Delta travelers can expect to see new and improved aircraft on the carrier’s key transcontinental routes in the months ahead.
In the latest air travel developments, Delta travelers can expect to see a brand-new aircraft on the carrier’s key transcontinental routes in the months ahead; the Transportation Security Administration is adopting gender-neutral procedures at airport checkpoints; there’s more transatlantic service at SFO from United, Virgin Atlantic and Level; more international route news from United, Delta, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM and other carriers; Air Tahiti Nui adds a West Coast route and a U.S. partner; Cathay Pacific plots a 10,000-mile route from the U.S.; as travelers return to the skies, airport screeners are finding “tons of prohibited items” in their carry-ons; TSA starts to phase in acceptance of passenger IDs stored in Apple Wallet; and Delta cuts the ribbon on phase one of its big terminal redevelopment at LAX.
Delta is reportedly planning to deploy factory-new planes for its key transcontinental routes — like San Francisco-New York and Los Angeles-New York — as it begins to take delivery of new Airbus A321neos, the first of which joined Delta’s fleet last week. The airline has ordered 155 A321neos, and according to Airline Weekly, it plans to fit out 21 of them with a special 148-seat configuration, including 16 lie-flat suites in the Delta One cabin, as well as 12 premium economy, 54 Comfort Plus extra-legroom economy and 66 regular economy seats. That’s a much more front end-loaded configuration than Delta’s standard domestic A321neo layout and is designed to protect the carrier’s market share on those highly competitive transcontinental routes against rivals American, United and JetBlue. Delta’s standard domestic A321neos will have 194 seats — 20 in first class seats, 42 in Comfort Plus and 132 main cabin seats, but no premium economy option.
Delta said this week it will introduce the A321neo between San Francisco and Boston on May 20, Seattle-Boston Aug. 11 and San Diego-Boston and Denver-Boston Aug. 20 (the latter two routes are new ones that start July 11), but it indicated those aircraft would have the standard domestic configuration. The older aircraft that Delta currently uses on those routes do offer lie-flat front cabin seating, but “many travelers consider the product dated and in need of an update,” Airline Weekly commented. Delta said it will take delivery of 26 A321neos this year. Note: The A321neos, manufactured in Alabama, are not to be confused with Delta’s existing fleet of A321ceos, which are built in Germany. By the time all its A321neos are delivered, Delta said, it will have a total of 282 A321 aircraft of both types.
TSA said it will permit PreCheck members “to select their gender based on self-attestation, regardless of the gender on the person’s identification documents.”
The Transportation Security Administration said it will adopt new “gender-neutral” airport screening standards for the benefit of “transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming airline passengers” in the coming months. What does that involve? The agency said it plans to update the algorithm for its Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) passenger scanning units to make them more accurate, efficient and gender neutral. “By replacing the current, gender-based AIT system, this new, more accurate technology will also advance civil rights and improve the customer experience of travelers who previously have been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas,” TSA said. The updated AIT devices should be deployed later this year. The agency also will retrain its airport screening officers “to permit less invasive screening procedures for certain passengers who trigger the AIT scanner in a sensitive area. This change will reduce pat downs for TSOs and the traveling public without compromising security,” the agency said. TSA noted that in February, it changed screening procedures by removing “gender considerations” when validating a passenger’s identity. “When travelers appear at the travel document checker podium for identity verification, gender information is irrelevant in determining that a traveler may proceed into the screening area,” TSA said. The agency’s PreCheck program is also getting an update, allowing applicants to select “X” as an alternative gender category. Starting early this month, TSA said, it will permit PreCheck members “to select their gender based on self-attestation, regardless of the gender on the person’s identification documents.” Existing PreCheck members can change the gender identity on their account by calling 855-347-8371 and speaking with a customer service rep. TSA has updated its website with a page explaining all the changes at www.tsa.gov/transgender-passengers.
