3 Links I Love: Blue Country, China Airlines in Ontario, and More

Apr 12, 2019

More Reading on This Topic: Links I Love

Sun Country’s Jude Bricker on the carrier’s makeover – Travel Weekly
Quote of the interview: “I would say our business is going to be more analogous to JetBlue.” Interesting comparison.

Image of the Week: China Airlines had its first full month flying to Ontario in April of last year. In late October, the airline switched to a smaller A350 and soon after re-timed the flight to be more customer-friendly. As you can see, loads have climbed nicely. I should note, this is based on what I see for number of flights that actually operated. Hopefully the Flightradar24 data is correct, but passenger numbers definitely are right.

Southwest flight canceled? Here’s why the airline won’t book you on another carrier – USA Today
This is a much more important story these days because Southwest has been canceling a lot more flights. It’s not a good look.

The history behind 42nd Street’s lost Airlines Terminal Building – 6sqft
I admittedly don’t know nearly as much about New York airline history as I’d like, and this is one thing I didn’t know existed. (I know, I may need to turn in my geek card.) This is an older article that I came across recently. And wow, what a spectacular building that was.

Brett

21 responses to “3 Links I Love: Blue Country, China Airlines in Ontario, and More”

Aliquot

Apr 12, 2019 at 6:32 am

Does F9 not interline at all anymore ? Before they went ULCC I used them a few times with HP and AS.

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1. Aliquot
  
  Apr 12, 2019 at 6:43 am
  
  Well, some quick research answered that question. I guess it makes sence, it would be hard to combine a ticket with another airline with their byzantine baggage rules. I guess that’s the same reason basic economy fares are not combinable.
  
  Everytime I consider buying a ticket on an ULCC I change my mind when I get to the baggage options. Having to pay for a carry on and secretly pay to avoid a middle seat is a big turn off. That and the ridiculously long check in lines I see when I pass their counters.
  
  I bit the bullet for the first time for a flight next week on easyjet, becasue of a $800 price difference.
  
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  1. Chris
    
    Apr 12, 2019 at 9:25 am
    
    EasyJet’s a totally different experience. Their fancy self check-in kiosks and actually handling bag fees logically (by weight) make them a easy choice. But I’ll never set foot on Spirit or Frontier.
    
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2. CF
  
  Apr 12, 2019 at 8:14 am
  
  Barowsky – I don’t believe they have interline agreements with anyone these days.
  
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A

Apr 12, 2019 at 6:43 am

Regarding the article saying WN doesn’t have interline agreements it reads like a puff piece. “…the lack of interlining is not usually a problem for Southwest passengers because the nation’s largest domestic carrier has frequent flights on most routes.” That’s total BS and anyone who has been stranded by WN knows that.

It’s high time we get past the history of how WN started and how they are “different.” They are a national carrier competing against AA/DL/UA. If you want to play with the big boys part of it is valuing your customers and treating them with respect. Sure WN has a lot of flights with a huge network but people do get stranded, especially out on a distant thin route. The fact that they don’t interline is pure cheapness – or profit motivated. Just call it what it is. Now I’m ok if you refuse interlining people with wanna get away fares but for the business travelers and others that pay the higher fares it should be an option for a carrier of their size.

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1. grichard
  
  Apr 12, 2019 at 10:28 am
  
  I think it’s only *partial* BS. The fact that their route map is more of a mesh and less hub-and-spoke *does* seem to give them more options when a single flight cancels.
  
  I fly a lot from STL-JAX. If my Southwest STL-ATL flight cancels, there may be another routing through any of about five other cities. If my Delta STL-ATL flight cancels, I’m pretty much stuck until the next one.
  
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SEAN

Apr 12, 2019 at 6:52 am

You’ll never need to turn in your geek card as that is what makes you interesting & cool.

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Eastern 727 Whisperjet

Apr 12, 2019 at 9:24 am

Cranky,

Thanks for the link to the 6sqft article – very interesting! And of course you keep your geek card!

While the Airlines Terminal Building is indeed a fascinating part of New York City’s avgeek lore, even more interesting – from an infrastructure history perspective – is the location that is briefly mentioned at the end of the 6sqft article – the East Side Airline Terminal.

It was the larger “replacement” facility for the Airlines Terminal Building, and had the benefit of being in immediate proximity to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, which essentially allowed for the airport buses destined for either LaGuardia or Idlewild to have quick, reliable access into Queens without fighting traffic on Manhattan surface streets. (The East Side Airline Terminal was located between Second and First Avenues at East 38th Street.)

Along with the Airlines Terminal Building, the East Side Airline Terminal is long gone. Nowadays, “NYC Airporter” buses load “on street” on East 41st Street near Lexington Avenue in what can only be described as a haphazard arrangement, particularly with inclement weather. The look on traveler’s faces as they stand on the sidewalk, in the rain, and with luggage waiting for the bus to one of the airports is one of resignation.

The fatal flaw in the East Side Airline Terminal came from the aforementioned proximity to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel – while a “plus” for the airport buses, as they didn’t have to navigate Manhattan traffic, it was a “minus” for travelers, as the east side location was more than a little off the beaten path.

