The Main Squawk: Alaska and Hawaiian make it through the DOJ review period unscathed
In a clear win for Alaska and Hawaiian, the DOJ passed on its opportunity to review the merger within their regulatory review period. The decision comes on the heels of the failed JetBlue/Spirit merger which more or less indicated that airlines trying to merge outside of the lower forty-eight is Kosher.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green said that clearing this important milestone means the merger can “vastly expand the number of destinations throughout North America for Hawaii residents,” only to realize that it will actually just add to the state’s tourism revenue.
The next hurdle the two airlines need to clear will be the Pete Buttigieg DOT review. The regulator previously indicated that it will only approve the merger if it is in the public’s best interest. It did not offer a timeline as to when its review will be complete. It is, however, expected to eventually approve the deal.
Breeze is invading Avelo’s turf in Connecticut by launching service from New Haven to five destinations in Florida, along with service to Charleston; Norfolk; Raleigh-Durham; and Richmond, V.A. The move comes just weeks after Avelo announced it would start international operations at Hartford (BDL) in November where Breeze has a sizeable operation.
What makes the Company’s expansion into New Haven so interesting, however, is that it’s a small airport. Cranky Flier has an excellent piece on this. It processes hardly 500,000 passengers annually according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) with a mere five gates; three or four of which Avelo uses almost exclusively.
Hartford, by comparison, has more than twenty gates and can easily handle over three million passengers annually.
The expansion will be an interesting development to monitor, but one thing is for certain: there is now significant competition in these Connecticut to Florida markets. Time will tell who winds up with the larger market share.
Delta is adding routes from Boston and New York to San Antonio and Palm Springs, respectively, just weeks after JetBlue announced that it will be backing out of those markets in October. The move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The Atlanta-based carrier accounted for nearly one-fourth of the Boston market in May 2024 alone, and has high hopes for a stronger Northeast-Texas footprint as it makes its way into 2025.
The Boston to San Antonio route will kickoff in November with Delta’s Airbus A220 doing a majority of the heavy lifting. The route will likely be scheduled as a turn in widget bid packs. Its New York-JFK to Palm Springs flight will launch in December via once-weekly service. The Airbus A220 fleet will also serve the route, albeit likely on the -300 variant, sans the window in the forward lav.
Delta COO Michael Spanos is clocking out at the end of the week—for good. In the aftermath of the Company’s worst operational meltdown, it’s no surprise that heads will roll after its botched recovery from the CrowdStrike outage last month.
The Airline’s passengers are continuing to struggle to get reimbursements in a timely manner.
Rumors suggest the Spanos severance package will include 90,000 SkyMiles, three years of space-available travel, and executive Flight Ops jumpseat privileges (which are higher than yours).
American is doing (even) more short-haul widebody flying with the addition of a 530-mile flight from Miami to Cancun. The route will be the shortest widebody flight operated by any U.S. carrier.
The Airline already does the most short-haul flying with its widebody fleet compared to its peers, so I guess why not add more.
Tickets will hit the market next month with daily service commencing in December. The Airline’s oldest Boeing 777-200 aircraft without functioning entertainment systems will serve the route.
Air Canada pilots voted successfully to authorize a strike.
American, like United, is suspending Israel service through April 2025.
Delta is now the official airline of the WNBA.
JetBlue is offering a status match for Alaska, American, Delta, and United members in an effort to win-back customers as it continues to shrink its network.
Sun Country flight attendants authorized a strike.
United is displacing EWR and IAD 787 FOs due to lack of Boeing 787 deliveries: source.
WestJet is repairing the sixteen planes that were damaged due to a hail storm in Calgary earlier this month.
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