{"id":175032,"date":"2025-04-07T06:10:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T06:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/airline\/delta-runs-to-the-sun-uniteds-goes-further-afield-cranky-flier\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T06:10:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T06:10:49","slug":"delta-runs-to-the-sun-uniteds-goes-further-afield-cranky-flier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=175032","title":{"rendered":"Delta Runs to the Sun, United\u2019s Goes Further Afield \u2013 Cranky Flier"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Delta Adds Sun Flying<\/h3>\n

Delta Air Lines announced new service to the Caribbean<\/a>, along with Mexico and Central America today, including two new nonstops from its Atlanta hub: Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The winter flights will begin December 20 and operate through April 12, both operating daily. Also for DL, Detroit will add Saturday only-service to Grand Cayman while increasing frequencies to Nassau and Canc\u00fan.<\/p>\n

Those looking to escape Minnesota winters can now fly seasonal, Saturday-only flights to Nassau, while Boston will see daily service to St. Thomas during the holidays. Other new routes for Delta include 1x weekly flights to Canc\u00fan from Nashville, Kansas City, and Indianapolis, plus Raleigh-Durham to San Juan. Austin to Los Cabos also joins the fray, and it will join BOS-STT operating daily during the holidays only.<\/p>\n

In other news, Delta will change its name to Sun Country to better reflect the airline\u2019s new network plan.<\/p>\n

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United Expands Pacific Network<\/h3>\n

United Airlines \u2014 which will change its name to Far Flung Country \u2014 announced three new(ish) destinations across the Pacific<\/a> earlier this week, becoming the lone U.S. based carrier to operate to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Adelaide. The long hoped-for expansion to dominate Mongolia with service to the second largest city and burgeoning metropolis of Erdenet (population 97,000) did not materialize.<\/p>\n

BKK and SGN will both operate daily from Hong Kong, paired with UA\u2019s existing service from both LAX and SFO to HKG. Service to both destinations will begin October 26 and be operated by a B787-9 Dreamliner. Adelaide will receive 3x weekly nonstop flights from San Francisco \u2014 also on the B787-9 \u2014 with flights beginning December 11. While UA will be the only U.S. airline at any of the three at Adelaide where it will especially standout since it currently has limited international service to anywhere (and no, New Zealand doesn\u2019t count).<\/p>\n

United didn\u2019t stop there \u2014 however \u2014 it will add a second daily frequency between SFO and Manila, with the double-up beginning October 25 and being flown by a B777-300ER. <\/p>\n

For more on United\u2019s foray into both Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City please visit yesterday\u2019s post on crankyflier.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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ITA Gets a (Gold) Star<\/h3>\n

ITA Airways received formal approval<\/a> to begin its membership into Star Alliance, giving hope to chaotic and misrun organizations the world over \u2014 airline or not \u2014 that if you too, apply yourself, a Star Alliance membership could be coming your way.<\/p>\n

The currently is currently owned by the Italian government which posseses a 59% stake, while Lufthansa owns the rest. LH\u2019s ownership stake is expected to grow in the near future, provided it doesn\u2019t get cold feet once it sees how the carrier really operates itself. <\/p>\n

The process is expected to be completed early next year and when it does, ITA will be the 26th airline in the alliance, and the first to be a four (hundred)-time winner of the Cranky Flier Worst Airline Ever award.<\/p>\n

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Southwest Ends Fuel Hedging<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s one more thing to throw on the pile of \u201cstuff Southwest did forever but won\u2019t do anymore.\u201d The carrier will end its policy<\/a> of hedging its fuel purchases to guarantee future cost certainty in an effort to further cut costs.<\/p>\n

Southwest has participated in the practice since the 1990s, but this change will supposedly save it money by ending the premium it was paying to secure the hedge and the high costs it claimed which were required to manage the program. CEO Bob Jordan said the program has rarely been profitable for the airline\u2019s bottom line \u2014 a shock to just about nobody \u2014 and that the increase in premiums have made the practice untenable. He said this holding a copy of today\u2019s newspaper with a gun held to his head by an Elliott executive while also confirming that Elliott provided him with three meals a day and access to a shower at least once a week.<\/p>\n

Despite this policy shift, Southwest won\u2019t see a dramatic change right away as it\u2019s locked into certain hedging contracts through 2027, although it has the ability to pay $27.99 to receive EarlyBird access to the ending of the deal.<\/p>\n

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Avelo Adds a Base, Makes a Windy City Swap<\/h3>\n

Avelo is adding an eighth base<\/a> for its operation, this time growing its presence in Wilmington (NC). In addition to adding a base at the airport, Avelo began three new routes from ILM earlier this week \u2014 Manchester (no, still not the English one), Nashville, and Rochester (and no, not the Minnesotan one) \u2014 all three will operate 2x weekly.<\/p>\n

Avelo also announced a change in its Chicago operation \u2014 after previously serving Chicago\/Midway from New Haven, the carrier will now fly to Chicago O\u2019Hare instead. Service to ORD will operate 2x weekly beginning May 15. Avelo first began flying to MDW in May of 2022 and some people did actually take the flight from time to time.<\/p>\n

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