While the Second Avenue Subway was supposed to have served the site, it never did. (And, it has yet to get close, with the more northern segments having been constructed first.) This left the far eastern portion of Midtown unserved by subway (as it still is), and – especially for travelers with luggage – it meant folks might have needed to hop in a taxi to get to the East Side Airline Terminal. Once in a cab, it became obvious that they might as well take it all the way to the airport (particularly LaGuardia, given its proximity), as I’m sure many a cabbie told them when they got in a cab and asked for the East Side Airline Terminal.

One last point – the Airlines Terminal Building, across the street from Grand Central, was torn down, but until the late 1970’s one could still quickly reach the New York City airports from that intersection – you just needed to go up onto the roof of the Pan Am Building (adjacent to Grand Central) for New York Airways service via helicopter! My father did this once to catch a Pan Am flight to South America from JFK, and he still talks about it to this day, particularly when he’s in traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway!

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1. Bill Hough
  
  Apr 12, 2019 at 10:55 am
  
  Some more trivia: I think that there was also a West Side Airline terminal serving Newark but I am not sure how long that lasted. As for the East Site Airline Terminal. part of it became the base of The Corinthian, a high-rise condo development that I toured with my parents back around 1988.
  
  The 42 Street airlines terminal had cool 1930s architecture, but the east and west side airlines terminals had that awful postwar public sector architecture that is too common in Noo Yawk.
  
  Reply
  1. Gymbo
    
    Apr 12, 2019 at 11:26 am
    
    And let’s not forget those Carey buses which served all three NYC airports from East Side and West Side Terminals.
    
    Reply
    1. Bill Hough
      
      Apr 12, 2019 at 2:15 pm
      
      Did Carey ever go to EWR? By the 1980s, Manhattan to EWR bus service was provided by NJ Transit.
      
      Reply
      1. Gymbo
        
        Apr 12, 2019 at 5:13 pm
        
        I rode Cary from West Side to EWR Iin the late 60s. I don’t know when Cary stopped at EWR. I believe Cary also serviced SFO at the time.
        
        Reply
2. CF
  
  Apr 12, 2019 at 10:59 am
  
  Eastern – This is awesome history. Thank you very much.
  
  Reply
  1. Eastern 727 Whisperjet
    
    Apr 12, 2019 at 1:22 pm
    
    Happy to share!
    
    Reply
3. Hajime Sano
  
  Apr 12, 2019 at 10:42 pm
  
  Eastern 727 Whisperjet, thanks for the awesome history lesson!
  
  Reply
Davey

Apr 12, 2019 at 9:48 am

The whole interline thing is old news. Unless you’re on a reasonably high fare on a legacy carrier, no is the answer. Period.

Not sure what the news is here. If you want service, you have to pay for it. When you’re Southwest, Frontier or Spirit, you’re flying at a margin so tight you can’t afford to give away passengers (that’s why that “we can’t control the customer experience” stuff is nonsense).

It’s that simple.

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Oliver

Apr 12, 2019 at 10:49 am

I have never flown Sun Country or JetBlue, but from all I have read about them there is really no similarity other than that they both fly airplanes.

And the answer to the Mexico stranding seems like a non-answer. So they are still planning on abandoning passengers in a foreign land if the last flight happens to cancel… and just point them to travel insurance to get home? Really makes me want to fly with them…

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Chicago Chris

Apr 12, 2019 at 12:17 pm

Can attest Spirit will put you on another airline in some cases. Was going SAN-LAS at night, but a MX delay early on would have caused crew to time out in SAN so Spirit cancelled both LAS-SAN and return SAN-LAS. Morning NK flight was sold out, so only option was 24 hour delay. After one transfer, Spirit put me on a Delta flight the next morning. Was traveling on a very cheap ticket and don’t fly them too often, but appreciated the effort.

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John Doe

Apr 12, 2019 at 9:22 pm

I am a Reservations Agent for a major carrier, and I’ll just say two things:

We may have agreements with other carriers, but unless you paid A LOT for your ticket, have status, or are in extreme circumstances – which I’ll have to take to my supervisor – the policies don’t allow me to put you on another carrier. So that agreement doesn’t do much for you. It actually embarrasses me.

Yes, to being polite to the employee in front of you or on the other end of the phone line when you are stuck and need help. If you calmly explain your situation and give me a reason to go to bat for you I will do everything in my power to help you if you truly have an extreme case or special circumstance. If you are mean and nasty or downright rude or profane my first priority is to get you off the phone as quickly as I can while still doing my job. Saying no – within policy guidelines – accomplishes that.

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danwriter1

Apr 14, 2019 at 8:17 am

Just a thought: SWA and now AA have removed the Max8 from their schedules.
That represents almost 5% and 1.5% of their respective fleets, just as the summer travel season gets underway. The question is, will this be an opportunity to raise fares; and if so would that be considered gouging, a la raising the price of bottled water after a hurricane? And is there an agency that monitors this scenario? FAA? FTC?

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1. CF
  
  Apr 14, 2019 at 2:15 pm
  
  dan – I wouldn’t expect this to have much of an impact on fares. There will be some capacity adjustments, but it’ll often be in places where they can just absorb it elsewhere. For example, DC to JFK is gone this summer on American. But they still have a ton of flights to LaGuardia and others have plenty of capacity, especially this far out.
  
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