a refreshed uniform, this time with a choice of fabrics for crews who had complained about previous uniforms. It has been designed by Land’s End which has been working with the airline for some years on new uniforms.

A full portfolio of fact sheets and videos is available from American Airlines.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 26 February 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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American Airlines Boeing 787 (Image Credit: American Airlines)

American Airlines & Qatar Airways Agree Codeshare

There has been a significant thawing in relations between two fellow members of the Oneworld alliance.

It wasn’t until that long ago that Qatar Airways was threatening to leave the Oneworld alliance following comments made by American Airlines and Qantas against the airline.

There are now signs of improvement in relations. American and Qatar have agreed to reinstate a previously severed codeshare agreement. American will place its code on both non-stop and connecting Qatar operated flights to the US. Qatar will place its code on American operated domestic flights beyond its US hubs and international flights from Europe, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

This will substantially improve American’s coverage of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where its is currently dependent on a relatively limited codeshare with BA.

American has also expressed an ambition to fly to Doha. The two airlines also plan to explore further commercial co-operation. A logical progression is a full revenue sharing joint-business. However, these take a long time to agree behind the scenes. Given it also involves sharing sensitive commercial information, it requires trust on all sides.

This development, together with new and reinstated relationships with Royal Air Maroc and Air Alaska does also point to American working much harder with its alliance partners.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 19 February 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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Manhattan at Sunrise (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

BA Delays Boeing 787-10 To Atlanta Again

British Airways appears to have once again delayed the entry of its first Boeing 787-10 aircraft into service.

It was originally due to enter service this month on London Heathrow – Atlanta. This was then delayed until Saturday 14 March 2020. There now appears to be a further delay until Sunday 29 March 2020. This may of course be subject to change at short notice.

Boeing 737 MAX Operations

Airlines continue to extend the cancellation of Boeing 737 MAX operations pending the return of the aircraft into service.

American Airlines has extended the period of cancellation once again from Wednesday 3 June 2020 to Tuesday 18 August 2020. Assuming it does in fact re-enter service in August, American plans to gradually phase the aircraft into its operations.

Air Canada is currently scheduled to resume Boeing 737 MAX flights from London Heathrow to Halifax and St John’s on Thursday 2 July 2020.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 12 February 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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Breeze Airways Livery (Image Credit: Breeze Airways)

David Neeleman Prepares To Launch Breeze Airways

The founder of JetBlue David Neeleman has begun the process of launching his new US airline venture, Breeze Airways.

It has started to recruit staff as well as the regulatory process to secure an Airline Operating Certificate in the US. The new airline plans to target new city pairs not served by existing airlines with the promise to be “The world’s nicest airline”.

The airline will initially operate with leased Embraer E195 aircraft but also plans to take delivery of new Airbus A220 aircraft from 2021 onwards.

The US market is of course tough to crack with many passengers wielded to legacy carrier frequent flyer programmes, though it would be foolish to bet against the founder of JetBlue.

David Neeleman was recently the subject of a New York Times profile which gives an indication of what to expect of its service ethos:

“At the time JetBlue hit the market, airlines were at an all-time low for customer service,” he said. “No one believed we could buy brand-new airplanes, give people live TV, put the airline in New York City and I could blow everyone away. But the bigger the gap between what people got and what they expected — that was what created the buzz.”

Also speaking to the New York Times in 2000, David Neeleman said of his grandfather, at whose shop he worked as a child:

He [my grandfather] taught me a lot about customer service, which to me means treating people nicely, taking good care of them, looking them in the eye and saying thank you. I learned to appreciate their business and, if they had a problem, to fix it (and, if I couldn’t, to explain why not). Just let people know that you care about them.

The Marriott Renaissance Opens In Chelsea

Marriott Renaissance Chelsea Rooftop Pool (Image Credit: Marriott Hotels)

The Chelsea District of Manhattan has changed beyond recognition over the past 20 years or so.

This is in part due the arrival of Google, the High Line, and the relocation of Whitney Museum Of American Art. In a sign of further change, Marriott has recently opened a new 330 room Renaissance Hotel in a 40 storey tower at 112 West 25th Street.

