After finishing with November’s world aviation market summary, we continue with the news from the United States and Canada for December. Below are the links to the posts published in November:
- United States and Canada – November 2023.
- Latin America – November 2023.
- Europe – November 2023.
- Asia and Oceania – November 2023.
- Africa and Middle East – November 2023.
The main highlight of the month was Alaska Airlines’ proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, which was announced last weekend.
The total fleet between the two companies will be nearly 400 aircraft, including Hawaiian’s Airbus A321neo planes. Alaska had retired the last ones it owned back in October, and now these jets will be part of the group again.
With respect to routes, in this edition we have several news items from the domestic sector, both in the United States and Canada. Air Canada, Allegiant, American, Breeze, Hawaiian, jetBlue, Porter and Spirit are some of the airlines that had and will have changes to their networks.
Air Canada
The airline will begin widebody operations between Vancouver and Ottawa effective January 8th, 2024. Air Canada’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners will operate a daily service on this route.
Daily · Boeing 787-9
- AC 342 Vancouver YVR 08:10 · 15:41 YOW Ottawa
- AC 345 Ottawa YOW 17:10 · 19:21 YVR Vancouver
Daily · Boeing 737 MAX
- AC 346 Vancouver YVR 18:10 · 01:48+1 YOW Ottawa
- AC 341 Ottawa YOW 06:00 · 08:39 YVR Vancouver
Currently, the carrier offers two flights a day between the two cities with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which in January the AC 342/345 will be replaced by the Dreamliners.
As for other companies, Porter provides a daily flight on Embraer E-2 jets.
Air Transat
In just over a year, Air Transat plans to launch services between Montreal and Acapulco, Mexico. Operations are for sale on the airline’s website, with an expected start date of December 24th, 2024.
Tuesday
- TS 868 Montreal YUL 06:45 · 11:55 ACA Acapulco
- TS 869 Acapulco ACA 13:05 · 19:15 YUL Montreal
Regarding other Latin American markets, Air Transat will commence flights to Peru from Toronto and Montreal in the coming weeks. To see the schedule, you can read the October post about the U.S. and Canada market update.
Alaska Airlines (and Hawaiian)
Alaska Airlines announced on Sunday, 3 December that it will acquire Hawaiian, an operation valued at USD 1.9 billion. This acquisition expands the fleet of the fifth-largest U.S. airline to nearly 400 aircraft.
The transaction includes Hawaiian’s current debt of USD 0.9 billion.
Alaska Airlines fleet
- Boeing 737-700: 14
- Boeing 737-800: 61
- Boeing 737-900: 12
- Boeing 737-900(ER): 79
- Boeing 737 MAX 9: 63 (7 in order)
Boeing 737 MAX 8 (3) · in order.
Hawaiian Airlines fleet
- Airbus A321neo: 18
- Airbus A330-200: 24
- Airbus A330-300: 1 (9 in order)
- Boeing 717-200: 19
To know more about the acquisition, you can read the press release published by Alaska Airlines.
Allegiant Air
Between May 3rd and May 31st, 2024, Allegiant will inaugurate 12 new routes within the United States. Here is the schedule:
May 3rd
May 15th
- Orlando (SFB) – Rapid City (RAP): 2 weekly · Airbus A319
- St. Petersburg (PIE) – Bismarck (BIS): 2 weekly · Airbus A319
May 16th
- Las Vegas (LAS) – Chattanooga (CHA): 2 weekly · Airbus A319
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Billings (BIL): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
- Nashville (BNA) – Chicago Rockford (RFD): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
- Orlando (MCO) – Allentown (ABE): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
- Punta Gorda (PGD) – Washington (IAD): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
May 17th
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – Traverse City (TVC): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
- Newark (EWR) – Appleton (ATW): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
- Orlando (MCO) – Knoxville (TYS): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
May 31st
American Airlines
Starting June 5th, 2024, American plans to begin seasonal services between Chicago and Reno. In accordance with its website, the company will operate on 168-seat Boeing 737-800s through early October.
Daily
- AA 2531 Chicago ORD 20:35 · 22:53 RNO Reno
- AA 2532 Reno RNO 23:59 · 05:55+1 ORD Chicago
American Airlines in Reno
- Austin (AUS): 4 weekly · Embraer 175
- Dallas (DFW): 15 weekly · Boeing 737-800
- Phoenix (PHX): 24 weekly · Airbus A320, CRJ-700 and Embraer 175
Atlas Air
The airline confirmed the addition of two new Boeing 777-200(LRF) aircraft to its fleet, which are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2024.
This announcement joins another order placed by Atlas Air for four 777 freighters in 2021, subject to a long-term ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) agreement with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA. Three of these freighters have already been delivered, with the fourth 777 scheduled for delivery in December 2023.
Breeze Airways
In February 2024, the carrier will launch two routes in the US. Ogden, Orange County, Phoenix and San Bernardino will have new Breeze connections.