As the calendar moved from March to April, airlines started to phase in their peak season schedules, adding new routes and resuming suspended ones, and adding more flights to existing schedules. At San Francisco International, for instance, both United and Virgin Atlantic this week increased their service to London. United introduced a second daily nonstop to London Heathrow and plans to add a third frequency to the schedule May 28. Virgin Atlantic boosted its SFO-LHR schedule from seven flights a week to 11 and is due to increase that to twice daily departures May 6. And on April 14, United is slated to resume flying its suspended San Francisco-Amsterdam route. South of the border, United this week expanded its SFO-Mexico City schedule from nine flights a week to three a day.
Level, the low-cost affiliate of British Airways/Iberia parent International Airlines Group, this week resumed service between San Francisco and Barcelona, and added Los Angeles-Barcelona flights as well. The San Francisco flights depart SFO on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The LAX service operates three days a week, increasing to four on June 1. Level already flies from New York to Barcelona and plans to add Boston-Barcelona service on May 1. Level is a code-share partner of both American and Alaska Airlines.
At United’s Newark hub, the carrier this week resumed service to Berlin with six weekly flights, increasing to daily on May 5. But instead of flying into Berlin’s Tegel Airport, United flights now land at the German capital’s new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). We use the term “new” advisedly: Brandenburg opened in late 2020, many years later than originally planned. United’s flight is the only nonstop service from the U.S. to Berlin. Also this week, United restarted flights from Newark to Porto, Portugal — a route also served by TAP Air Portugal.
Delta this week ended its two-year hiatus on New York JFK-Brussels service, operating five flights a week and increasing to daily service on May 10. On April 12, Delta plans to resume Detroit-Frankfurt operations, offering five weekly flights and increasing to daily service May 2. And American Airlines this week revived seasonal service from its trans-Atlantic hub at Philadelphia to Lisbon, offering daily flights through Oct. 29.
Lufthansa introduced service from San Diego to its Munich hub.
At San Diego, Lufthansa this week introduced service to its Munich hub using an Airbus A350-900. The German carrier previously operated pre-pandemic San Diego-Frankfurt service but switched to Munich where many of its fuel-efficient A350s are based. The Swiss leisure carrier Edelweiss this week revived service between Las Vegas and Zurich with twice-weekly flights, increasing to three a week in June. There’s plenty of trans-Atlantic action in Texas. At Dallas/Fort Worth International, Delta partner Air France returned this week after a two-year absence, operating five weekly flights to Paris CDG. Finnair, a member of the American/British Airways trans-Atlantic joint venture, started a new route from American’s DFW hub to Helsinki, offering four weekly flights with an A350-900. And Delta partner KLM kicked off a new Texas route this week from Amsterdam to Austin, its 12th U.S. destination, with three 787-9 flights a week.
Looking farther ahead, Turkish Airlines said this week it will start flying its newest U.S. route on May 27, when it introduces Seattle-Istanbul 787 service four times a week. The carrier also plans to add U.S. service to Denver and Detroit but hasn’t yet said when they might start. And Qantas has announced a new U.S. route from Dallas/Fort Worth to Melbourne beginning Dec. 2 with an initial schedule of four weekly 787 flights. Qantas, a member of American’s global Oneworld alliance, already flies from DFW to Sydney.
Alaska Airlines has announced another international partner in its network: Air Tahiti Nui, which announced this week it will start flying a 787-9 nonstop twice a week from Papeete to Alaska’s Seattle hub on Oct. 4. That carrier’s only existing U.S. service is from Papeete to Los Angeles and from LAX to Paris. Beginning April 1, Alaska said, members of its Mileage Plan loyalty program can earn miles on Air Tahiti Nui flights, and mileage redemption on the French Polynesian carrier will be coming “later this spring.”
