London Air Travel

London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 29 April 2019

easyJet - Inside The Cockpit — easyJet – Inside The Cockpit (Image Credit: ITV)

Welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 29 April 2019.

Norwegian’s Credit Crunch?

Last week was not a good week for airlines in Northern Europe.

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish unions representing pilots at SAS have been on strike since Friday. Whilst some London flights are still operating, there have been cancellations to some flights on all routes from London Heathrow to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stavanger, and Stockholm. Disruption is expected to continue today and tomorrow.

Finnair reported an operating loss of €16.2m for the first quarter, compared to a profit of €14.8m for the previous year. Finnair has cited higher fuel prices and over-capacity in Europe (as Lufthansa has done) as well as relatively slow growth in China compared to its other main long-haul markets in Japan and North America.

However, this all pales into insignificance compared to Norwegian which reported a pre-tax loss of nearly NKr2bn (~£178m).

One figure that stands out on its balance sheet is sharp increase in receivables year on year from NKr7,677m to NKr10,703m. This suggests that credit card companies are holding back some funds as security. Such similar moves caused significant problems for Flybe, before it was acquired by the Connect Airways consortium.

Norwegian has reiterated that it is looking to moderate growth by deferring aircraft deliveries and is now focused on cost control. Whilst deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A321 Long Range aircraft have been deferred this year, it has yet to present a firm revised plan for the coming years.

“easyJet: Inside The Cockpit” Returns

In recent years, organisations have become extremely guarded about giving access to TV production crews.

Many, such as The Royal Opera House, learned to their cost the risks of allowing TV camera crews to roam free in their corridors. Access is now tightly controlled and scenes are largely stage managed for the cameras. TV production companies, also facing ever tighter budgets and production deadlines, have little choice but to oblige. This has been very evident in recent TV series featuring BA and Virgin.

One exception has been “easyJet: Inside The Cockpit”. This uses a style of filming known as “fixed rig”, also used in series such as “Educating Yorkshire” and “One Born Every Minute” on Channel 4. Cameras are fixed into place and no production crews are present when filming. This is not without risk – the last series did result in complaints to the UK communications regulator OFCOM over some comments by flight crew.

“easyJet: Inside The Cockpit” returns for a second three part series this coming Thursday 2 May, on ITV (UK). The first episode features easyJet flight crew dealing with ill passengers, aborted landings in Innsbruck, and easyJet’s inaugural flight to Aqaba in Jordan.

Qantas looks back at the “Fiesta Route”

In a few months’ time we should learn whether Qantas will order long-range aircraft capable of flying from London to Melbourne and Sydney non-stop.

The first flights from London to Australia can be traced back to the 1930s when Imperial Airways operated joint-services between London and Australia. It involved multiple stops in Europe, the Middle East and Asia before reaching Australia. After the resumption of commercial aviation following the Second World War, BOAC and Qantas operated joint-services between London and Australia, on what became known as the “Kangaroo Route”.

When BOAC and Qantas took delivery of the Boeing 707 aircraft, they both operated transpacific services between London and Australia. BOAC flew from London to Australia via New York, San Francisco, Hawaii and Fiji as per this film from British Pathe. The inaugural flight was in 1967.

Qantas, however, took a slightly more exotic routing known as the “Fiesta Route” via Bermuda, The Bahamas, Mexico City, Acapulco, Tahiti and Fiji. The inaugural flight took place in 1964, but the route was to only last a decade as the more efficient and longer range Boeing 747 came into service. Qantas looks back at the route.

In case you missed it:

Air Canada extends London Heathrow – Halifax / St John’s Boeing 737 MAX cancellations to 31 July 2019. (London Air Travel)

BA continues to cancel its London Heathrow – Doha service in May 2019, with passengers rebooked on to Qatar Airways. (London Air Travel)

BA’s plan for new aircraft deliveries. (London Air Travel)

BA suspends London Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale. (London Air Travel)

BA completes the refurbishment of its Club lounge at New York JFK. (London Air Travel)

Also of note this week:

Air New Zealand is voted Australia’s most respected company. Ouch Qantas & Virgin Australia. (NZ Herald)

Crossrail has updated on its plans to launch the Elizabeth Line, with the first central section not expected to open until late 2020 at the earliest. However, the new Crossrail station at Bond Street will be delayed further. (Crossrail)

The mini-tribes of frequent flyers. (Financial Times)

Obituary: Patricia St-Leon, former Qantas cabin crew. (Sydney Morning Herald)

From the archives of the Sydney Morning Herald, the first Australian air mail flight to London. (Sydney Morning Herald)

SWISS on its training of on board Sommeliers. (SWISS)

Virgin Atlantic’s London Marathon runners. (Virgin Atlantic)

Late post publication updates:

[Reserved for updates during the day.]

