In this week’s news, a study of airfares finds they are already higher than pre-pandemic levels and still rising; JetBlue offers to outbid Frontier in a takeover attempt for Sprit Airlines; United delays SFO-Melbourne service until June; German carrier Condor will fly SFO-Frankfurt this summer; JetBlue sets a date for new Boston-London flights; international route news from Aer Lingus, American, Air France, ITA, Delta; JetBlue/AA alliances battle with Delta for middle America markets; Alaska Airlines sets flat rate for in-flight Wi-Fi; San Francisco International reopens yoga rooms; Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Airport shuts down for three months; and Frontier wants to get rid of jet bridges at Denver International. Last month, we reported on a study that showed airline bookings for this spring and summer are surging, bringing traffic back to near pre-pandemic levels. Now another new report finds that air fares are going up just as fast if not faster — specifically, they have increased 40% since the beginning of this year, and they’re still rising. The analysis by Hopper, the big travel booking and pricing data firm, found that current airfares are already above comparable pre-pandemic 2019 levels. “At (an average of) $330/roundtrip, domestic airfare is trending 7% above 2019 prices,” Hopper said. “It is also the highest average domestic airfare we’ve seen since we started collecting this data. International airfare is matching 2019 prices at $810/roundtrip.”
The company predicts that domestic fares will jump another 10% in May to an average of $360 round trip, and that international prices will go up another 15% by June to an average of $940 round trip — a 5% gain over June 2019 fares. In addition to exploding passenger demand, the airlines are facing jet fuel costs that jumped from $2.20 a gallon in January to as much as $4.10 a gallon in early March after Russia started its Ukraine invasion. “Usually price increases in jet fuel take a few months to show up in airfare, and the extent to which it appears can vary depending on airlines’ hedging programs and how much of the cost is passed through to the consumer,” Hopper said. “Since prices are up 40% since the beginning of the year, we’d expect an 8-12% increase in airfare attributable to jet fuel if prices remain at this level, some of which we’ve likely already seen.” The only thing that could possibly reverse the rise in airfares, Hopper said, is another wave of COVID that could put a damper on demand.
That February announcement of a merger agreement between Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines — the nation’s two largest ultra-low-cost carriers — has suddenly been thrown into doubt by JetBlue’s decision this week to make its own $3.6 billion bid to acquire Spirit. While Frontier offered Spirit shareholders a combination of cash and Frontier stock in the proposed merger — approved by both companies’ boards of directors — JetBlue’s unsolicited proposal is a more generous all-cash offer of $33 per Spirit share, a premium of 50% over that airline’s April 4 closing price. In response to the new offer, Spirit said its directors have decided to begin discussions with JetBlue to determine whether that company’s proposal is indeed superior to Frontier’s, although it noted that it remains bound by the Frontier agreement — for now.
JetBlue submitted a bid to merge with Spirit Airlines.JetBlue
Frontier and Spirit had argued in February that their combination would mean more low fares for more consumers, and now JetBlue is claiming the same thing for a JetBlue-Spirit merger. The merger would make JetBlue “the most compelling national low-fare challenger to the four large dominant U.S. carriers by accelerating JetBlue’s growth and expanding the reach of the ‘JetBlue Effect,’” the company said, “which occurs when legacy carriers react to JetBlue’s unique combination of low fares and award-winning customer service. JetBlue triggers significantly greater fare decreases from legacy airlines when it enters a new market than when ultra-low-cost carriers enter a market.” (JetBlue’s claim to a “JetBlue effect” seems to be stolen from Southwest Airlines, which for decades has claimed a “Southwest effect” — i.e., that fares on all carriers go down when it enters a new market.)
But there are some factors that could make a JetBlue-Spirit combination problematic. For one thing, JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance (NEA) with American Airlines — by which those two airlines coordinate their schedules out of New York and Boston and code-share on many of those routes — is already facing a court challenge from antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice. And those same regulators would have to approve a JetBlue-Spirit merger or a Frontier-Spirit combination. JetBlue doesn’t seem to consider that an obstacle. It said that the Northeast Alliance has “supercharged our growth” in New York and Boston and “we view a combination with Spirit as perfectly complementing the NEA.” But DOJ regulators might not share that opinion.
For another thing, while both carriers depend mostly on Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, there are significant differences between JetBlue’s passenger product and Spirit’s. For example, JetBlue offers a premium Mint cabin on many longer routes (including its New York-London flights), with lie-flat seats and superior in-flight service. Spirit offers a “Big Front Seat” option for a surcharge, providing more space and legroom, but it isn’t comparable to JetBlue’s Mint cabins. Spirit imposes a fee not only for checked bags but for carry-ons in the overhead bins, while JetBlue allows passengers to stow carry-ons in the overhead for free (except purchasers of its cheapest “Blue Basic” fares, who can’t do so except on London flights). JetBlue offers free high-speed Wi-Fi while Spirit is still installing Wi-Fi technology on its fleet and charges a fee for its use. As for possible labor complications, the Air Line Pilots Association represents pilots at both carriers, but JetBlue’s flight attendants belong to the Transport Workers Union while Spirit’s are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
In international route developments, United has delayed its resumption of San Francisco-Melbourne service by about a month. The airline had planned to revive the route May 10 but now has set a resumption date of June 5, initially operating three 787 flights a week. In other Australia news, Delta said this week it will increase service on its Los Angeles-Sydney route to 10 flights a week beginning Dec. 16, adding a second departure on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. And in other trans-Pacific news, Hawaiian Airlines set July 2 for its return to New Zealand after a two-year hiatus, with plans to fly three times a week between Honolulu and Auckland.
