Middle Eastern Carriers Resume Limited Ops

Following a week of uncertainty amidst conflict in and around Iran, Emirates and Etihad both began limited flights to their respective bases of Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Etihad will operate what it’s calling a “limited schedule” through at least March 19. It will serve 70 destinations from Abu Dhabi for the next two weeks, down from the 90+ it has normally. As part of the drawdown, the carrier made it crystal clear that it will not serve Newark for the duration of the conflict. This comes despite Newark not being an Etihad destination before the conflict, so nothing’s changed, it only wants there to be no confusion.

Emirates’s version of a limited schedule will be flights to 82 destinations, a more significant reduction from the ~140 it boasts. Regional competitor Qatar remains shut down from any semblance of regular ops for now as Doha remains closed. The carrier is operating a very limited number of repatriation flights from neighboring Oman and Saudi Arabia for the time being. El Al, meanwhile, has begun a severely reduced schedule, as Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport opened to allow about one arrival and one departure per hour.

Additionally, to help relieve some of the stress on the system in the Middle East, both American and United have agreed to increase their service levels from Chicago/ORD to a bunch of random midwestern cities for the next several weeks. And to Florida…it’s always Florida.

FAA Steps in to Send American and United Back to their Corners

The boxing match — or faceoff, or showdown, or duel — between American and United in Chicago finally has a referee. Both airlines, along with the Chicago Department of Aviation were forced into a sit down with the FAA this week to figure out how to calm the capacity escalations at Chicago/ORD.

The two airlines have announced schedules that will be impossible to operate once the summer hits, and the FAA is going to force the two to draw down their capacity for the greater good. (The Greater Good) Right now, some days this summer have as many as 3,080 daily operations on the books at ORD, a dramatic increase from last year’s peak of 2,680. The question is whether or not the airlines will volunteer enough cuts on their own, or whether the government will call for a proportional drawdown, or if it will cast a heavy hand towards one airline or the other.

For more on Wednesday’s 4-way showdown between the four acronyms all ending in A: AA, UA, CDA, FAA, please visit Wednesday’s post on crankyflier.com

Delta: When the Laughter Stops

Several weeks after the retirement of president Glen Hauenstein, Delta announced his replacement along with the retirement of John Laughter. Laughter, who chuckled his way to a 30-year career, is currently the carrier’s EVP, Chief of Operations, president of Delta TechOps, and Biscoff Taste Tester. He will step down April 30. Delta HR is reportedly assessing its health insurance options for all staff in its Atlanta headquarters, as Laughter — which we all know is the best medicine — will no longer be available to staff.

In other news, Peter Carter is being promoted to President for the carrier, a key role that involves a hand in all the day-to-day ops of the airline, a special focus on network planning and scheduling, and ensuring that CEO Ed Bastian’s calendar is clear whenever Tom Brady wants to hang out (which we assume is never). Dan “Don’t call me” Janki will take over as COO, a promotion from his CFO role which basically boiled down to devaluing SkyMiles once a week.

Erik Snell will take over as CFO after 20 years at the carrier and his first task will be to see if a 1,000,000 SkyMile Main Cabin redemption to Europe is in play for 2026. CMO Alicia Tillman will be leaving the airline to “pursue broader leadership opportunities” whatever that means, and she will be replaced by Tom Brady’s second cousin’s neighbor.

DOT Gives the Green Light for VenezuelAA Ops

The DOT approved American’s request to resume service to Venezuela, and when it begins, it will mark the first U.S. commercial service to the country in about seven years.

AA will serve both Caracas and Maracaibo from Miami on American Eagle service operated by Envoy Air, with no clear date for flights to begin. The DOT suspended service to Venezuela in May 2019 following an assesment of risk to customers, crews, and the airplanes themselves.

TSA representatives were in Caracas last week reviewing airport security features while ensuring Venezuela’s security screeners didn’t smile too much or give clear instructions to passengers. The TSA team then traveled to several other airports in the country to enforce its rule that screeners give conflicting information on what is or isn’t allowed at different airports, keeping travelers on their toes for the entire journey.

Senate Confirms NTSB Vice Chair Replacement

We can all rest easy tonight because the Senate confirmed the appointment of former AA executive John DeLeeuw to replace former Vice Chair Alvin Brown who was fired in May.

Brown is not going quietly into the night, as he is currently suing the Trump administration over his removal. Regardless of how that shakes out, DeLeeuw, the former Managing Director of Safety and Efficiency at American will now take his talents to the federal government. And let’s be honest, no one is better suited for federal government work than a guy who was director of efficiency at…American Airlines.

Many groups backed the appointment, including AA, Boeing, A4A, APA, Southwest, SWAPA and others.

• Air Astana is adding 25 narrowbody Airbus aircraft to its fleet.
• American is having catering issues in London.
• arajet might be growing. Also maybe not.
• avianca is the new jersey sponsor of Miami FC.
• BA took an €84.4 million L in court.
• Cabo Verde Airlines has Providence on its mind, because someone has to.
• Delta‘s new SkyClub in Denver is open.
• Gol scored five new A330-900neos.
• Lufthansa will begin serving Kuala Lumpur from its Frankfurt hub in October.
• Mexicana is seeking a U.S. charter permit to operate domestic flights during the World Cup this summer.
• Norwegian launched its first state-subsidized domestic route between Aalborg and Copenhagen in Denmark.
• Qantas reported its financials.
• Qatar is reducing its stake in Virgin Australia.
• Ryanair is growing in Krakow until someone in the city government tries to levy a tax or says something that hurts its feelings.
• United does not want to hear what it is your watching or listening to.
• t’way will v’ote on its rebrand later this month, and if we had a vote, it would be a hard n’way
• Virgin Australia will buy nine of its B737-8s on order rather than go the dry lease route.
• Wizz Air says the current situation in the Middle East will cost it at least $58 million for its year-end earnings.

In the metro Las Vegas area, many churchgoers will give casino chips instead of cash when the collection plate is passed around. Because the churches receive chips from several different casinos, several houses of worship in the Vegas area devised a plan to collect all the offerings and send them to a nearby Franciscan monastery just north of the city for sorting. At the monastery, the chips are sorted, taken to the casino of origin and cashed in. This is done by chip monks.