BA has published images of its new Club lounge at New York JFK. (London Air Travel)

BA plans to change the pricing of Avios reward flights on partner airlines from 30 May 2019. (BA)

Our Monday Briefing is published every Monday at 06:00 BST. If you have any comments, suggestions or tips then please drop us a line at mail [@] londonairtravel.com

BA Completes New York JFK Club Lounge Refurbishment

British Airways has completed its refurbishment of its New York JFK Club lounge.

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BA New York JFK Terminal 7 (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

Over the past few months BA has been refurbishing its Club lounge at New York JFK Terminal 7.

This is part of a wider refurbishment of the terminal. A new First lounge opened late last year.

The refurbishment of the Club lounge appears to be now complete. This must be the largest BA lounge outside of London. The facilities are largely the same as before with an Elemis travel spa and pre-flight dining.

However, BA promises a new lobby area, improved audio visual entertainment from Sony, a Brew Dog Craft Beer Room, and larger self-service food areas.

This new lounge will have a relatively limited life span as Terminal 7 is due to be demolished. BA will join its alliance partner American Airlines in Terminal 8 from 2022.

Unfortunately, no official press pictures are available at the moment. But these should be made available in the next couple of weeks.

Air Canada Extends Heathrow 737 MAX Cancellations

Air Canada’s routes from Heathrow to Halifax and St John’s remain cancelled until 1 August 2019 at the earliest.

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Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX aircraft (Image Credit: Air Canada)

Air Canada has issued an update on its flight operations and schedules following the widely publicised grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

This has caused significant problems for Air Canada as it had 24 of the aircraft in service. It was also due to receive a further 12 aircraft this summer and deliveries of new aircraft have been suspended by Boeing.

The grounding of aircraft has caused disruption to flights within North America and is also causing disruption to Air Canada’s summer schedule.

As a consequence of this, Air Canada’s routes from London Heathrow to Halifax, Nova Scotia; and St John’s, Newfoundland remain suspended until Thursday 1 August 2019 at the earliest. These were scheduled for resumption on Sunday 2 June 2019 and Air Canada has updated its schedules today, Thursday 25 April 2019.

Passengers whose flights have been cancelled will be re-accommodated via Air Canada services from London Heathrow to Montreal and Toronto. However, this obviously involves significant backtracking and extended journey times.

Outside of London, summer seasonal routes have been delayed and some routes have been swapped between Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. The airline is also wet-leasing aircraft from Qatar Airways on some routes, subject to regulatory approval.

Full details of the latest changes are detailed in this Air Canada press release. General passenger guidance is also available on aircanada.com

British Airways Suspends Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale

British Airways has suspended its route from London Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale from Saturday 7 September 2019.

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Fort Lauderdale Beach (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

British Airways is to suspend its route from London Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale.

The last flights between Gatwick and Fort Lauderdale are scheduled to operate on Saturday 7 September 2019.

The route currently operates three times weekly. It launched in 2017 and, like BA’s now suspended route to Oakland, followed the launch of this route by Norwegian at Gatwick.

Norwegian has in the past month switched its Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale route to Miami International. This means London will have no direct link to Fort Lauderdale. This is a shame as Fort Lauderdale is a worthwhile destination in its own right and an alternative to what is a very unpredictable arrivals experience at Miami International.

Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund. Alternatively, passengers can be re-accommodated on American Airlines and BA services from Heathrow to Miami International. However, any additional costs such as ground transportation will be at your own expense.

American and BA will operate five joint daily flights between Heathrow and Miami from Sunday 27 October 2019.

Affected passengers should check the status of their booking at ba.com and contact either BA or their travel agent.

Update: BA has published guidance which adds that affected passengers can also choose to fly from Gatwick to Orlando or Tampa in Florida. Again, any consequential costs will be at passengers’ expense.

British Airways New Aircraft Deliveries

British Airways has provided updated details of planned deliveries of new short and long-haul aircraft from this year.

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British Airways Airbus A380 Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

Every year the parent company of British Airways, International Airlines Group, publishes an annual fleet plan at its Capital Markets Day.

Here’s the latest fleet plan published last November:

International Airlines Group Capital Markets Day (Image Credit: International Airlines Group)

As this is published for the group as a whole, it’s not easy to distill which orders and future deliveries relate to BA, particularly for short-haul aircraft.

