Canada-US Forward Bookings Drop 75%: What’s Causing It?

There have been several new long-haul route launches this month, including avianca’s return to Paris from Bogota, Beond’s arrival in Milan from Maldives (via Dubai), and Juneyao’s inauguration to Brussels from Shanghai. With family across the globe, I would love to see more long-haul flights to the likes of South America and South Asia from Europe. Which long-haul routes would you like to see launched?

I began my commercial flying career at 18 while still in high school. I was fortunate to spend the next 50+ years doing what has been described as “The Best Job in the World,” that of a professional pilot. At age 23, I received an FAA flight check for Airline Transport Pilot and was designated as Captain for an airline. Since then, I have served airlines from the smallest start-up to some of the largest carriers in the world. Ask me anything!

Edit: Thank you all for asking me questions. The AMA has concluded now. It was a pleasure to talk about my flying career, and I hope that I can share more with you in the near future!

Breeze Airways is reportedly considering launching flights to Hawaii once it secures the required ETOPS certifications, which will enable it to fly the required distance over the Pacific Ocean. While a spokesperson told Simple Flying that the airline is “looking at several potential routes,” nothing is set in stone yet, but San Francisco has been rumored to be a potential departure point. 

Several US cities, including Phoenix, San Jose, and Oakland, have seen a drop in flights to Hawaii compared to last year, and following the recent merger of Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines, there are bound to be even more changes to schedules. 

This opens up a unique opportunity for carriers like Breeze to increase capacity to Hawaii and connect it to unserved or underserved markets. Which US cities do you think would benefit from flights to Hawaii next year?

While there are several factors at play when choosing a flight, many people will tend to gravitate towards a particular airline. This could be because they live near a base, have frequent flyer status, or simply prefer the service on offer. I track all of my flights in the Flighty app, and today took a look at my most flown airlines and was slightly surprised to see British Airways claiming the top spot with 49 flights compared to 41 at Ryanair (which I had expected to be at the top)! Equally cool is Air Astana with 7 flights from a single trip to Kazakhstan last summer. What are your most flown airlines? Join the conversation below!

With there being a 100-year celebration of Delta next week, we pause to recall this airline’s history, while being hopeful and curious about its future. Being a major player in American aviation, Delta is always innovating and adapting its fleet and route network to meet changing consumer demand and ultimately achieve maximum profitability. Which aircraft will they commit to order this year, and do you predict a huge route expansion? If so, to where?

Of all the carriers to form part of Star Alliance, which is your favorite to fly with, and why?

Disclaimer: The following is a statement shared by one of our readers and does not necessarily reflect the views or ideas of our publication.

Given oneworld Alliance carrier Alaska Airlines’ recent acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, it would appear another brand is set to join the oneworld fold. The smallest of the three major airline alliances with just 13 current members, the group has the potential to grow even further.

Two airlines have already confirmed they will be joining the program in the coming months. Fiji Airways (which is set to adopt the American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty program) and Oman Air (the second Gulf carrier to join oneworld following Qatar Airways) will officially join the group. 

Speaking to Simple Flying’s Sumit Singh earlier this summer, oneworld CEO Nathaniel Pieper said that any future airlines must bring a range of new destinations without significantly eroding the market share of existing oneworld carriers. Which airlines do you think have a complimentary network that would fit well in the oneworld Alliance?

With Southwest Airlines beginning to retire more and more Boeing 737-700s, the carrier will need replacements soon. It currently has over 340 orders for the 737 MAX 7, which would be a direct replacement. However, as certification woes continue, would Southwest need to turn to a different aircraft instead?

The Airbus A220 can be seen as the MAX 7s closest replacement. Plus Breeze Airways and Delta Air Lines have found great success with the aircraft type. 

What do you think?

As you know, Delta has a firm order for 20 Airbus A350-1000s, with options for 20 more. Deliveries will begin in 2026. The type may become Delta’s highest-capacity equipment. It will surely have many premium seats, which will help dictate where it is flown.

Combined with a high overall capacity, they may be used in slot-constrained airports, particularly in Europe, where it is hard to grow with additional frequencies.

But that’s far less interesting than possible new routes. When combined with their long range, they will inevitably mean more new routes. Delta has teased by suggesting destinations in India and Saudi Arabia.

It flew from Atlanta to Mumbai on the 777-200LR in 2008/2009. Might it return? In the past year, it had 55,000 roundtrip point-to-point passengers, making it a slightly larger market than Delhi. Plus, of course, there is considerable transfer traffic.

Despite being a very long way, the Atlanta-Mumbai base fare was only $712 one-way (excl. fuel surcharge, taxes, e

Everyone knows that New York JFK is the US’s leading long-haul gateway. In the year to July, it welcomed approximately 23 million passengers from Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East, and lower South America.

Despite service from airlines globally, an estimated 40% of passengers—more than nine million people—had to connect to another flight en route.

More than eight in ten passengers who traveled to/from the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Southern Africa connected.

Since South African Airways pulled out of JFK in 2020, Southern Africa has had no non-stop or one-stop flights, so all 100,000+ passengers transferred. (United has non-stop flights from Newark.)

These were JFK’s 10 largest unserved cities in the examined period. Mentioning them does not mean they warrant flights or would be commercially feasible.

