Alaska Orders All the Airplanes

Alaska Airlines placed the largest aircraft order in its history, agreeing to terms with Boeing, its Seattle neighbor, for 105 B737-10s, five more B787s, options for another 35 737-10s, a $200 gift card to Pike Place Fish Market, a two-for-one coupon for a tour of the original Starbucks, and a vinyl recording of a never-before-heard Nirvana/Pearl Jam mashup.

This order gives Alaska as many as 245 Boeing airplanes on order — and the carrier maintained the right to switch its 737-10 orders to other MAX variants if it prefers. Alaska has now exercised all of its Dreamliner options, and it will eventually have 17 of the planes flying around — and they’ll do so in a new, Dreamliner-exclusive livery.

Alaska currently has a fleet of 413 airplanes, which it expects to grow to 475 by 2030 and 550 by 2035. Alaska has traditionally been an all-Boeing airline, going so far as to paint “Proudly All Boeing” its airplanes, but despite this larger order, it’s making an ever-so-subtle change to “Proudly Boeing” as it does plan to keep the approximately 50 Airbus planes that belonged to Hawaiian in service for the time being. It is unclear if Alaska is proud of those airplanes or not.

Avelo to Deport Three Bases, Nine Airports

Avelo is reducing its operation as it leaves nine airports altogether, closes three bases and cuts a couple dozen routes. It is closing its bases in Raleigh/Durham, Phoenix/Mesa, and Wilmington (NC). As we know — one of these is not like the other — as Mesa was where it based its operation of flying deportation flights for the federal government while the others supported scheduled service.

It’s not just the deportation flights going away for Avelo — it’s leaving nine airports: Cancún, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Hartford, Manchester (NH), Montego Bay, New Orleans, Punta Cana, Traverse City, and Washington/Dulles. These closures are leading to routes ending as well, including:

From Raleigh/Durham:

• Albany
• Grand Rapids
• Manchester (NH)
• Montego Bay
• Punta Cana

From Wilmington (NC):

• Detroit
• Fort Lauderdale
• Fort Myers
• New York/Islip
• Orlando
• Manchester (NH)
• Punta Cana
• Rochester
• Washington/Dulles

From Concord (NC):

• Chicago/ORD
• Nashville
• West Palm Beach

From New Haven:

• Detroit
• New Orleans
• Washington/Dulles

From Wilmington (DE):

• Atlanta
• Chicago/ORD
• Jacksonville

Frontier Makes it Official with Dempsey

Several weeks after the abrupt resignation of Barry Biffle as CEO and the interim appointment of then-president James Dempsey to the role, Frontier Airlines’ Board of Directors made the appointment permanent, electing Dempsey to the full-time role as the carrier’s CEO.

Dempsey had no comment on the news, as he was aboard a Frontier plane at the time, and was therefore unreachable by any means as the carrier has yet to reach the frontier that is in-flight internet. Dempsey’s appointment must have made someone happy, because the carrier also announced it expects in Q4 earnings to be at the higher end of its forecast between four and 20 cents.

The new CEO has been with the airline since 2014 when he came over from Ryanair. Whether or not the two LCCs will start an unlikely new partnership or codeshare is not being confirmed by either carrier, but Tico the two-toed sloth was reportedly seen outside of Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary’s house earlier this morning. Neither Tico or Dempsey would comment on why.

Aer Lingus Thumbs Its Nose at the English

Aer Lingus’s base in Manchester is in jeopardy as the carrier takes steps to close its transatlantic operation in the English city by the end of March.

No formal announcement has come from the airline yet, but it has stopped selling tickets for its three transatlantic flights from MAN — to Barbados, Orlando, and New York/JFK. Should the carrier move forward with the base closure, it would not leave the airport entirely as it would continue to serve Manchester from both Dublin and Belfast. Both JFK and MCO would retain Aer Lingus service from Dublin while Bridgetown’s only flight on the carrier is currently the one from Manchester.

Should the base close, the impact will be felt among approximately 200 staff for Aer Lingus in Manchester. Catholics would be offered roles back in Dublin with the carrier while Protestants will lose their jobs. The airline says its sales and revenue trail what it’s making from its Ireland-based operation. It began speaking with staff and their unions as early as November of last year as it braces for the possibility.

Southwest Goes All-in on Chicago’s Northside

The battle for Chicago/ORD may be heating up between American and United, but the kings of Midway have made their pick in a bigger Chicago rivalry — Cubs or White Sox.

Southwest Airlines announced Thursday that it is becoming the official airline partner of the 1908 World Series Champions, a partnership that will include several activations at Wrigley Field. The carrier will take naming rights of the stadium’s upper level, as the 300 level at Wrigley will now be known as the “Southwest Airlines Deck.” As a nod to Southwest’s new seating policies, all seating in the deck will be reserved.

Both on-deck circles will be transformed into hearts, which would make them on-deck hearts, rather than circles, no? Southwest branding will appear on-field along the baselines and throughout the venerable ballpark. The partnership makes a lot of sense when you consider both the airline and the team have a lot in common — both thrive on loyalty, nostalgia, and the promise that the experience used to be more romantic — along with an especially strong belief that next year will be better.

• Aeromexico was the most on-time airline in 2025 according to Cirium. Unfortunately AM reps were late to their ceremony to claim their prize.
• Air China will reduce its stake in Cathay Pacific.
• Air India is in the market for a new CEO to replace Campbell “mm mm good” Wilson.
• Air Mauritius is leasing three LHR slot pairs to Qatar Airways.
• Air Premia‘s fifth U.S. destination will be Washington/Dulles when it starts 4x weekly service from Seoul/ICN in April.
• American is holding the line for elite qualifying requirements next year.
• BA CFO Jose Antonio Barrionuevo was elevated to CFO of all of IAG.
• Biman Bangladesh is adding 14 airplanes.
• Cathay Pacific began its 80-year celebration with a retro livery that deserves all the awards.
• Emirates is adding its premium economy product to 10 more cities.
• flyadeal hasadeal for a new base.
• Hawaiian will invest $600 million over five years to improve the traveling experience within Hawai’i.
• JetBlue is adding in Fort Lauderdale.
• Pivot pivoted.
• Qatar dreamed up the world’s first B787 with Starlink and it’s become a reality.
• Royal Air Maroc is opening a new base.
• Ryanair has come out against a tax for the first time ever.
• STARLUX took delivery of its first A350-1000.

I’ve opened a gym called “resolutions.”

It will have exercise equipment for the first two weeks, and then it turns into a bar for the rest of the year.