Both routes will be served by Airbus A220-300 jets.
Thursday and Sunday · February 15th
- MX 516 Phoenix PHX 10:43 · 11:11 SBD San Bernardino
- MX 517 San Bernardino SBD 11:51 · 14:16 PHX Phoenix
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday · February 21st
- MX 614 Orange County SNA 08:50 · 11:40 OGD Ogden
- MX 615 Ogden OGD 12:35 · 13:35 SNA Orange County
Delta Air Lines
Effective 2024, Delta will expand its operation in the Atlanta – Seoul market, where it currently serves 7 times a week. In March of next year, the airline will increase to 10 weekly flights, reaching 14 as of May 7th, 2024.
Delta Air Lines will offer these services with Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
Daily – currently
- DL 27 Atlanta ATL 23:35 · 05:45+2 ICN Seoul
- DL 26 Seoul ICN 18:45 · 18:10 ATL Atlanta
New flight
- DL 189 Atlanta ATL 09:45 · 14:20+1 ICN Seoul
- DL 188 Seoul ICN 16:30 · 17:25 ATL Atlanta
Eastern Air Lines
The carrier will temporarily suspend its flights between Miami and Santo Domingo, its only regular route. Eastern will be left with charter services, which are carried out with Boeing 767-200(ER)s and Boeing 767-300(ER)s.
Flights to Santo Domingo were performed on a monthly basis, by the middle of each month. In the last post of the US and Canada market update we had published that these operations were on sale until at least March 2024, but were removed from their reservation system.
Eastern has more than 10 planes in its fleet, but not all of them are operational:
Boeing 767-200
- N603KW · 38 years
- N604KW · 35 years
- N605KW · 39 years
- N606KW · 34 years
Boeing 767-300
- N700KW · 31 years
- N703KW · 32 years
- N705KW · 32 years
- N706KW · 33 years
- N708KW · 27 years
- N968AS · 27 years
Boeing 777-200
- N771KW · 21 years
- N827KW · 22 years
Frontier
On November 16th, Frontier inaugurated three routes to Cancún from the United States. Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis will have services by the company to the Mexican airport, all three with Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Chicago Midway · Daily
- F9 235 Chicago MDW 12:33 · 17:21 CUN Cancún
- F9 234 Cancún CUN 18:26 · 21:11 MDW Chicago
Detroit · Daily
- F9 147/146 (check timetables as there is a different one for each day).
Minneapolis · Daily except Saturday
- F9 237 Minneapolis MSP 06:00 · 11:47 CUN Cancún
- F9 236 Cancún CUN 12:39 · 16:01 MSP Minneapolis
Saturday
- F9 237 Minneapolis MSP 06:15 · 11:52 CUN Cancún
- F9 236 Cancún CUN 12:47 · 16:00 MSP Minneapolis
Frontier in Cancún
- Atlanta (ATL): 14 weekly
- Baltimore (BWI): 7 weekly
- Chicago (MDW): 7 weekly
- Chicago (ORD): 7 weekly
- Cincinnati (CVG): 3 weekly
- Cleveland (CLE): 7 weekly
- Dallas (DFW): 6 weekly
- Denver (DEN): 7 weekly
- Detroit (DTW): 7 weekly
- Kansas City (MCI): 4 weekly
- Minneapolis (MSP): 7 weekly
- Orlando (MCO): 7 weekly
- Philadelphia (PHL): 7 weekly
- St. Louis (STL): 7 weekly
Hawaiian Airlines
The carrier will launch flights to Salt Lake City starting May 15th, 2024, where it will offer one daily frequency from Honolulu. Operations will be performed with Airbus A321neo jets.
- HA 84 Honolulu HNL 18:50 · 05:15+1 SLC Salt Lake City
- HA 83 Salt Lake City SLC 07:00 · 09:55 HNL Honolulu
On the other hand, the airline will inaugurate two new routes to Sacramento starting in May 2024:
Līhuʻe · May 24th · Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
- HA 65 Sacramento SMF 08:10 · 10:50 LIH Līhuʻe
- HA 66 Līhuʻe LIH 12:05 · 20:25 SMF Sacramento
Kona · May 25th · Monday, Wednesday and Saturday
- HA 73 Sacramento SMF 08:10 · 10:40 KOA Kona
- HA 74 Kona KOA 12:15 · 20:25 SMF Sacramento
jetBlue
Last November 2nd, the airline began flights between Orlando and Raleigh-Durham. jetBlue will operate with Airbus A320-200s configured for 162 passengers.
Daily
- B6 1592 Orlando MCO 14:24 · 16:08 RDU Raleigh-Durham
- B6 1591 Raleigh-Durham RDU 16:53 · 18:51 MCO Orlando
In addition to jetBlue, these companies also serve between both cities
- Delta Air Lines (DL): 14 weekly (increases to 21 on December 8th)
- Frontier (F9): 13 weekly
- Southwest (WN): 16 weekly
Lynx Air
The low cost carrier launched five routes to Florida from different Canadian cities during November. Lynx Air will perform these operations on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with 189 seats.