However, BA has just filed its own annual accounts. We read these things so you don’t have to, and here is BA’s plan for new aircraft deliveries as at 31 December 2018:

British Airways Fleet Plan at 31 December 2018

This does pre-date IAG’s decision to order 18 Boeing 777-9 aircraft for BA. Although it includes one wet-leased SAAB aircraft, it doesn’t include others such as Air Belgium’s Airbus A340. BA CityFlyer is also due to acquire an additional (presumably second hand) Embraer E190 aircraft for London City.

Taking this into account, planned deliveries of new aircraft are:

Short-haul

Airbus A320neo: 18, with options for 33. 3 have been delivered this year.
Airbus A321neo: 9, 2 have been delivered this year.

Long-haul

Airbus A350-1000: 18 aircraft, with options for 36 more. 4 will be delivered this year.
Boeing 777-300: 4 aircraft, to be delivered in 2020.
Boeing 777-900: 18 aircraft, to be delivered from 2022 to 2025.
Boeing 787-9: options for 6 more aircraft.
Boeing 787-10: 12 aircraft, to delivered from 2020 to 2023.

In total, that’s 52 new wide body aircraft over the next five years so, to replace at least 35 Boeing 747 and 3 Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

This does allow for a substantial amount of growth, but is of course subject to change depending on economic and geopolitical events.

On other point of note is that BA’s options to acquire a further 7 Airbus A380 aircraft have now either expired or been cancelled. Following the decision by Airbus to end production of the Airbus A380 it has been clear that BA would not be ordering any more new A380s. This is now beyond any doubt.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 24 April 2019

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

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Business Class, WestJet Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Image Credit: WestJet)

Welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 24 April 2019.

WestJet London Announcement

WestJet has been steadily building its presence at London Gatwick over the past few years.

At the moment it’s operating year-round routes to Toronto and Calgary. Later this summer it will resume seasonal routes to Vancouver and Winnipeg. At the end of April, WestJet will also launch a new route to Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was to be operated by the Boeing 737-800 MAX, but due to its grounding, will be operated by the Boeing 737 instead.

WestJet is also due to operate the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on London Gatwick – Calgary from the end of this month, replacing a Boeing 767. This will substantially increase its competitiveness on this route, with aircraft having its first international business class cabin and a substantially improved economy and premium economy cabin.

WestJet has been teasing an imminent announcement about London on its social media channels. It is also holding a press event at its Boeing 787 Dreamliner hangar in Calgary today at 10:45 MT / 17:45 BST.

The TWA Hotel New York JFK

The much anticipated TWA Hotel at New York JFK opens its doors on Wednesday 15 May 2019.

It has now published on its website CGI images of its rooftop pool bar and observation deck.

The 63ft by 20ft infinity pool is open year-round and offers views of runway 4L/22R at New York JFK. It is questionable whether this is the best environment for swimming, but the hotel does promise that the water is purified every 30 minutes. Non-hotel guests can also make reservations from Wednesday 5 June 2019. It will also be used for private events.

Also of note this week:

Andy Byford may leave his role as President of the New York City Transit Authority over clashes with New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. (New York Times)

Delta starts work on its project to modernise Terminal 2 and 3 at Los Angeles International Airport. (Delta)

Renderings have been released of a controversial makeover of the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art. (Urbanize.LA)

London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 22 April 2019

Welcome to our weekly briefing on air travel in London and around the world, published every Monday at 06:00 BST.

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Welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 22 April 2019.

Sri Lanka

Following yesterday’s events in Sri Lanka, additional security measures have been put in place at Bandaranaike International Airport.

The airport has advised passengers to arrive four hours before scheduled departure. Sri Lankan Airlines is also providing additional assistance to its customers at its ticket offices and call centres.

Should a curfew imposed yesterday be extended further passengers will still be able to travel to the airport by presenting their passports and tickets to security officers.

A number airlines that serve Sri Lanka, including Cathay Pacific and Emirates have implemented flexible rebooking policies for all passengers.

Norwegian Financial Results

Norwegian publishes its first quarter financial results this coming Thursday 25 April.

These will be keenly awaited to see how Norwegian has survived what is traditionally the toughest quarter and whether measures such as switching some routes to seasonal have been effective.

Norwegian has already advised that it has reached an agreement with Airbus to defer planned deliveries of Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321 long range aircraft. This will reduce capital expenditure by $570m over the next two years.

BA Adds Mumbai Flights

Following the collapse of Jet Airways which, despite being claimed to be a temporary suspension, is unlikely to ever return to the skies, BA has scheduled additional flights between London Heathrow and Mumbai.