Trans-Atlantic markets from the western U.S. are getting more service. The German leisure carrier Condor’s new summer schedule includes nonstop service from San Francisco International to Frankfurt three days a week starting May 19, departing SFO on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Condor uses 767-300s with economy, premium economy and business class seating. Condor’s schedule also includes three weekly Frankfurt flights from Portland starting May 13, from Los Angeles beginning May 24, and from Phoenix as of May 21. Aer Lingus has set May 12 for its return to Los Angeles International, where it will offer daily flights to Dublin, and July 7 for Seattle-Dublin service, with five weekly flights. At Phoenix Sky Harbor, American Airlines this week brought back London Heathrow service with daily flights (a route also served by AA’s partner British Airways). At Denver, Air France plans to resume seasonal service to Paris Charles de Gaulle on May 4 with three weekly flights.
On the East Coast, the skies between Boston and London are getting crowded. JetBlue this week announced plans to begin its long-expected Boston-London service to supplement the New York-London flights it introduced last year. JetBlue plans to operate daily flights from Boston to London Gatwick starting July 19 and to London Heathrow beginning Aug. 22, with both routes using the airline’s specially configured trans-Atlantic A321LR (Long Range) aircraft that come with 24 redesigned Mint suites in the front cabin. JetBlue is jumping into Boston-London competition with United, which is due to start flying the route April 14 with a daily 767-300 flight (offering 46 Polaris business class seats and 22 in premium economy), and with BOS-LHR incumbents American, British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic.
Air France has resumed service between New York JFK and Paris’ close-in Orly Airport.Air France
In other trans-Atlantic news, Air France has resumed service between New York JFK and Paris’ close-in Orly Airport, and said that by early June, it will combine with its partner Delta to offer “an exclusive shuttle service” between JFK and Paris Charles de Gaulle, offering eight flights a day (six on Air France and two on Delta). Also at JFK, Italy’s new ITA Airways has introduced service to Milan Malpensa five days a week, in addition to its existing JFK-Rome service. At Atlanta, Delta resumed service to Barcelona this week with three weekly flights, increasing to daily April 14. And that new summer schedule from Germany’s Condor Airlines mentioned above also includes service to Frankfurt from New York JFK, Boston, Baltimore/Washington and Minneapolis-St. Paul, all beginning in May.
On the domestic side, it’s no secret that Delta is pretty upset about the JetBlue-American Airlines Northeast Alliance (NEA), which those two carriers are using coordinated schedules and code-sharing to maximize their growth at New York and Boston airports. How upset is Delta? Last week, as part of that NEA, JetBlue moved into heartland markets that it previously ignored, introducing new routes from New York JFK and Boston to both Milwaukee and Kansas City. So now Delta is planning to start daily service on June 6 from JFK to Milwaukee and Kansas City — cities it already serves from New York LaGuardia. Last fall, JetBlue started flying from JFK and Boston to San Antonio, and Delta now plans to add a JFK-San Antonio route beginning Sept. 12. In other news, Delta plans to discontinue four domestic routes from its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub in September, cutting service to Albany, Rochester and Syracuse, New York, and to Providence, Rhode Island.
Alaska announces new price of $8 for in-flight WiFi.Jim Glab
Alaska Airlines announced an overhaul of its pricing for in-flight Wi-Fi usage, replacing variable fees based on distance with a flat rate of $8 for Wi-Fi on its mainline aircraft with Intelsat satellite connectivity. The company said with its new satellite service, “Our web portal now loads 50% faster than before with a one ‘click-to-connect’ web experience, and connection speeds are 20 times faster than our previous, basic Wi-Fi system.” The upgraded Wi-Fi permits streaming content to passengers’ personal devices from services like Hulu, Netflix and YouTube, and the Wi-Fi is available from gate to gate, not just in the air. Alaska said nearly 80% of its fleet is currently equipped with satellite Wi-Fi. Alaska’s new flat rate matches the $8 single price United introduced earlier this year for MileagePlus members (it’s $10 for non-members).
In airport news, San Francisco International said this week it has reopened its yoga rooms for passenger use. Located post-security in Terminals 2 and 3, they’re available at no cost during regular passenger hours. “Common-use yoga mats are available for free in the space and will be disinfected regularly,” the airport said, but instruction is not provided. SFO has offered free yoga spaces for several years, “in an effort to make air travel less stressful and more enjoyable,” the airport noted.
Were you planning to fly to Wyoming’s popular Jackson Hole Airport — a gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks — for a spring getaway? Well, you can’t. The airport will be closed from April 11 through June 28 for a major improvement project that includes runway and terminal renovations. Due to the volume of traffic in and out of Jackson Hole, the Transportation Security Administration said it is beefing up staffing at the closest alternate facility, Idaho Falls Regional Airport 100 miles to the west. Other alternatives for travel to Jackson, Wyoming, include Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport in Rock Springs, Wyoming; Yellowstone Regional Airport in Cody, Wyoming; and Montana’s Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.
Frontier Airlines announced plans for a new 14-gate facility at Denver International Airport.Will Waldron/Albany Times Union
Remember when air travelers walked to their aircraft and climbed up stairs to board, and when they used both the front and rear doors of the plane to get on and off? That’s the world Frontier Airlines wants to recreate at its Denver International hub. Frontier and the airport have asked the Denver City Council for approval to build a 120,000 square foot, 14-gate facility at the east end of DEN’s Concourse A that will use “ground boarding” — i.e., no jet bridges. Ground boarding is generally used only for smaller regional aircraft, but Frontier wants to employ it at the proposed DEN facility for mainline planes, and to use both the front and rear aircraft doors for faster boarding and deplaning. Frontier president Barry Biffle said that strategy will cut aircraft turnaround time by 50%, permitting almost twice as many aircraft operations per gate. That will help Frontier add many more flights from DEN, increasing its current network of 80 destinations served from that airport.