One of the great pleasures of visiting New York is taking in roof top views of the city. The hotel boasts what it claims to be one of the highest roof top pools in the New York. Though, judging by the size of the pool in the publicity pictures you’d struggle to do many laps in it. (Marriott)

Also of note this week:

The Department Of Homeland Security has blocked New York residents from enrolling in trusted traveller programmes such as Global Entry. New York is no fan of the Trump Administration and the Trump Administration is no fan of New York. This has been seen locally as a retaliation for investigations into President Trump’s finances. (New York Times)

United Airlines is upgrade its new year-round service from London Heathrow to Denver from a Boeing 787-8 to 787-9 aircraft from Saturday 6 June 2020. It has also announced an expansion plan at Denver through the acquisition of additional gates.

Late post publication updates:

[Reserved for updates throughout the day]

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT. If you have any comments, suggestions or tips then please drop us a line at mail [@] londonairtravel.com

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London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 5 February 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

American Airlines Announces New Codeshare with GOL

American Airlines has made a number of defensive moves following Delta’s acquisition of a 20% stake in LATAM and its planned departure from Oneworld on 30 April 2020.

American has announced a new reciprocal codeshare with the Brazilian airline GOL. This will cover approximately 50 flights from Brasilia, Fortaleza, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro International and Sao Paulo Guarulhos airports. This is subject to regulatory approval in Brazil and the US.

The airline has also sought to defend its position at Miami following a planned increase in capacity by Delta. American is increasing frequencies on a number of US domestic routes to Miami. These include Boston Logan, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh-Durham and Tampa.

American will also add a second daily flight from Miami to Rio de Janeiro in the peak winter season. This will be operated with a Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

Norwegian Stays At Gatwick

In December 2019, there was considerable attention given to a preliminary slot allocation report for London Heathrow which indicated that Norwegian had been allocated slots at the airport for the summer 2020 season.

The slots were the equivalent of three weekly return flights and the timings were not particularly attractive. According to a report from One Mile At A Time Norwegian has decided to hand the slots back to Heathrow.

This is not surprising. It is simply wasn’t worth the effort setting up a separate operation at Heathrow for so few flights.

United Adds Sixth Daily Newark Flight

United has leased a daily slot pair from Lufthansa Group to add a sixth daily flight from London Heathrow to Newark for the summer season.

The additional return flight, UA905 departs Heathrow at around 09:00-09:30 and UA904 departs Newark at around 20:00-20:30 depending on the day of the week.

CMA Review of AA/BA Joint Business

Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic launched their combined transatlantic joint business earlier this week.

The scale of the enlarged joint business will arguably help American Airlines and BA in the Competition & Markets Authority review of their transatlantic joint business.

There was a curious twist last week when the CMA announced that it had declined a request from Virgin Atlantic to issue an interim measures direction order to American. This is presumably in connection with Heathrow slots.

It’s not exactly clear why Virgin would demand this of American when it is the much smaller player at Heathrow. However, it gives an indication of the lobbying underway behind the scenes.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 29 January 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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British Airways Airbus A380 Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

BA Delays Boeing 787-10 Launch To Atlanta

In late 2019, BA announced that it would take delivery of the first of 12 Boeing 787-10 in January 2020, with the first route being London Heathrow – Atlanta in February 2020.

The new Boeing 787-10 aircraft does of course feature BA’s new Club Suite long-haul business class cabin. The entry of the aircraft into service appears to have been delayed. Online seat maps currently indicate that the Boeing 787-10 will now operate London Heathrow – Atlanta from Tuesday 10 March 2020. However, this may be subject to change at short notice.

BA Deploys The Airbus A380 To Las Vegas

As was announced last week, BA will fly its Airbus A380 aircraft from London Heathrow to Las Vegas for the first time in January 2021.

This is to coincide with the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Schedules currently indicate that A380 will operate the route (flights BA275/BA274) from Saturday 2 January 2021 to Sunday 10 January 2021.

Andy Byford Resigns

Andy Byford has resigned as President of New York City Transit.

Andy was recruited to turn around New York’s rapidly deteriorating Subway system which has long been caught between the dysfunctional management of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City & State politics.

Even though Andy was recruited by the Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo, the two figures have clashed with the Governor reportedly bristled by Andy receiving public plaudits for having started to turn around the Subway’s performance. The breaking point appears to have been a reduced role for Andy.

News of the resignation was first reported by Politico and Gothamist looks at why this is bad news for New York.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 22 January 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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CMA Investigation Into AA/BA Joint Business

There is something that was been underway for quite some time. It may prove to be insignificant. It could otherwise prove to be seismic.

More than 10 years ago, the European Commission gave regulatory approval for AA and BA (as well as Finnair and Iberia) to have anti-trust immunity to operate their transatlantic joint business. As a condition of this, AA and BA had to make certain commitments slots available to willing entrants on certain overlapping routes between the two airlines. These included a number of routes from London to Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and New York.

