OAK's second-biggest airline faces price hike amid bankruptcy rumors

In this week's news, San Francisco International Airport warns of a big increase in traveler numbers for the holidays and prepares to offer check-in options outside the passenger terminals; a new report on the rate of holiday-month flight delays contains bad news for SFO flyers ; Spirit Airlines edges closer to bankruptcy as merger talks with Frontier fail ; a federal appeals court upholds the rejection of JetBlue and American's Northeast Alliance; Frontier begins a new California intrastate route from SFO; Southwest plans to shift a Hawaii route from Oakland to Sacramento and Delta is reviving a Midwest route from San Jose; there's international route news from Alaska Airlines, Delta and Air France; two major airports add new passenger entertainment options; Chase opens new Sapphire lounges at two airports, including one in California.

Holiday flyers using San Francisco International Airport should expect to see bigger crowds than last year, airport officials warned this week, adding that a new remote baggage check-in option for harried travelers will be "coming soon."

SFO's holiday travel season begins "in earnest" on Friday, Nov. 22, airport officials said in a Nov. 12 news release, with 160,000 passengers expected to pass through the airport that day. "In total, 6.3 million travelers are expected at SFO between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, an estimated 15% increase over 2023 holiday travel levels," the airport said. That's almost a million more travelers than last year, and SFO urges travelers to get to the airport at least two hours before their scheduled departure time for domestic flights and three hours for international trips. Parking garages will be "at or near capacity" over the holiday period, SFO said, recommending that travelers use public transit or shared rides to the airport. If they must drive, the airport is urging them to use its online booking system to reserve a space ahead of time.

Although the airport didn't specify a starting date, it said passengers will "soon" be able to avoid dragging their luggage into the terminals after it introduces a remote baggage check-in option at SFO's long-term parking garage and its rental car center. "This complimentary service, provided by Bags, is available for domestic flights on select airlines and allows passengers to check in their luggage, receive boarding passes and proceed directly to the TSA checkpoint. Airline baggage fees still apply," SFO said.

Here's another thing to worry about for winter holiday travel: the weather. The travel site Upgraded Points has issued a report on " the most weather-related delays during the holidays ," based on its study of federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics records for dozens of major U.S. airports during November-January over the past five years. The bad news: San Francisco International ranked No. 1 in the percentage of flight delays that are weather-related at 42.3%. "December is particularly challenging, with 50.5% of SFO's delays attributed to weather disruptions," Upgraded Points said. The second-worst airport was Newark, with a weather delay rate of 42.1%, followed by New York LaGuardia (38.3%), Seattle-Tacoma (38.1%) and Boston Logan (31.3%). By contrast, the winter weather delay rate was just 12.4% of total delays at Los Angeles International and 13.1% at San Diego, the report said.

Things are looking bleak in the executive suite at Spirit Airlines, the second largest airline at OAK . Last month, it was reported that the financially troubled low-cost carrier was trying to revive merger talks with Frontier Airlines — a partnership that Spirit was considering two years ago before it decided to accept a higher bid from JetBlue that was eventually nixed by a federal court due to antitrust concerns. But this week, the Wall Street Journal said that the Frontier talks have broken down and Spirit is now involved in " advanced discussions with bondholders to hammer out a bankruptcy plan that would have support from a majority of creditors ." The newspaper said a bankruptcy filing "is expected to happen within weeks," citing "people familiar with the matter."

Spirit said in a news release this week that it has been late in filing its required financial report for the quarter ended Sept. 30 because of the " active and constructive discussions " that are continuing with its bondholders as a substantial amount of its debt is coming due in the months ahead. If both sides reach agreement, Spirit said, "it would be effectuated through a statutory restructuring that is not expected to impair general unsecured creditors, employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, aircraft lessors or holders of secured aircraft indebtedness, but, if effectuated, is expected to lead to the cancellation of the Company's existing equity. If a definitive agreement with the Noteholders is not reached, the Company will consider all alternatives."

Spirit has embarked on a broad effort to reduce its expenses in recent weeks, eliminating a number of routes, furloughing pilots and selling aircraft. As View from the Wing's Gary Leff commented, " Any bankruptcy would likely mean continued flying, albeit with further route adjustments ," although "over time any reduction in service from Spirit does mean higher fares."

After a federal judge issued an order last year that put an end to the JetBlue-American Airlines Northeast Alliance — a broad program of route coordination and code-sharing in the New York and Boston markets — American filed an appeal of the decision. But now a three-judge appeals court issued a ruling on the case, and it stood behind the decision of the trial judge, declaring that the alliance between the two airlines did violate the Sherman Antitrust Act as the U.S. Justice Department had argued. According to Reuters, the appellate court said the Northeast Alliance " had many of the essential attributes of an agreement between two powerful competitors sharing revenues and divvying up highly concentrated markets ."

