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JetBlue and United Receive DOT Approval

In a twist no one saw coming (unless they’ve ever seen a merger in slow motion), the Department of Transportation gave the blue green light to United and JetBlue’s “Blue Sky” partnership — because apparently “Joint Venture Lite” sounds too honest. The deal lets the two airlines cuddle up just enough to trade JFK and Newark slots, cozy up their frequent flyer programs, and offer reciprocal perks like priority boarding and checked bags. But don’t worry, they totally promised not to coordinate pricing or schedules. Just a couple of friendly neighbors who coincidentally show up at the same parties with the same plus-one wearing the same outfit bringing the same potato salad.

JetBlue gets stuck with eight better-timed operations at Newark and United gets a revival to make yet another half-assed run at JFK with up to seven roundtrips per day in 2027. Oh and frequent fliers get to earn and burn across both networks — assuming they can figure out whether TrueBlue Mosaic 3 is more valuable than MileagePlus 1K (spoiler: it take a slide rule, abacus, and an app to figure out — and even still, the result is inconclusive). Meanwhile, Spirit filed a complaint faster than you can say “slot squatting,” warning that this marriage of convenience is just a smokescreen to crush competition. But hey, at least you’ll soon be able to book a JetBlue flight to JFK on United’s website, and vice versa. That’s progress. Or not. Who knows.

United Flight Attendants United in Rejecting Contract

United’s flight attendants swatted down the contract passed by its union leadership earlier this spring to the tune of a 92% turnout, and 71% voting hell no. Sure, the deal offered immediate raises of at least 26%, retroactive pay, and boarding bonuses — but for many attendants, that’s like putting lipstick on a overnight Newark layover. Their real gripe? Work rules aren’t changing nearly enough. Also, management still isn’t paying them for the late-night reroutes, or fixing those sketchy layover hotel rooms.

Union head Ken Diaz wasn’t mincing words: the proposal missed the mark on scheduling flexibility, ground-hour compensation, and basic quality-of-life improvements. United called the vote “disappointing,” but it quickly dusted off its PR script about returning to the negotiation table — potentially with federal mediators in tow. Meanwhile, the union plans to survey members to map out their actual priorities, because apparently spreadsheets and “industry-leading rates” don’t translate to happy crews.

JetBlue’s Q2 a Mixed Bag

JetBlue Airways posted a small loss in its Q2 report card earlier this week but wants you to know that if you strip out much of its losses, it actually eked out a tiny profit. In similar news, if you ignore the three hours your flight was delayed last week, it actually operated on-time. In fact, at a 0.3% adjusted margin, its proclaimed profit might be better described as “profit-ish.” Revenue dipped 3% year-over-year, unit costs crept up, and yet somehow it still framed this quarter as a step forward in its JetForward strategy—which, based on the numbers, seems more like JetSideways.

JetBlue’s latest shiny object is its new Blue Sky alliance with United, which — spoiler alert –won’t deliver real money until at least 2027. But that didn’t stop the carrier from claiming it bumped their long-term EBIT outlook by $50 million, and if you squint hard enough, some of its self-congratulations kind of track: on-time arrivals are up three points, NPS is climbing, and the airline pocketed $180 million of JetForward-related EBIT since launch. That said, the bar was so low after last year’s operational faceplant that simply running a semi-functional airline this summer was enough to spark high-fives in Long Island City.

In short, JetBlue is still bleeding money, but now it’s bleeding a little slower and talking a lot louder. With revenue down, costs up, and yet another vague strategic partnership being hyped to the moon, Q2 was less of a comeback and more of a repeat for JetBlue while it plays the hits. But hey, it did beat analyst expectations — so that’s good for a brief stock pop and a few LinkedIn pats on the back.

Alaska Claims the West Coast, One Abandoned Avelo Route at a Time

Alaska Airlines announced seven new west coast routes, most of which look suspiciously like they were picked off the bones of Avelo’s retreat from Burbank. Highlights include Burbank to Eugene, Pasco, and Redmond/Bend (daily), San Diego to Sun Valley (seasonal — because SoCal ski bums need elite status too), and new links from Boise to Ontario and Spokane to Orange County.

It’s also a subtle flex: while others shrink and shuffle, Alaska’s building loyalty and boosting elite perks in markets where passengers just want a flight that won’t get canceled because someone misplaced a wrench. Horizon Air handles the flying, the Alaska Mileage Plan does the loyaltying, and somewhere in the distance, Avelo quietly disappears from Burbank, stage left.

Alaska is framing this as a loyalty-building masterstroke, which is marketing-speak for “we like profit, and our planes actually show up.” Meanwhile, Avelo leadership shakes its head while muttering something about “network optimization,” and the west gets a legacy-adjacent carrier that doesn’t think “point-to-point” is a dirty word — for now.

Spirit Furloughs 270 Pilots

Spirit Airlines continues to desperately attempt to reduce costs, saying this week that it will furlough about 270 pilots, while demoting another 140 from the Captain’s seat to lower-paid First Officers.

The furloughs will be effective November 1, with the demotions set to kick in a month earlier on October 1. This is the second time in as many years Spirit has furloughed pilots after it did so to 260 pilots last fall. The announcement comes after the airline exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March and has attempted to remake itself as a more upscale carrier with high-falutin’ options such as bundled seat assignments, extra legroom, and complimentary booze.

Spirit has lost more than $2.5 billion since the onset of the pandemic, and has made several attempts to reinvent itself in the ensuing years. It recently restructured $795 million of debt into equity and received a $350 million equity investment from existing investors. Despite all that, it’s hard not to wonder… when is that next bankruptcy filing planned for?

• Air Astana signed a codeshare with China Southern that you didn’t know you needed.
• Air Canada posted a C$418 million Q2 profit which converts to about US$302 million plus a vat of maple syrup and an 11-game miniplan to see the Winnipeg Jets in 2025-26.
• Air France – KLM‘s push to purchase a stake in Air Europa is over.
• Air New Zealand is planning a new flagship lounge in Auckland because that makes more sense than putting its new flagship lounge in Oakland. The airline also named Nikhil Ravishankar its new CEO.
• Air Peace converted a pending E175 order to E195-E2s.
• American received the go ahead from the FAA to staff its new B787-9s with just seven FAs.
• Austrian Airlines posted a €43 million loss for the first six months of the year.
• BA‘s Q2 can be described as “exceeding expectations.”
• Condor added 3x weekly service to Sanya, a real place, via Bangkok.
• Emirates selected Hangzhou as its 5th mainland China destination.
• IndiGo is expanding its codeshare with KLM.
• LATAM finished Q2 with a $242 million profit.
• Loganair and Blue Islands are no longer codesharing. This devastating news will affect someone. We think.
• Lufthansa‘s Q2 was strong.
• Norse Atlantic named Kristin Berthelsen as its new Deputy CEO. She was named the role despite not being named Bjørn, a surprise to all who follow the carrier closely.
• Riyadh Air acquired a slot at London/Heathrow.
• SAA is adding nonstop, 3x weekly service between Cape Town and Mauritius.
• SkyWest posted a $120 million second quarter profit.
• SWISS will make Boston its first A350-900 destination.
• Tajik Air is leasing two B737s, and if that doesn’t portend a good weekend for us all, then nothing will.
• Turkish completed a financing arrangement with the Dubai Islamic Bank for an A350-941.
• Virgin Australia told Rex to find a new foster home.

I never understood why a set of false teeth is called “dentures”. They really missed an opportunity to call it “substitooths”