MIAMI – In a strong sign of recovery, United Airlines (UA) announced today that in June, it will be operating the most flights since the pandemic.
In total, UA will be operating over 3,100 flights this summer, approximately 60% of its overall network compared to June 2019. In order to do this, the airline will be adding over 480 flights to its schedule, with an emphasis on Hawaii, Alaska and Montana.
On peak days in June, UA will fly over 40 flights to Hawaii from mainland cities, up to 69 weekly flights to Alaska from mainland hubs, and over 500 daily flights to national parks.
Photo: Brandon Farris/Airways
MIAMI – Today, American Airlines (AA) and JetBlue (B6) announced a further expansion of their Northeast Alliance, setting their sights on over 40 new codeshare routes and a plethora of new services for the airlines.
Additionally, beginning October 31, AA will be launching service between New York (JFK) and New Delhi three times weekly using Boeing 777-200s in conjunction with the Northeast Alliance.
JetBlue will also be expanding their route network, adding seven new destinations from New York and Boston, including Canada, Texas, the Midwest and Latin America.
Photo: Andrew Henderson/Airways
American Airlines’ Expansions
With the new expansion, AA plans to dramatically increase service between Boston (BOS) and Cincinnati (CVG), St. Louis (STL) and Toronto (YYZ).
MIAMI – Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines (F9) has announced it is starting services between Miami (MIA) and San Salvador (SAL), as part of an expansion that added five new destinations from South Florida’s main airport.
As stated in a company press release made public on April 15, “the new routes expand Frontier’s MIA service to 34 nonstop destinations.”
In addition to SAL, Frontier is adding services to Myrtle Beach (MYR), Nassau (NAS), San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO), and St. Maarten (SXM).
Frontier Airlines N709FR Airbus A321-211. Photo: Andrew Henderson/Airways
Salvadoran-born Captain For First Flight
The twice-weekly service started on April 15, and the first flight was under command of captain Carlos Cartagena, born in El Salvador and working for F9 for over 19 years.
MIAMI – Qantas Airways (QF) plans all of its Airbus A380s to fly again, signaling optimism that global air travel demand will recover and the superjumbo will be viable once more.
“All of the A380s, we believe, will be reactivated. QF CEO Alan Joyce said at a CAPA Live virtual conference on Wednesday that the airline had invested a lot of money on them. “They’ll be good aircraft once demand is there.”
In June, the Australian airline grounded all 12 of its four-engined behemoths, claiming that they would be made obsolete for at least three years. Joyce says that the A380s can be reactivated in three to six months if international demand returns sooner than anticipated.
MIAMI – Yesterday, the no-frills Southwest Airlines (WN) first Boeing 737 aircraft touched down in Santa Barbara, carrying the inaugural load of passengers from Las Vegas.
Airways had the opportunity to be at the celebration and on board the inaugural one-hour and 15-min flight to Santa Barbara. With the new route, WN is poised to become the dominant carrier in the local market almost immediately after touching down at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA).
Pre Flight
The terminals at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) were pretty busy; we arrived at the airport in the midst of the early morning rush. When we got to gate B19 at terminal 1, there wasn’t much activity until 30 minutes before boarding time. WN Gate agents, managers, supervisors and public relations showed up at the gate with snacks, cups and poster boards for the flight.