Some talk on Air....

Southwest eyes big changes in aircraft seating, passenger boarding

SFGATE contributor Jim Glab rounds up air travel and airport news for our weekly column Routes

By Jim Glab

In the latest aviation developments, Southwest Airlines says it is studying changes to its traditional one-class, open-seating policies following poor first-quarter results; Southwest is also dropping four cities and reducing operations at two big airports; new Transportation Department final rules mandate prompt passenger refunds and more fee transparency from airlines; proposed amendment to the big FAA Reauthorization Bill could stifle TSA’s deployment of facial recognition technology; JetBlue struggles to cope with a big first-quarter loss, reduced capacity; Delta wants to eliminate the need for returning international passengers to recheck luggage for domestic connections; Southwest rolls out its Cash + Points ticket purchase option; two low-cost carriers begin big California route expansions next week; United revives SFO-Rome nonstops and Air Canada brings back a Sacramento route; Fresno’s airport introduces a unique dining option; and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta tightens restrictions on public access to the airport. 

After Southwest Airlines reported disappointing first quarter results this week, CEO Bob Jordan dropped a big hint in a CNBC interview that the company could introduce some significant changes in its product, which has always offered a single cabin class and open seating for all passengers.

“We’re always looking at new initiatives, things like the way we seat and the way we board our aircraft,” Jordan said. Asked if Southwest might be considering “a business class or a bifurcation of the cabin,” Jordan replied: “There’s nothing to report today except the fact that we are studying this. We always want to know what our customers expect and their preferences, so we are studying our seating and our cabins right now. … Customer preferences do change over time. Customers love our current product … but it was designed at a time when load factors were significantly lower than they are today.”

Southwest, which operates an all-737 fleet, had its growth plans upended after the Federal Aviation Administration stopped Boeing from implementing a planned 737 production increase this year. That will deprive Southwest of dozens of new planes it had been counting on this year. At least Southwest was spared the damage suffered by Alaska Airlines and United by the FAA’s grounding of 737 Max 9s in January because Southwest has no Max 9s. Still, the airline’s first-quarter results showed a net loss of $231 million, despite record operating revenue and passenger numbers. The company said it has “intensified our network optimization efforts to address underperforming markets.” As part of that effort, Southwest plans to drop four airports from its route map: Syracuse, New York; Bellingham, Washington; Houston Bush Intercontinental; and Cozumel, Mexico. The airline will also reduce the number of flights it offers at Chicago O’Hare (its main Chicago operation is at Midway Airport) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International. 

The Department of Transportation fired a consumer protection broadside at the airline industry this week, issuing final rules that require carriers to issue refunds promptly and to be more transparent about the fees they charge. The refunding rule was spurred by an avalanche of consumer complaints against airlines and ticket agents filed during the pandemic, when carriers often dragged their feet on refunds or only offered customers travel vouchers instead of cash repayments for canceled flights. The new rule states passengers are entitled to prompt refunds for canceled or “significantly changed” flights. The second rule requires airlines and ticket agents to “tell consumers upfront” the optional fees they charge for checked bags, carry-on bags, and canceling or changing a booking, instead of making the customer search through web pages for that information.

The U.S. travel industry is going nuts over an effort by a small group of Senators to attach an amendment to the must-pass FAA Reauthorization Bill that would block the Transportation Security Administration’s increasing reliance on facial recognition technology in passenger processing. The amendment from Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and John Kennedy, R-La., and a few co-sponsors was originally introduced as a separate bill last fall.

The U.S. Travel Association — the industry’s largest lobbying group — charged this week that the proposed amendment “would immediately prevent the Transportation Security Administration from using most automated facial matching technology at airport checkpoints, which is in use at many of the largest and busiest airports in the U.S.” USTA said adoption of the amendment would result in longer security screening lines, reduced security, and the waste of millions of taxpayer dollars that funded the development of the technology in recent years. During a USTA event at Atlanta’s airport, former Homeland Security official Seth Stodder noted that “no one is forced to use the new (facial recognition) system, but people are volunteering in droves to use it, just like people clamored to sign up for TSA PreCheck.” 

JetBlue this week reported troubling financial results for the first quarter as the carrier embarks on new strategies to turn around its losses. The airline’s first-quarter net loss of $192 million in 2023 ballooned to $716 million in the first three months of this year, though with special items excluded, the net loss was adjusted to $145 million, JetBlue said. The carrier has taken on a new top management team in recent months, which is now “rolling out the initial components of our refocused plan,” said JetBlue President Marty St. George. That includes making “a number of significant network changes, which are designed to free up unprofitable flying and reallocate it to proven leisure markets where JetBlue has historically won.” 

The airline shrunk during the first quarter, with overall capacity down 2.7% year over year, while operating revenue fell 5.1% and operating costs jumped 14%. Earlier this year, JetBlue announced the elimination of several routes from Los Angeles International (including San Francisco), and the company said it is planning to end service at four domestic airports (Burlington, Vermont; Newburgh, New York; Baltimore/Washington; and Kansas City) as well as three South American destinations (Lima, Peru; Bogota, Colombia; and Quito, Ecuador). JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said the airline is still facing “significant elevated capacity” to Latin America that will continue to pressure revenues in 2024.