In October 2018, the UK regulator, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) announced it was opening a review of the joint business pending the expiry of the above commitments and the UK’s imminent departure from the European Union.

Who knows what exactly is going on behind the scenes, but the review is taking considerably longer than expected. Last week, the CMA announced it has added Aer Lingus, which is currently seeking approval from the US Department of Transportation to be added to the joint business, to the scope of its review.

AA and BA will be able to say with some considerable justification that joint business has helped BA launch many new transatlantic routes from London Heathrow, where additional sales from AA’s local customer base can be vital to making thinner routes profitable. Nor could either airlines be accused of reducing capacity on over-lapping routes.

However, it will certainly be the case that there will have been intense lobbying by JetBlue to secure new remedy slots at London Heathrow. Norwegian has also sought to secure slots at Heathrow. Airlines using regulatory reviews to secure Heathrow slots for free isn’t new. However, it also the case from the CMA’s work in other industries that it is prepared to flex its muscles and will take whatever time it sees fit.

Meanwhile, the AA and BA joint business continues to operate as normal, but both airlines will be awaiting the CMA’s findings with interest.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 15 January 2020

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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New York Skyline (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

The Talk Of The Town

American Airlines and BA have provided a little more detail on their plans to co-locate at New York JFK Terminal 8 from 2022.

Terminal 8 is of course well established and houses not only American Airlines but also Oneworld alliance partners Cathay Pacific and Qantas. In order to accommodate BA’s move into the terminal, an additional 70,000 square feet of space will be added. As will five wide body gates and four remote stands capable of handling wide body aircraft.

Given BA can have up to 8 departures from New York JFK in the space of five hours in the evening, there will be some concern that some passengers may have to use remote standards, which would not be fitting for a “blue riband” route.

There’s been much less news on American and BA’s plans for London Heathrow. There was a very vague release some time ago about “big plans” for Terminal 3 which have so far come to nothing.

American has expressed a desire to co-locate with BA at Heathrow Terminal 5, which would make sense, particularly for a route like New York JFK where both airlines are at a disadvantage compared to Delta and Virgin Atlantic who share terminals at both London Heathrow and New York JFK. However, there are likely to be significant process and systems issues to be addressed before American can move into Terminal 5.

The plans for the broader redevelopment of New York JFK are of course a classically American approach to infrastructure investment: celebrating private investment whilst not being prepared to spend public money on underlying problems – namely access to New York JFK from Manhattan.

On that note, the idea of a direct link from Manhattan to La Guardia airport should be welcomed. However, the Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo is pursuing a proposal, at a cost of some $2 billion, that would result in the majority of passengers from Manhattan passing by La Guardia and then backtracking to get to the airport. This is in spite of considerable protests. (Streets Blog)

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 18 December 2019

A weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel, published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

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Hello and welcome to the The Atlantic Update providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America.

This is the last edition of The Atlantic Update for 2019. It will return at 06:00 GMT on Wednesday 15 January 2020.

Here’s what to expect from the two main transatlantic joint businesses in London in 2020:

American Airlines & BA

American Airlines & BA will mark 10 years of their transatlantic joint business in early 2020.

In terms of routes, American Airlines will reinstate a daily flight from London Heathrow to Boston from Sunday 29 March 2020.

There has been surprisingly little news from BA as far as its long-haul plans are concerned for 2020.

The commitments American and BA gave to EU & US regulators to secure regulatory approval for the joint business will expire in 2020. The UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation in to the joint-venture in anticipation of the UK’s departure from the European Union. This appears to be taking considerably longer than was first anticipated.

American & BA have the benefit of having already secured regulatory approval for their joint business. They can also say with some justification that it has helped expand considerably London’s transatlantic route network. However, given the tough approach the CMA has adopted in other cases, further concessions for regulators can not be ruled out.

Regulatory approval for Aer Lingus to join the joint business is also still forthcoming.

Delta & Virgin Atlantic

Delta and Virgin Atlantic will form a combined Europe-North America transatlantic joint-venture with Air France-KLM in early 2020.

Delta will also return to London Gatwick flying to Boston from Friday 22 May 2020 and Virgin Atlantic will reinstate Gatwick – New York JFK from Thursday 21 May 2020..

Delta will continue to roll out its refurbished Boeing 767-400 aircraft to transatlantic routes from Heathrow such as Detroit, Minneapolis and Portland. Virgin Atlantic will also add its new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to New York JFK and Los Angeles.