United Adds All the Destinations

United Airlines has made its summer route announcements into an annual thing, and the airline did not disappoint this year. At a fancy unveiling in Newark, the carrier announced ten new international destinations, which feature eight places not currently served by any U.S. airline. All 10 are in either Asia or Europe, and not surprisingly, eight will depart from EWR giving customers even more options in fleeing the greater Newark area.

From Newark (starred if summer-seasonal only):

• Luxembourg (1x daily begins March 27 on the A321XLR)
• Ljubljana (4x weekly begins May 12 on the B767-400ER)*
• Olbia (3x weekly begins May 27 on the B767-300ER)*
• Catania (4x weekly begins May 28 opn the B767-300ER)*
• Ibiza (4x weekly begins May 31 on the A321XLR)*
• Valencia (3x weekly begins June 2 on the A321XLR)*
• Marseille (1x daily begins June 4 on the A321XLR)*
• Terceira (3x weekly begins June 9 on the B737 MAX 8)*

Of these, only Olbia and Catania have service from a U.S. carrier, with both recently adding JFK on Delta as part of a “fan vote.”

From San Francisco:

• Okinawa (3x weekly begins March 27 on the B777-200ER)*

From Washington/Dulles:

• Toulouse (1x daily begins April 26 on the A321XLR)

In addition, UA is adding four new routes to existing cities on its map.

• Denver – Paris (1x daily begins May 27 on the B787-9)
• Los Angeles – Osaka (1x daily beings March 27 on the B787-9)
• San Francisco – Tel Aviv (3x weekly returns March 28 on the B787-9)
• Washington/Dulles – Milan/MXP (3x weekly begins May 28 on the B767-300ER)

For a deeper analysis of United’s big announcement, please visit Tuesday’s post on crankyflier.com.

American Had a Summer Route Announcement Too

American Airlines wasn’t going to leave the stage to just United this week, as the carrier announced seven new international routes, adding three destinations to its route map.

Porto, Reykjavik/KEF, and Vienna are the three new destinations, and the trio will be served on AA from its east coast hub in Philadelphia. When the Vienna flight launches, American will be the only U.S. carrier flying to the city, and it will mark the longest flight operated by the A321XLR (as the crow flies). Porto and Vienna are completely new destinations for American, while Reykjavik returns for the first time since 2019. The Vienna service will begin May 6, while Porto launches March 28 and Reykjavik on May 27.

Four other AAdditions include:

• Charlotte: Barcelona (begins May 27 on the B777-200ER)
• Chicago/ORD: Tokyo/NRT (begins March 19 on the B787-9)
• New York/JFK: Amsterdam (begins March 28 on the A321XLR), London/LHR (4th daily frequency begins March 28 on the B787-9), Nice (begins May 6 on the A321XLR)

For more on AA’s new international destinations, please visit Thursday’s post on crankyflier.com.

JetBlue Opens BlueHouse in Boston

JetBlue’s second lounge is open for business in Boston, and the space comes in about 33% larger than its JFK counterpart at 12,000-square feet. In addition to opening the lounge, it also expanded complimentary access — all Minty Fresh customers (excluding those who purchase Mint Base) now have lounge access. Previously one had to be on a Transatlantic Mint flight or really good at sweet-talking the agent, but now a domestic flight or one to the Caribbean grants access provided its marketed as having a Mint cabin.

Mosaic 4 and JetBlue Premier credit card holders maintain their complimentary acess including one guest. Additional guests are $39 per visit. Mosaic 3 members get the honor of purchasing access at $59 per visit, while Mosaic 1 and 2 members must pony up $79 per person per visit. If you’re not sure what Mosaic tier you are, or how the tiers work, then just forget this entire paragraph.

Regardless of the access method, passengers can not be on any basic fare. Complimentary and paid access are not available for the losers who choose Basic — regardless of the class of service.

AA Fails in FA Survey

Remember in college when you got to rate your professor on the last day of class? It was unlikely a poor review would do much, and the professor may or may not ever read it, but at least it was cathartic to get your beefs on paper and filed away somewhere. This is a lot like that.

More than 8,000 flight attendants overwhelmingly failed AA in an In-flight management survey. This feels like a bit of a troll job by the union, but it doesn’t mean the results aren’t real. Both can be true. The whole exercise comes in response to AA’s decision to start rating flight attendants based on customer experience, delays (seems like a stretch), and contributions to the operation. What were the results? You don’t normally see this much solidarity in a vote outside of presidential elections in North Korea.

The good news is that four percent of FAs say management has followed through on its promise to increase support for FAs inflight or otherwise. The bad news? Well, we think you can do the math. Eighty-four percent say inflight management doesn’t provide the level of in-person support to fix a wide range of issues including catering, contractual issues, legalities, hotels, and transportation. When asked to describe their experience with the inflight management team, 61% called them unsupported while just 10% say they were supportive. Nearly a third apparently couldn’t decide or were too busy thinking about a possible Vienna layover to be bothered.

Do you feel empowered to go above and beyond for customers without fear of criticism or discipline? Eighty-one percent said no, which is a blow for AA, the market leader of the never-ending rolling mechanical delay. It’s important to note that 8,000 FAs polled represent just 28% of AA’s flight attendant population, so maybe the other 72% is very happy with the carrier. Maybe. Also maybe not.

Volaris Plans Seven More U.S.Destinations

Mexican ULCC Volaris currently serves 22 U.S. destinations with Atlanta and Washington/Dulles to make it 24 when they begin the first week of December. But Volaris — currently the largest domestic carrier in Mexico — is planning as many as seven new U.S. destinations to make it 31 total.

The seven are:

• Austin
• Boston
• Minneapolis/St Paul
• Nashville
• Philadelphia
• Raleigh/Durham
• Tampa

All seven still require government approval, so they won’t be launching in the immediate future… or ever, depending upon how the escalating feud between the two governments goes. Volaris once flew to Austin from August 2016 through January 19. The other six would be first-time members of the Volaris family.

• Air New Zealand posted a smaller loss than predicted.
• airBaltic turns 31 today. Let’s hope it makes it to 32.
• American‘s big news this week wasn’t limited to new destinations as it decided to go fishing.
• Delta will resume JFK-TLV on Sept. 6.
• Discover discovered Glasgow.
• Emirates will begin flying an A350-900 to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
• EVA will begin new nonstop service to Delhi on December 1.
• Fiji Airways received permission to grow its presence in the United States.
• Hawaiian will debut jersey patches on University of Hawai’i football jerseys this year, kicking off tomorrow night at Stanford.
• JetBlue‘s third largest shareholder — Icahn Capital – made just north of $40 million while reducing its stake in the carrier to just 3.32%.
• Jin Air will absorb its LCC cousins Air Busan and Air Seoul in March.
• Philippine Airlines will increase its Melbourne service from 5x weekly to 1x daily beginning in November.
• Qantas‘s annual earnings report revealed it plans to retire its A380 fleet four years early, beginning in 2028.
• SWISS will open new Business and Senator Lounges in Zurich early next year.
• TUI Fly Netherlands plans to replace its B737-8 MAXs with -10s beginning next year.
• Virgin Australia plans to reduce capacity by about 3%.
• WestJet FAs ratified a new CBA.

Repairman: “Good afternoon, I’m hear to fix your clock.”

Homeowner: “Thank goodness, I can’t even tell you how long I’ve been waiting for you to show up.”

Repairman: “I know.”