Piedmont has long seemed like an airline living on borrowed time. For years it was the airline flying the smallest and least desirable fleets. On more than one occasion, it seemed like its time was up, but it never was. And once again, the airline has avoided death as it has received an allotment of Embraer 175s from its parent, American. The mighty Pacemaker lives on… well, sort of.| Cranky Flier
When Avelo decided to relocate airplanes to Phoenix/Mesa and operate deportation flights for the federal government, you probably saw the headlines raking the airline over the coals.| Cranky Flier
I am always fascinated by New York’s JFK International Airport. It’s one of the rare examples in the US — the only example? — that has multiple private operators running different terminals. And in the past, that has made for some very strange bedfellows. But the airport’s $19 billion plan to remake itself is finally showing how most airline locations are starting to fall into place. The recent addition of United to Terminal 6 as part of its JetBlue deal just cements it even further.| Cranky Flier
American’s inaugural flight on its new 787-9, internally called the 787-9P, was from Chicago to Los Angeles this week. While the airplane was on the ground at LAX on its turn, I was invited to come and take a look.| Cranky Flier
IndiGo Goes Towards SkyTeam| Cranky Flier
This week on The Air Show, we are talking about JetZero and its proposed aircraft. With the episode just going live — if you don’t see it, keep refreshing — I’m putting up a bonus Thursday post with some visual aids that will help you understand what we’re talking about. You really have to see it, I think.| Cranky Flier
When Alaska announced that its first European route would be from Seattle to Rome/FCO next summer, there was some head-scratching all around. This is an airline that’s a member of oneworld. Wouldn’t it have chosen something with more connectivity? One of the most important European capitals? The only real reason that could be gleaned was that CEO Ben Minicucci was thrilled to be able to call his Italian mother to tell her that Rome was coming.| Cranky Flier
If you’ve left a comment in the last couple of days, you may have noticed some, uh, turbulence. See, the company that has powered my comment emails for years, Postmatic, seems to have just disappeared. All of a sudden, it stopped working. I sent a help request and heard nothing back. So, I had to scramble to find an alternative. While I was doing that, I found something that you’ve all been asking about for ages… the ability to edit.| Cranky Flier
The worst-kept secret in the industry finally became officialy last week when United and JetBlue announced the launch of their Blue Sky partnership. The headlines were about what I expected, but there were some interesting nuggest buried in the release. I spoke with JetBlue President Marty St George to get the story.| crankyflier.com