BA will add four weekly flights from Sunday 2 June 2019, which will take its flights from Heathrow to Mumbai up to three times daily. BA135 departs Heathrow at 17:50 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. BA134 departs Mumbai at 12:10 on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

As part of tactical cancellations announced in March BA139 from Heathrow to Mumbai is cancelled from Friday 14 June to Sunday 30 June 2019. BA138 from Mumbai to Heathrow is cancelled from Saturday 15 June to Monday 1 July 2019.

Monocle on the “Golden Era” of aviation

Monocle continues its audio series on the “golden era” of aviation.

The third episode looks at the former TWA flight centre at New York JFK (soon to be subject of a documentary by filmmaker Peter Rosen), the archives of Cathay Pacific and former Australian airline Ansett. On a related note, The Urbanist looks at the city centre airport.

Also of note this week:

Why failure is the rocket fuel of aviation. (Financial Times)

Canary Wharf is working on a proposal to extend the Docklands Light Railway from Bank to Euston (Ian Visits)

Lufthansa reports a sharp fall in its preliminary first quarter results from a profit of €52m to a loss of €336m, citing fuel prices and over-capacity in Europe. (Lufthansa)

Qantas announces a new winter seasonal route from Sydney to Sapporo from 16 December 2019 to 28 March 2020. (Qantas)

Thomas Cook is reported to be in discussions about the sale of parts, or all, of its business. Any acquisition of its airline would be subject to EU ownership rules. (Sky News)

Our Monday Briefing is published every Monday at 06:00 BST. If you have any comments, suggestions or tips then please drop us a line at mail [@] londonairtravel.com

British Airways vs The Financial Times

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British Airways Boeing 747 G-BNLY "City Of Swansea", Dublin (Image Credit: British Airways) — British Airways Boeing 747 G-BNLY “City Of Swansea”, Dublin (Image Credit: British Airways)

Journalism and PR is a murky business.

Journalists depend on PRs for access to stories which, if denied, benefit rival publications. PRs also require the support of journalists for press coverage.

Much of what is written by journalists can be briefed “in background” by PRs. This even applies to stories that are officially denied with the statement “we do not comment on speculation”, but have been briefed off the record for one reason or another. Lines have also become blurred as many journalists, not always by choice, have moved into the world of PR.

There are rules of the game. Press embargoes must be respected. And a PR offered to comment on a journalist’s exclusive story must not try to take the sting out of it by leaking to a rival.

If rules are broken, it’s taken very personally and not forgotten. Scores will be settled.

That might be one reason why BA has withdrawn the Financial Times from its aircraft and lounges around the world. It has run a number of negative stories of late, such as questions over security at its call centre in Bremen. That said, it is hardly the only newspaper to have done so.

The FT has not taken to this quietly. It has taken out adverts on social media and its own paper encouraging readers to buy copies at airports, fly on other airlines, or take out a subscription.

Years ago, if a company was unhappy about its press coverage, rather than indulge in passive aggressive behaviour, its Chairman would simply call the editor or journalist in question and scream at them down the telephone.

As case in point is Lord King, former Chairman of BA. Lord King was notorious for having little patience with journalists. Once under questioning at a news conference, Lord King shouted across the room to a press officer “Hey! I pay you to talk to idiots like these.”

In the early 1990s, the Financial Times ran a series known as “My Office” in which Chairman and CEOs would give FT columnist Lucy Kellaway a tour of their private offices. Many regretted doing so.

Lord King guided Lucy Kellaway through his private picture collection in his office: “That’s me with the Pope…That’s me in the Oval Office with Bush, and me with Billy Graham. That’s me on holiday with Reagan.”

Lucy Kellaway would, some years later, write: “Lord King was trying to tell me that he was important; but what he actually told me was that he was a shocking snob, name dropper and general pain in the backside.”

Lord King was reportedly so incensed at this portrayal of his pomposity he called the editor of the FT and threatened to withdraw all BA advertising from the paper.

Back to BA and newspapers today, in the past many papers would willingly provide free or deeply discounted copies to airlines and hotels to bulk up their circulation figures. These “bulks” are now separated from paid-for circulation figures and many newspapers have weaned themselves of the habit. However, according to the most recent figures, the FT still gives away 30,650 copies a month. Unless the FT is changing its policy on bulks, the reason for its removal is unlikely to be on cost grounds. Whatever the reason for the spat, the two will likely have to kiss and make up at some point.

Jet Airways Suspends Operations. All Flights Cancelled.

The Indian airline Jet Airways has suspended all remaining flights after it has failed to secure funding from new investors.

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Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft (Image Credit: Jet Airways)

Jet Airways has suspended all operations after it has failed to secure new funding from either the State Bank of India or new investors.