Calgary
- Orlando (MCO): 2 weekly
Montreal
- Orlando (MCO): 4 weekly
- Tampa (TPA): 4 weekly
Toronto
- Fort Myers (RSW): 4 weekly
- Tampa (TPA): 4 weekly
Vancouver
- Orlando (MCO): 1 weekly
Porter Airlines
Porter will inaugurate three new connections from Montreal in the second quarter of 2024. The flights will be carried out with Embraer E-2 jets for 132 passengers in two seating classes.
Calgary · Daily
- PD 389 Montreal YUL 18:20 · 21:05 YYC Calgary
- PD 386 Calgary YYC 09:30 · 15:32 YUL Montreal
Other companies on this route
- Air Canada (AC): 13 weekly
- Lynx Air (Y9): 2 weekly
- WestJet (WS): 6 weekly
Edmonton · Daily
- PD 383 Montreal YUL 19:15 · 21:50 YEG Edmonton
- PD 378 Edmonton YEG 08:50 · 14:51 YUL Montreal
Other companies on this route
- Air Canada (AC): 14 weekly
Vancouver · Daily
- PD 375 Montreal YUL 17:00 · 19:39 YVR Vancouver
- PD 372 Vancouver YVR 08:15 · 16:00 YUL Montreal
Other companies on this route
- Air Canada (AC): 29 weekly
- Lynx Air (Y9): 4 weekly
Spirit Airlines
In early November, the airline launched three routes from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. Each one will be offered once daily with a mix of Airbus A319, Airbus A320-200 and Airbus A320neo.
Atlanta
- NK 3389 Atlanta ATL 05:35 · 08:00 LGA LaGuardia
- NK 3390 LaGuardia LGA 08:52 · 11:32 ATL Atlanta
Chicago
- NK 3385 Chicago ORD 16:33 · 19:44 LGA LaGuardia
- NK 3386 LaGuardia LGA 20:34 · 22:05 ORD Chicago
West Palm Beach
- NK 3384 West Palm Beach PBI 18:05 · 21:00 LGA LaGuardia
- NK 3383 LaGuardia LGA 07:00 · 10:00 PBI West Palm Beach
Stratolaunch
This airplane, incorporated by Stratolaunch Systems Corporation a few months ago, made its first test flight on December 5th. At 11:52 a.m. local time, the aircraft departed from San Bernardino, where it received the Stratolaunch livery, arriving in Mojave a couple of hours later.
The Boeing 747-400 for Stratolaunch, which will be used as a launch platform for the Talon-A reusable hypersonic testbeds, is expected to be operational in the first half of 2024. The expansion of Stratolaunch’s fleet will increase its flight test capability and its ability to serve government and commercial customers worldwide.
Sun Country
Montreal and Toronto will be two new additions to Sun Country Airlines network. Operations will begin in June 2024, and flights will be during the summer season.
Both routes will have twice-weekly services with Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Montreal · June 21st
Monday and Friday
- SY 1767 Minneapolis MSP 07:20 · 10:45 YUL Montreal
- SY 1768 Montreal YUL 11:45 · 13:35 MSP Minneapolis
Toronto · June 13th
Thursday and Sunday
- SY 1917 Minneapolis MSP 14:27 · 17:36 YYZ Toronto
- SY 1918 Toronto YYZ 18:36 · 19:50 MSP Minneapolis
United Airlines
The carrier announced that it will launch operations to a new market in South America beginning in April 2024. Georgetown, Guyana, will have United flights to and from Houston, four times a week.
At the moment, services are not for sale.
Guyana will be United’s eighth market in South America.
Argentina
- Houston (IAH) – Buenos Aires (EZE)
Brazil
- Houston (IAH) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG)
- Chicago (ORD) – Sao Paulo (GRU)
- Houston (IAH) – Sao Paulo (GRU)
- Newark (EWR) – Sao Paulo (GRU)
- Washington (IAD) – Sao Paulo (GRU)
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana · new
- Houston (IAH) – Georgetown (GEO)
Perú
Trinidad and Tobago
- Houston (IAH) – Port of Spain (POS)
WestJet
The Canadian airline will increase its flights to Atlanta starting in summer 2024. Currently, Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg are WestJet’s destinations from this city, offering 17 weekly services.
Schedule starting in the summer 2024:
- Calgary (YYC): 14 weekly flights
- Edmonton (YEG): 7 weekly flights · April 29th (new connection)
- Vancouver (YVR): 14 weekly flights
- Winnipeg (YWG): 5 weekly flights
Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Palm Springs, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Ana, Seattle and Tampa are the U.S. cities served by
WestJet.
Cover photo: Daniel Nicholson – JetPhotos (Honolulu).
