Aviation Industry Updates: March 28, 2023

Delta Launches Propel Flight Academy

KEY POINTS:

• Delta, through its Propel Pilot Career Path Program, is launching a pilot academy dedicated to training the airline’s next generation of aviators. The Delta Propel Flight Academy, operated in partnership with training provider Skyborne Airline Academy, will open its doors to the first class of students in June and is now accepting applications from interested candidates.
• “The Propel Flight Academy is the latest chapter in our longstanding commitment to invest in and create new, equitable pathways for qualified talent to enter the pilot profession,” said Patrick Burns, Delta’s V.P. – Flight Operations and System Chief Pilot. “We look forward to watching a new generation of pilots begin their journey at the Propel Flight Academy and eventually join us in the flight deck to help show Delta customers why no one better connects the world.”
• The academy is the fourth pathway type created for aspiring pilots by the Propel Pilot Career Path Program since its inception in 2018. To date, nearly 100 participants have completed Propel’s existing Company, College and Community pathway programs and are now flying for Delta, while another 700 pilots are currently enrolled in the program and working toward that same goal.

Delta

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American Reveals Strategy For International Routes

KEY POINTS:

• Long haul international from Charlotte is likely to remain operated predominantly by Boeing 777-200s, rather than moving to Boeing 787s as the airline takes more aircraft from Boeing.
• They’ve added a third London Heathrow departure from Charlotte and it departs the U.S. at 11:25 p.m. during the summer flying season. (They’ve also added a late night third Los Angeles flight.) Vice
• President of Network Planning Brian Znotins acknowledges the slots they were able to secure from another airline “aren’t at the perfect time” but sees them as good enough to make sense and there are competitive reasons as well.
• The airline still sees Philadelphia as their primary connecting hub to Europe, with New York JFK as predominantly for local traffic. But without as much local demand in Philadelphia, they haven’t brought back as much domestic capacity. And that means fewer connecting passengers to support transatlantic flying.
• This should grow back as the airline receives Airbus A321XLRs, smaller planes that can profitably fly with fewer passengers. (I’d note that they have retired the planes that could have made transatlantic work under this scenario, the Boeing 757s and 767s.)
• While they’re adding widebodies and plan expansion, they haven’t been fully utilizing the planes they’ve got on international routes. They’ve temporarily found themselves flying widebodies to Havana and Las Vegas.
• Some of that is using aircraft time when it would otherwise just sit on the ground, and moving around aircraft for maintenance, but it isn’t only that – Znotins explained that they hadn’t wanted to do Haneda flying yet but got slot exemptions late for this past winter so they had put 3-4 787s into that airport (to squat on slots), which they the repurposed for short haul (“You can sell some Vegas, you’re going to sell zero Rome”).

View From The Wing

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JetBlue & Spirit Airlines Antitrust Trial Date Scheduled For October

KEY POINTS:

• The trial date for the antitrust lawsuit that was set to block the merger of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines has been set for October 16th, 2023. The trial is set to be held at the United States District Court of Massachusetts in Boston.
• The United States Department of Justice stepped in shortly after the merger was announced. The Justice Department is suing to block the $3.8 billion acquisition to prevent industry consolidation. The Justice Department released a statement in addition to the complaint, stating,
• "JetBlue’s plan would eliminate the unique competition that Spirit provides—and about half of all ultra-low-cost airline seats in the industry—and leave tens of millions of travelers to face higher fares and fewer options. Spirit itself put it simply: 'A JetBlue acquisition of Spirit will have lasting negative impacts on consumers.'"
• The DOJ went on to say that the merger would be harmful to working and middle-class Americans across the country. Many of these travelers rely on low-fare airlines when traveling, and the DOJ believes that the JetBlue acquisition will remove the majority of low-cost flights across the country.

Simple Flying

United Seeks to Launch Commercial Flying Taxi Service in Chicago Within 2 Years

KEY POINTS:

• In 2025, United Airlines will fly an air taxi service between the downtown Vertiport Chicago and O'Hare International Airport, using electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft it is purchasing from Archer Aviation. The Archer Midnight eVTOL aircraft will complete the route in about 10 minutes; according to local resident and Ars Managing Editor Eric Bangeman, that journey by car can take over an hour due to road construction.
• "Both Archer and United are committed to decarbonizing air travel and leveraging innovative technologies to deliver on the promise of the electrification of the aviation industry," said Michael Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures. "Once operational, we're excited to offer our customers a more sustainable, convenient, and cost-effective mode of transportation during their commutes to the airport."
• United placed an order for 200 eVTOL aircraft from Archer back in 2021 at a cost of $1 billion. The startup has also raised money from the automaker Stellantis, which has been helping the company with making carbon fiber composites.
• United's headquarters are in Chicago, which no doubt helped determine the location of the first eVTOL route. But United and Archer also say that as the country's third-most populous city, it's a home to business and innovation that makes deploying eVTOL shuttles a good idea.
• If Chicago works out, United plans to add other airport-to-city "trunk routes," with "branch" routes between different communities coming later. The Archer Midnight has a range of 100 miles (160 km) and a top speed of 150 mph (241 km/h).

ARS Technica

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2023 HIRING EVENTS

Frontier Meet-n-Greet | Multiple Dates | See Image Below

TPNx | APRIL 21-22 | MCO

PAPA | MAY 18-19 | LAS

OBAP | AUG 9-11 | MSY

LPA | SEP 14-16 | ISM

RTAG | OCT 7-8 | FTW

FedEx Discusses Hours & Fleet Plans