Jet Airways has been in financial distress for over six months due to heavy financial losses and an over indebted balance sheet. Its operations had been subject to very signifiant disruption due to aircraft being grounded. The airline has long been technically insolvent.

The airline has issued a statement to confirm that all flights have been suspended.

Mumbai, Wednesday, 17th April, 2019: Late last night, Jet Airways was informed by the State Bank of India (SBI), on behalf of the consortium of Indian Lenders, that they are unable to consider its request for critical interim funding.

Since no emergency funding from the lenders or any other source is forthcoming, the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect, Jet Airways is compelled to cancel all its international and domestic flights. The last flight will operate today.
This decision has been taken after a painstaking evaluation of all alternatives that were made available to the Company and after receiving guidance and advice on the same from its Board of Directors. Jet Airways has informed the DGCA, and the Ministries of Civil Aviation and Finance and other relevant government institutions, of this course of action.
Over the last several weeks and months, the company has tried every means possible to seek both interim and long-term funding. Unfortunately, despite its very best efforts, the airline has been left with no other choice today but to go ahead with a temporary suspension of flight operations.
This has been a very difficult decision but without interim funding, the airline is simply unable to conduct flight operations in a manner that delivers to the very reasonable expectations of its guests, employees, partners and service providers.
After 25 years of sharing the Joy of Flying with Indian and international guests, Jet Airways has been forced to take this extreme measure as prolonged and sustained efforts with lenders and authorities did not yield the desired results.
Essential services needed to support guest services and the re-commencement of the flight operations will be kept onboard until further notice.

In truth, Jet Airways should have suspended operations some time ago, let alone continue selling flights it had no reasonable prospect of ever operating.

Whilst the suspension of operations has been described as temporary and there is a possibility of new investors coming forward to enable a restart of operations, given the financial state of the airline, this seems unlikely.

Flights from London Heathrow to Mumbai and New Delhi have been cancelled since Friday 12 April 2019. Its three daily slot pairs have also been transferred back to Etihad Airways. In recent days, only a very small number of domestic flights have operated, as its operation had progressively wound down.

Jet Airways was founded in 1993 and was once India’s largest airline by market share. It began flying from London Heathrow in 2005 following a relaxation of a bilateral treaty which allowed more flights between the UK and India.

Civil Aviation Authority Response

Jet Airways is not regulated by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

However, it may provide general guidance shortly on its website shortly. For passengers with existing bookings, the best advice is contact your credit company for a refund or to check your travel insurance policy to see whether it covers airline failure.

Rescue Fares

When an airline suspends operations it is standard practice for rival airlines to offer “rescue fares” to passengers who are stranded.

As far as UK airlines are concerned, British Airways flies from London Heathrow to Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi.

Virgin Atlantic flies from London Heathrow to New Delhi.

Both airlines may announce rescue fares shortly for passengers who are mid-way through their journeys.

If made available, they will only be available by contacting the airlines’ respective call centres. Guidance may be available shortly on the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic websites. If rescue fares are offered, in both cases, proof of an existing booking will be required either at the time of booking or check-in.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 17 April 2019

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

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Welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 17 April 2019.

Proper Hotel Santa Monica Opens 1 July 2019

The US “Proper Hotels & Residences” brand is due to open its second property in Santa Monica on Monday 1 July 2019.

The property, located at at 700 Wilshire Boulevard, is a renovated 1928 Spanish colonial style building originally designed by Arthur E Harvey. It will feature 271 rooms, 3 restaurant-bar “destinations”, and a roof-top pool. Like its first property in San Francisco, the interiors are designed by Kelly Wearstler. Special opening rates are available until Tuesday 30 April 2019.

Two further properties in Austin and Downtown Los Angeles are due to open this summer. Again, both hotels are period property renovations with roof-top pools. A property in Portland is due to follow in 2021.

The Proper Hospitality group also operates the Avalon hotels in Beverley Hills and Palm Springs and Custom Hotel in Los Angeles.

Also of note this week:

JetBlue has announced that its first Airbus A321 Neo aircraft will enter this service this summer. The aircraft will be used to launch a new route between New York JFK and Guayaquil, Ecuador. (Jetblue)

“The City” a new independent non-profit news service for New York has launched. (The City)

“Congestion Pricing Is Coming to New York. New Jersey Wants Revenge.” More neighbourly love between New York and New Jersey. (New York Times)

Ontario Premier Doug Forward has unveiled a CAD$28.5bn plan for expansion to transport in the Greater Toronto area. (CBC)

United has sought regulatory approval to operate a new winter seasonal service from Newark to Cape Town from December 2019. (United)