Cranky Weekly Review Presented by OAK Airport: United and JetBlue Get Together, Southwest Begins Its Assimilation Era

JetBlue, United Hard-Launch New Relationship

All good relationship stories follow the same path: 1) Loud, public breakup after the DOJ says the two of you aren’t right for each other, 2) Consider rekindling things before thinking better of it, 3) Feeling spurned because your ex put out a press release saying it was ready to move on, 4) Flirting with your ex’s rival — or at least not denying the rumors when they’re reported a month ago, 5) Finally announcing you’ve moved on to a new relationship, one that includes interlining, FF earn and burn opportunities, a trading of slots at NYC airports, and no schedule coordination or anything that could anger the peanut gallery. It’s a tale as old as time.

If you’ve gotten this far, you know the details. JetBlue and United announced their Blue Sky partnership that’s heavy on a positive outlook for the future. First, let’s look at what’s not in this agreement: there’s no codeshare agreement, so each carrier will continue to publish, schedule, and market flights on its own. There’s no merger — yet — and there’s no minty-fresh first class upgrades across brands nor is there United lounge access for JetBlue elites.

But there is a lot — there’s an interline agreement, there’s reciprocal elite perks across carries to include things like priority check-in, early(ish) boarding, free checked bags, preferred seat access, and same day flight changes.

There’s also a slot swap — which will bring United back to New York/JFK — an airport it has abandoned at least twice in the last 15 years. United will acquire seven daily roundtrip slots at JFK beginning in 2027, so you can hold off a little while on calling that Uber, while JetBlue will receive eight “flight timings” (that’s Newark speak for slots because everything Newark does has to be a little different) and a 3rd round draft pick in 2029.

Lastly, United will move to use JetBlue’s Paisly for its sale of hotels, rental cars, cruises, and travel insurance for both united.com and the UA app while JetBlue will use United’s Kinective Media ad network. Where’s the partnership going long-term? Hoo boy, we’re gonna be along for the ride and find out one day.

For more on this, stay tuned for a Cranky Flier post on Monday.

A Whole New World – Southwest’s New Era Begins

We don’t know who the first passenger was on Wednesday to pay a bag fee, but we have to wonder if the $35 used to pay for it (or the credit card receipt) will be framed and go up on a wall at Elliott Investment Management’s headquarters like a restaurant or small business does with its first $1 bill.

Southwest’s era of “bags fly free” officially ended Wednesday, as it implemented a $35 fee for the first checked bag, a $45 fee for the second, and an eight month jail sentence for anyone who dared ask about checking a third bag or more. The policy went into effect for travel booked on or after Wednesday, May 28, meaning there’s at least one person who booked same-day travel on Wednesday and showed up to the airport being hit with a fee they did not expect.

Those who booked travel prior to Wednesday can still check two bags for free, which we assume will create a black market on the curb of every airport where the airline flies for the next few months. We’ve got 2 checked bag slots available to Sacramento in August for only $20 a pop….

Sunwing Flies off to the Sunset

Two years after announcing the transaction, WestJet completed its integration of Sunwing on Wednesday, closing a chapter of Canadian aviation history.

Sunwing’s 18 remaining aircraft will now operate on WestJet’s operating certificate AOC, joining the 16 Swoop aircraft that began doing the same last year. WestJet will eventually modify the Sunwing airplanes to match the interior on the rest of its B737 fleet which will including premium seating up front, economy in the back, and a vat of maple syrup replacing the window seat every third row. But for now, WestJet passengers will be thrilled to find a knee-crunching sea of coach seats.

The final revenue flight to land using Sunwing’s code was WG2349 from Cayo Coco to Montréal which arrived just shy of 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, May 29.

Suite Life: AA Unveils New FlAAgship Suite

American Airlines showed off its new Flagship Suites this week, fancy seats that passengers will find in the pointy end of new Dreamliners AA receives from Boeing going forward. The aircraft will be designated by AA as B787-9P — the P is for Premium and not for whatever else you might have been thinking — and it’s apparently so good that even perennial-thorn-in-AA’s-side Gary Leff is impressed.

The first row of each business class cabin features the Flagship Suite Preferred — American’s less opulent version of what United rolled out last week — a more elevated version of the rest of the business class cabin, or what we’ve called First Class for the last 80 years. The rest of the business class cabin has a wireless charging pad at each seat which is guaranteed to not work and a 17.5 inch TV.

The new suites come with new mattress pads, pajamas, and amenity kit for those who take that stuff seriously. The seats are in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout, which is great for those traveling alone or who don’t want to talk to their travel companion. They all have doors that close, but the doors won’t be able to shut quite yet — AA hasn’t received FAA approval to use them yet. There’s definitely a metaphor in there somewhere about opening closed doors, but we’ll leave it be.

The hoi polloi in the back will also see some improvements. the 143 seats in economy will see enlarged 11.5 inch TVs with Bluetooth, plus USB-A, USB-C, and universal AC outlets. The first 787-9P will enter service next week flying roundtrip from Chicago/ORD to Los Angeles before then operating from ORD to London/Heathrow daily.

Azul Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

United and JetBlue may be feeling happily blue this week, but we can’t say the same for Azul which is now feeling awfully blue since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. This comes after trying for several months to restructure its debt to no avail.

The restructuring deal it presented to the court includes a commitment of $1.6 billion in financing with an intention to eliminate about $2 billion in debt. The carrier is trying to stave off panic amongst shareholders and stakeholders alike, saying in its release that it “intends to use the proven, well-known legal framework” to eliminate debt, reduce lease obligations, and optimize its fleet. So basically — nothing to see here, right?

Azul becomes the sixth notable Latin carrier to file for bankruptcy in the U.S. since the pandemic, joining Aeromexico, Avianca, GOL, LATAM, and Rigoberto’s Palacio de Aviación.

• Aer Lingus is going on spring break.
• Air Arabia is making a play to the the official airline of Crypto bros.
• Air Astana is adding 3x weekly fights between Atyrau and Tbilisi.
• Air France is returning to Israel.
• Air Peace has an eye towards Antigua.
• Air Niugini ordered two additional A220s.
• Air Transat is expanding to Europe.
• American is adding Touchless ID as an option for AAdvantage members.
• Arajet will fly from Punta Cana to Orlando/Sanford.
• Condor isn’t convinced the Lufthansa/ITA has earned its stripes.
• flydubai is flying to more places.
• Frontier is undoing its “turn-only” policy for FAs.
• IAG Cargo is joining forced with Qatar Cargo and maskargo.
• IndiGo will be the launch carrier for the fancy new Mumbai/Navi (NMI) airport when it opens late this year.
• Kenya Airways is headed to Gatwick.
• LOT is adding a lot of flights (well, four a week) to Malaga.
• Qantas is adding New Zealand frequencies.
• Qatar cancelled an MoU for 50 Max 10s to make room for the heap of widebodies it agreed to purchase from Boeing.
• Royal Jordanian took delivery of its first A320neo.
• Spirit has new menu options which seems odd as why would anyone order anything besides BuzzBallz?
• Sun Country will add a rare non-MSP route, flying from Appleton, WI to Fort Myers.
• T’way is adding service in July to V’ancouver, its first North American route.
• United is making all customers check-in 45 minutes prior to departure now, whether they’re checking a bag or not.

Don’t forget Diarrhea Awareness Week is next week and starts on Monday.

Runs until Friday.