– Dhaka: 164,000 roundtrip passengers (served by Biman until 2006, then 2009-2011)

– Bangkok: 107,000 (served by Thai Airways until 2008)

– Tirana: 10

I’ve noticed that there is a pretty big gap in the United network. They don’t have a major hub in the southeast, and no — Washington Dulles does not count. If I were to choose an airport, it would be Raleigh-Durham, but in theory any airport that already sees United service is up for grabs. What do you think?

Russian-carrier Aeroflot used to serve over 50 destinations before the Russia-Ukraine War but mostly all have been terminated in Europe and North America since the beginning of the war.

In the United States, Aeroflot served direct flights from Moscow (SVO) to: New York (JFK), Miami (MIA), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Chicago (ORD), Seattle (SEA), and Washington (IAD).

In Europe, Aeroflot served Moscow (SVO) to: Madrid (MAD), London (LHR), Frankfurt (FRA), Munich (MUC), Rome (FCO), Warsaw (WAW), and so many more. However, all have been terminated since the EU banned Aeroflot from flying to Europe.

The airline currently serves flights to Dubai (DXB), Istanbul (IST), Bangkok (BKK), Tehran (TEH), Almaty (ALA), and other destinations. This also includes flights around Russia including St. Petersburg (LED), or places like Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PKC). These are mainly reasons why Aeroflot makes money still. Other airlines banned from Europe are Rossiya, and S7 Airlines.

With

As much as we love to dream about trips in the cabins up front, the majority of us enjoy most of our flights down back in the cheap seats. There’s usually not much to write home about – just enough space to be tolerable, perhaps some IFE if we’re lucky.

But not all economy seats are equal. At their smallest, economy class seats might be 17 inches wide, with a pitch of 28 or 29 inches. Conversely, some carriers treat passengers to 34 inches of pitch and seats that are 18 inches wide; when you’re packed into the economy cabin, every inch matters.

Of course, seats are very aircraft-specific. Within one fleet, there may be an Airbus A220 with a generous 19-inch seat width and 32 inches of pitch, alongside a Boeing 737-800 with seats of just 17 inches wide and a 30-inch pitch. You’d think long haul aircraft would have the best economy seats, given the time we’re expected to spend in them. But get this – the seats in the A321neo are 18 inches wide; in the 787 Dreamliner, they’re only 17

Simple Flying’s reporting on Delta Air Line’s new “100 Years” livery got me thinking: The standard Delta livery has been around for quite a while now. Since 2007, in fact, so the better part of two decades. Which is interesting, because the airline seemed to change it quite frequently prior to that. 

But the liveries of other airlines have been around even longer. British Airways’ “Chatham Dockyard” livery dates back to 1997, and Singapore Airlines and Korean Airlines have been largely unchanged (bar some minor tweaks to the titles) since the late 1980s. I believe that Philippine Airlines holds the record for the oldest livery, unchanged since it was introduced 40 years ago.  

You can argue that it’s good to stick with a solid brand that everyone recognizes. But sometimes even the most well-recognized brands need a refresh. So with that in mind…

Which airline needs to update its livery?

Modern aircraft have the ability to seamlessly venture on transcontinental and transoceanic adventures across the skies. The longest nonstop flight I’ve been on was a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A350 trip from Kuala Lumpur to London, which took nearly 13 hours to complete. However, I’m sure many of our readers have been on longer flights. Please share your experiences with us below!

Recently, Simple Flying took a deeper look at transatlantic route networks with the intention of beginning to understand why exactly some carriers operate transatlantic flights just once per week. There are nine of these such services, and all serve a rather unique purpose. Much like short-haul routes that operate just once per week, these long-haul services primarily cater to leisure travelers who are fully willing to arrange their travel schedules around the one day per week a flight operates. European budget carriers are behind the majority of these routes, and they use these infrequent services to supplement the rest of their network and offer the largest number of destinations to the most passengers. But what do you think? Why do carriers like TUI operate once-weekly transatlantic services?

At Routes World in Bahrain, Etihad’s Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer, Arik De, said that the carrier will announce “another US route very soon.” Naturally, he gave no hints. 

It currently serves Boston, Chicago O’Hare, New York JFK, and Washington Dulles. In the past, it flew to Dallas/Fort Worth (until March 2018), Los Angeles (March 2020), and San Francisco (October 2017).

Where would you like them to fly next? Let us know!

Star Alliance became the first global aviation alliance in 1997 with five airlines. Now, the organization has grown to 25 carriers, which all offer numerous connections to destinations all over the world. As it competes with the SkyTeam Alliance and oneworld, which airline do you think will be the next to join?

Disclaimer: The statement above is shared by one of our readers and does not necessarily reflect the views or ideas of our publication.

Airbus today shared that it is talking with Rolls-Royce regarding plans for a new narrowbody aircraft for the late 2030s. The manufacturer already has the successful A320 family under its belt and also took on the A220 program from Bombardier in 2018. Julie Kitcher, the chief sustainability officer of Airbus, told Simple Flying at the Farnborough Airshow that her company is looking to continue improving aircraft fuel efficiency. What other changes could we see with this type? Let us know what you think below!

In August, the world has more than 8,600 daily widebody-operated flights. One in 12 of the world’s services is on a twin-aisle. Most flights are on the Boeing 777-300ER, an excellent variant for range, high-capacity passenger cabins, and considerable belly-hold freight volume. The A330-300 is second, and the 787-9 is third. It raises an obvious question: which widebody type or variant have you flown the most? Let us know!