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American still has the option of pursuing an appeal to the full appellate court or the Supreme Court but hasn't yet said whether it will. Reuters noted that the JetBlue-American Northeast Alliance was announced in 2020 and won approval from the Trump administration's Transportation Department shortly before Donald Trump left office. Simple Flying observed this week: "Since former President Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election, there has been speculation that the airlines could try to bring back their partnership ," as the new administration is widely expected to be more friendly to corporate concentration, partnerships and mergers.

Frontier Airlines is expanding at Hollywood Burbank Airport next week, introducing daily flights to San Francisco International and four flights a week to Phoenix beginning Nov. 21, followed by three flights a week to Denver starting Nov. 22. Hawaiian Airlines plans to operate a second daily San Francisco-Honolulu flight Nov. 23 to 26 and again Dec. 1 and 2 as part of its expanded holiday schedule.

Southwest is planning a change in its Hawaii operations from the Bay Area next year. According to Airline Geeks, the carrier will discontinue its daily service from Oakland to Kona on the Big Island effective March 6 , replacing it with a daily flight from Sacramento to Kona — a route the airline hasn't operated since 2022. The site also reported that Delta will bring back service from San Jose Mineta to Detroit starting July 7 with one daily round trip ; the eastbound segment will be a redeye. Delta also plans to offer summer seasonal flights from its Salt Lake City hub to Fairbanks, Alaska, from June 8 through Sept. 7.

In international route news, Nov. 20 is the launch date for new Alaska Airlines service from Los Angeles International to La Paz in Mexico's Baja California Sur . The carrier plans to operate two to three flights a week with an Embraer E175 regional jet. Delta partner KLM plans to introduce a new year-round route from San Diego to Amsterdam on May 8 , operating three flights a week. Delta has started code-sharing with the Saudi Arabian carrier Saudia , initially putting the Delta code onto Saudia flights from Paris CDG to Jeddah and Riyadh, according to Aeroroutes. Saudia is a member of Delta's SkyTeam global alliance. Next summer, Air France plans to increase service on its Paris CDG-Los Angeles-Papeete, Tahiti, route from five flights a week to daily service from June 16 through Sept. 11.

Bored travelers at two major airports are getting new entertainment options. At Denver International, a golf simulator attraction has opened on the upper level of Concourse A , according to local media reports. The Golf DEN attraction has five simulator bays where players can swing real clubs and see the virtual progress of their shot displayed on a large screen as calculated by scanners and computers. Clubs are provided, and playing time is available in 15-minute increments starting at $20. It also has a bar if you just want to watch. More information is available at golf-den.com .

Meanwhile, Simple Flying reports that a new video gaming lounge will be coming to Minneapolis-St. Paul International sometime early next year. The Metropolitan Airports Commission has approved a 10-year lease for Gameway Inc., to occupy a 3,000-square-foot space at the airport. According to its website, Gameway already operates video game lounges at Los Angeles International's Terminal 3 and Terminal 6 and at Houston Hobby Airport, with new locations coming soon to New York JFK Terminal 8 and Chicago Midway.

In other airport news, Chase is expanding its airport lounge network with two new locations . This week, a Sapphire Lounge by the Club opened its doors at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, and another one in San Diego International is scheduled to debut Dec. 6. The Phoenix lounge is in the Terminal 4, South 1 concourse, offering a central bar, "a retrofitted Airstream food truck" with a menu from Phoenix restaurant the larder & the delta, coffee drinks from Arizona-based Press Coffee, and a wine list from Parcelle, a leading wine retailer. The 10,000-square-foot lounge at San Diego International is in Terminal 2, with a California emphasis on wellness: It has bookable "private rest pods" along with "on-demand digital meditations from Devi Brown," and facial treatments Face Haus. Dining is provided by Oscars Mexican Seafood, coffee by California's Groundwork Coffee, and curated wines by Parcelle.

Chase said it will open new lounges early next year at Philadelphia International Airport and in mid-2025 at Harry Reid International in Las Vegas. It is also planning a lounge at Los Angeles International in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The Chase lounges are open to holders of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, J.P. Morgan Reserve and the Ritz-Carlton Credit Card. Chase already has airport lounges at New York LaGuardia, New York JFK and Boston Logan, and members can use the Etihad Airways lounge at Washington Dulles. Holders of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card also have access to 1,300 Priority Pass airport lounges worldwide, as well as more than 20 Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafes when they are traveling on a Star Alliance member carrier.