Cathay Pacific will operate the world’s longest nonstop flight beginning April 3 as it reroutes its New York JFK-Hong Kong flight to avoid using Russian airspace. The new routing will take the Cathay A350-1000 across the Atlantic and Europe, then veer to the south to avoid Russia, for a total distance of 10,357 miles and an estimated flight time of 17 hours 50 minutes. The Hong Kong-to-New York segment flies east across the Pacific and North America and takes about 15.5 hours. So someone booked for a round trip on the route gets a true round-the-world experience. The flights proceed in a generally eastbound direction on both segments to take advantage of prevailing tailwinds instead of flying into the wind from New York to Hong Kong. Singapore Airlines has claimed the longest-flight record with its service from Singapore to New York, which takes about 18 hours but is shorter in terms of distance flown at 9,534 miles.
As U.S. passenger numbers continue to approach or exceed pre-pandemic levels this year, TSA is warning travelers to be careful about what they put in their carry-on bags. TSA said this week its airport officers have reported that passengers are bringing “literally tons of prohibited items to the checkpoints.” The biggest problem continues to be firearms; record numbers of guns — many of them loaded — were detected in carry-ons during the pandemic even though passenger numbers were much lower than normal. Guns are allowed only in checked bags, TSA said, and must be properly packed and declared at check-in. A gun found in a carry-on can mean a big fine and possible arrest. Besides real guns, TSA said, “An item appearing more often in passengers’ bags are lighters which are cast as a metal gun and if brandished inside the aircraft cabin could appear to be one of the small guns on the market which can discharge ammunition.” Other commonly found prohibited objects include knives, martial arts items and large tools. “If you wouldn’t want the person sitting next to you to have a similar knife, hatchet or ax, then you should leave it at home,” the agency said. Click here for a complete list of prohibited items: www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all.
TSA recently placed $781 million in orders for new computed tomography X-ray systems to be used at airport checkpoints. The equipment is slated to be installed at airports around the country starting this summer. The new CT technology gives TSA officers a better view of the contents of carry-on bags by creating a three-dimensional image that can be rotated on three axes. Last August, the agency placed a $198 million order for similar systems that are currently being installed at TSA checkpoints around the U.S.
Apple and the TSA have started phasing in the acceptance of Apple Wallet as a new way for travelers to present their driver’s license or other state ID at airport checkpoints.
Apple and the TSA have started phasing in the acceptance of Apple Wallet as a new way for travelers to present their driver’s license or other state ID at airport checkpoints. Arizona has become the first state where that option is available, with others expected to follow soon, including Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi and Ohio. Once a driver’s license or other ID is loaded in Apple Wallet, the user can simply tap their iPhone or Apple Watch at the checkpoint’s identity reader. “On their iPhone or Apple Watch, users will be shown which information is requested by the TSA, and can consent to provide it with Face ID or Touch ID, without having to unlock their iPhone or show their ID card. All information is shared digitally, so users do not need to show or hand over their device to present their ID. The TSA will also capture a picture of the traveler for verification purposes,” Apple said. To add an ID to Apple Wallet, the user can tap the “plus” button at the top of the screen in Wallet, select driver’s license or state ID, and follow the on-screen instructions, which involve taking a selfie and scanning the document. “As an additional fraud prevention step, users will also be prompted to complete a series of facial and head movements during the setup process,” Apple said.
At Los Angeles International, LA city officials and Delta executives cut the ribbon this week on the new “centralized headhouse” for the airline’s Terminals 2 and 3; it is expected to open to the general public April 20. The headhouse will offer consolidated ticketing, check-in, baggage claim and security screening facilities for flights out of both terminals. The new four-story, 770,000-square-foot headhouse building is the first completed portion of a larger $2.3 billion project that will give Delta a consolidated 27-gate complex at the two terminals. It will eventually include a new T3 concourse and a post-security corridor to LAX’s Bradley International Terminal. Travelers using the new headhouse will see 46 check-in stations and 32 self-service kiosks as well as seven TSA security lanes, which will increase to 14 by late summer, Delta said. Also opening this month is a “completely renovated” 30,000-square-foot Delta Sky Club with an indoor/outdoor bar, year-round outdoor Sky Deck, showers and other facilities.
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