Friday Flyer – November 10, 2023

Let’s see what’s going on around the airline industry this week.

Interesting Aviation News

  • The trial against the Jetblue/Spirit merger is underway.  The trial is a result of the US Department of Justice challenging the proposed merger on the basis of anti-trust concerns.  The CEO of Jetblue testified this week in support of the merger, and his belief that it will actually benefit the consumer because it will a bigger force to take on the big 4 in the US.
  • Emirates continued the trend of strong earnings when they announced a half-year profit of $2.56B, an increase of 134% year-over-year.
  • A few weeks ago, I shared an article about United’s new boarding process.  That got the attention of academics.  One has been studying this for a while and says he has a process that could make it even faster.  Unfortunately, he admits that his idea does seem to ignore the realities of the actual business, so perhaps his idea won’t work.
  • I’ve shared articles about the dreaded “SSSS” that can appear on your boarding pass if you’re unlucky.  This article says that there could be an even worse thing to see on your boarding pass.  That’s some form of “GATE” for your seat assignment.  It can mean a lot of things, but generally it means you don’t have a seat.  (h/t: Srikanth)
  • Even though it’s from a few years ago, this visualization is really cool to see how the airline environment has changed over the last 40 years due to acquisitions.  (h/t: Brent F.)
  • In Australia at the Sydney Airport, a new bridge has been opened to improve traffic around the domestic terminal.  The bridge is named after Deborah Lawrie, the first female pilot at a major commercial airline in Australia.  Her story in commercial aviation officially began in 1980, but she intended for it to start earlier.  However, Ansett airlines wouldn’t hire her for reason that don’t make sense.  She challenged Ansett in court and won and her career is now legendary.  What makes this even more special is that the bridge named after her crosses over top of the road named after Ansett’s founder (and namesake) who personally challenged her hiring.  Not bad for some sweet justice.  (h/t: Rachel)

Interesting Aviation Fact

In the Flyer I’ve talked about a lot of different airlines.  Here’s one that you probably haven’t heard of: JANET Airlines.  And even if you have heard of it, it’s unlikely that you know much about it, because no one does.  This secretive airline is used for transporting government employees from Las Vegas airport to some very remote and secretive military installations, including Area 51.  I’m not sure how much revenue management they need, but it’s certainly an interesting airline!

Cool Aviation Photo

On first glance, you may just think the picture below is a Boeing B757-200 with a lot of stickers on it.  But look a little closer and there’s something unique about it.  It has a third engine on a tiny wing off the side.  This airplane is Honeywell’s test aircraft for new engine technology.  That extra wing allows the company to put a variety of different engines on there (not just propellers) to test the technology.  Here’s an article about the plane if you want to learn more.