Launching an airline is far from easy. Doing so in the midst of a global health pandemic ups the challenge factor significantly. Breeze Airways is making significant progress in its planning, with additional funding secured and FAA milestones reached. It also has a new plan for what the operations will look like when they launch.
Singapore Airlines pivots to ground offerings
With the vast majority of its fleet grounded and passenger flow slowed to a trickle Singapore Airlines, like so many others, continues to search for new ways to generate revenues. Starting in October the airline will run a trio of ground-based experiences, offering “travelers” the Singapore Airlines experience without ever getting into the sky.
Redundant switch failure causes degraded controls on Pilatus PC-24
Modern aircraft generally are designed with many redundancies built in. Testing and managing what happens when those systems both fail, however, does not always get sufficient attention. And in the case of the Pilatus PC-24 a dual failure on a data communications bus led to some interesting results in flight.
JetBlue extends service suspensions at seven cities
With demand still lagging JetBlue will delay the restart of service to seven Blue Cities currently suspended. All seven were previously slated to resume service on 6 November 2020. Four of the airports will now restart in April 2021 and two remain suspended indefinitely. Just one will reopen later this year.
United Airlines introduces at-airport COVID testing for SFO-Hawaii flights
As the largest carrier between the mainland and Hawaii United Airlines has a lot to gain by increasing passenger numbers to the islands. Quarantine restrictions limited the viability for most visitors over the summer but a new policy allowing passengers with a negative COVID test to skip the quarantine could help boost traffic. United will soon offer testing at San Francisco International Airport to help meet that requirement.
India’s Jio adds inflight connectivity roaming
Payment friction remains a significant barrier to getting passengers online with inflight connectivity solutions. One Indian mobile phone provider hopes to ease that burden with new roaming plans focused specifically on the market. Jio announced new plans this week where subscribers can roam on board 22 airlines using a data package tied to their phone bill.
Addressing two major challenges as Intelsat takes over the Gogo commercial aviation business
When it comes to delivering inflight wifi connectivity Intelsat sees significant upside from its ability to operate the network it is acquiring from Gogo mostly in-house. But that network and the install base also come with very real risks related to Delta Air Lines and the ATG fleet. Here’s how Intelsat plans to respond.
Pushing the Single European Sky forward
Europe mostly eliminated borders on the ground, allowing for the smooth passage of people and goods, but in the skies the story is very different. Switching between 37 service providers and 63 ATC centers results in inefficient flight routings, longer trip times, increased delays, and excess fuel burn causing surplus carbon emissions. After years of debate the Single European Sky (SES), addressing these issues, is set to move forward.
Delta Air Lines makes most domestic SkyMiles awards fully flexible
As the US carriers continue to tweak their new “no change fees” policies Delta Air Lines made a major move for its SkyMiles members. Effective immediately most domestic SkyMiles awards will be fee-free for changes or cancellation. SkyMiles rewards are now a spectacularly flexible method for booking travel on Delta Air Lines.
Southwest Companion Pass promotion pushes winter travel
Typically reserved for its most frequent flyers, Southwest Airlines is now using its Companion Pass program in an effort to drive bookings in the near term. The carrier launched a promotion this week where a single trip in the next 60 days can earn the pass for the first two months of 2021. This is, by far, the biggest promotion the company has run with the Companion Pass.