23.02.2021 - 08:43 UTC
US regional airline Contour Airlines (LF, Tupelo) will continue to serve Oakland from Crescent City after the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority (BCRAA) turned down its proposal to change to Sacramento Int'l to take better advantage of its new interline agreement with American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), local media reports.
The Californian joint powers authority reached its decision after hearing from Contour Airlines Chief Executive Officer Matt Chaifetz, who said the Tennessee-based carrier was not pushing for a change, reports Wild Rivers Outpost.
It also follows a special BCRAA board meeting on February 18, 2021, during which the matter was discussed. According to the agenda notes, Contour Airlines did not advocate either hub and was neutral on whether one should be chosen over the other. The airline had merely presented Sacramento as an alternative option given its interline agreement with American Airlines (AA).
The board discussed that AA currently does not serve Oakland and that there is no ability for Contour's passengers leaving Del Norte County Regional airport to connect...
08.02.2021 - 16:34 UTC
Allegiant Air (G4, Las Vegas McCarran) has announced it will open its base at Des Moines, Iowa, on July 1, 2021, more than a year later than originally planned due to COVID-19.
The low-cost carrier in a statement said it would invest USD50 million in the base and station two of its A320-200s and 66 employees at the airport, including pilots, flight attendants, fleet mechanics, and ground crew. Having locally-based aircraft and crews would open up a wider range of options for new routes and more flexible frequencies, the airline said.
The company began service at Des Moines in 2003. It currently offers 10 non-stop routes from the airport to Orlando Sanford; St. Petersburg/Clearwater; Punta Gorda, FL; Destin-Fort Walton Beach; Sarasota/Bradenton; Nashville Int'l; Phoenix Williams Gateway; Austin Bergstrom Int'l; Los Angeles Int'l; and Las Vegas McCarran.
Des Moines will be Allegiant’s 20th operational base. The carrier’s initial plans to open it in May 2020 were scuppered by the pandemic, as were its...
21.01.2021 - 14:33 UTC
American Airlines Group has secured at least USD3.09 billion from the US Treasury as part of the government’s Payroll Support Programme Extension Agreement (PSP2) to preserve jobs in the airline sector.
A first instalment of USD1.54 billion of the additional PSP2 payment was dispersed on January 15, 2021, to American Airlines and its subsidiaries Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines.
The pay-out was part of a USD6.1 billion first PSP2 payment by the Treasury to a number of benefiting airlines. In total, the Treasury has approved another USD12 billion in payroll support for passenger air carriers to support airline industry workers. This follows after the government passed a new relief bill at the end of December 2020 releasing additional funds to help companies pay salaries following the air traffic collapse caused by the pandemic.
To protect taxpayers, American Airlines, like other benefiting carriers, have agreed to issue warrants to the US Treasury to acquire shares in the airline at an exercise price of USD15.66 per share, as required under Section 408...
21.01.2021 - 04:27 UTC
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed its tentative proposal to extend a slot usage waiver at seven airports across the United States through the end of the Summer 2021 season.
The regulator had initially proposed to extend the waiver on December 17, 2020. Under the new final determination, slot usage requirements will be waived at three Level 1 airports - New York JFK, New York La Guardia, and Washington National - while slot rules at four Level 2 airports - Chicago O'Hare, New York Newark, Los Angeles Int'l, and San Francisco, CA - will be relaxed using operational baseline calculations.
The extended rules are largely on the same terms as the current waiver in force through March 26, 2021.
While the vast majority of airlines and industry bodies supported the slot waiver extension (although many requested modifications, mostly in the interests of the global harmonisation of waivers), Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) suggested that the relief at Washington National and La Guardia be extended only through...