Delta is reportedly planning to eliminate one of the more annoying aspects of international travel: The need for passengers flying into the U.S. to pick up and recheck their luggage for a second inspection before boarding an onward domestic connecting flight. Subject to talks with Japanese and U.S. officials, the airline will start the streamlined procedure for passengers on Delta’s flights from Tokyo Haneda to six U.S. airports: Los Angeles, Honolulu, Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul. In an interview with the Japanese daily newspaper the Mainichi, Delta Vice President of Asia/Pacific Jeff Moomaw said the airline hopes to expand the new passenger perk to its flights from Seoul Incheon as well, and eventually to its U.S. routes from London and Frankfurt. He said Delta hopes to begin the new process this year at the earliest.

“Anyone who has traveled and connected in the U.S. knows that [rechecking bags] is a difficult experience,” Moomaw said. “We will soon be able to remove that part of the experience.” 

Southwest Airlines this month is rolling out its promised “Cash + Points” ticket purchase option for Rapid Rewards members, but some online observers suggest it might not be as valuable as it appears. The new option lets customers reduce the cost of a ticket by specific amounts depending on how many Rapid Rewards points they want to apply. A customer who books flights online and goes to the payments page should select “Cash + Points” to pick one of five options for the number of points to apply to the purchase price. The View from the Wing blog cites a couple of problems with the new option: 1) Customers who use it will find their points are worth about 0.6 cents each toward the ticket price, versus a value of about 1.1 cents when points alone are used for the ticket; and 2) tickets paid for with cash and points don’t earn Rapid Rewards points or qualifying points toward Southwest’s A-List, A-List Preferred or Companion Pass. The site Award Wallet notes that “there’s no set value for points redeemed for Cash + Points bookings. That alone is ominous and should encourage you to break out the calculator if you feel like making a mixed-currency booking.”

Next week, low-cost Avelo Airlines plans to double the number of routes it serves from Sonoma County’s Charles M. Schulz Airport in Santa Rosa, following its recent designation of that facility as one of its two California bases (the other is Hollywood Burbank Airport). On May 1, Avelo plans to begin flying twice a week from Santa Rosa to Kalispell, Montana (Glacier Park International Airport), and to Pasco, Washington (Tri-Cities Airport, also serving Richland and Kennewick). Avelo plans to add twice-weekly flights to Boise, Idaho, on May 2 and to Salem, Oregon, on May 3. The airline already flies from Santa Rosa to Las Vegas, Hollywood Burbank, Bend/Redmond, Oregon, and Palm Springs.

In southern California, low-cost Breeze Airways is slated to add San Diego to its route map next week, introducing nonstop service to five destinations, including three transcontinental routes, using Airbus A220-300 aircraft. On April 30, Breeze will launch service three days a week from San Diego to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, followed on May 1 by four weekly roundtrips to Norfolk, Virginia, and two a week to Jacksonville, Florida. On May 2, Breeze plans to add three weekly flights to Cincinnati, and on May 3, twice-weekly service to Pittsburgh. Other new Breeze flights from San Diego include one-stop, same-plane service to Providence, Rhode Island, beginning April 30 and to Hartford, Connecticut, starting May 1.

Meanwhile, at Los Angeles International, Breeze is scheduled to revive summer seasonal service on May 1 to Raleigh-Durham with two weekly flights and to Providence with daily service. On May 2, Breeze adds three weekly flights from LAX to Jacksonville, Florida, and on May 3 it is scheduled to begin twice-weekly service to Charleston, South Carolina. Low-cost rival Avelo Airlines plans to kick off new service on May 3 from Hollywood Burbank to Las Vegas with flights on Fridays and Sundays. 

United Airlines plans to revive nonstop transatlantic service May 2 from San Francisco International to Rome, using a Boeing 777 for the 11-hour, 45-minute flight. It’s the only nonstop service available between SFO and Rome. On May 1, Air Canada is set to resume service from Sacramento to Toronto with five flights a week, and to boost its Sacramento-Vancouver schedule from one flight a day to two.

In other international route news, a new competitor is due to enter the Los Angeles International-Paris CDG market on May 1 when the low-cost European carrier Norse Atlantic Airways starts flying the route six days a week with a 787. At San Diego, British Airways last week added a second daily flight to London Heathrow.

How can an airport expand its food and beverage offerings without opening new restaurants? Fresno’s Yosemite International Airport has found the answer: food trucks. The airport said it has invited local food truck vendors to park outside the terminal from 8 p.m. until the final flight departure of the day. The initial participants will be Los Mexicanos Frutas y Antojos and Tacos Tepa. Approved vendors will operate “on a rotating schedule with no more than two trucks onsite for a maximum term of six months,” the airport said. “After six months, a new food truck vendor will begin their term to provide food services.” The program is temporary, designed to supplement food services during terminal construction before new concessions open in 2025. 

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International — the world’s busiest airport — this week implemented tough new restrictions on who can enter the facility, complying with legislation passed by the Atlanta City Council in February. The new rules expand ATL’s previous entry restrictions — which only applied from 11 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. — so they now apply 24 hours a day, every day. “Going forward, access to the Airport will be restricted 24/7 to ticketed passengers, personnel, individuals meeting or greeting passengers, those performing facility maintenance, and others who have legitimate business to conduct at the Airport,” ATL said, citing safety concerns. The restrictions apply to the domestic and international terminals as well as SkyTrain, the Rental Car Center and the airport’s parking decks. “Violators are subject to arrest and prosecution,” the airport noted.