Tulum Keeps Cutting Flights, Air Canada Flies Again, and Other Airline News This Week

What a week it’s been in the aviation world. While Air Canada may see a light at the end of the tunnel for its troubles, Spirit is looking at renewed problems.

A regional airline in Alaska shut down, Southwest cut routes, British Airways added them, and what’s going on with Tulum’s airport? We’ll also discuss a new luxury first class, whether we’re moving toward supersonic flights, and 2 updates on giant airports.

Is Spirit in Trouble Again?

Spirit Airlines has had a rough year — well, actually, the airline has had a rough few years, if we’re being honest. The airline exited bankruptcy faster than anyone expected, and it’s been trying to change its business model to return to profitability.

However, the airline is facing a crisis in which money might run out within a year and is planning to furlough pilots — even telling some staff it’s not a bad idea to look for jobs elsewhere.

Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that Spirit hasn’t achieved a long-term fix and is hiring financial advisors to find solutions. Options include going so far as a second round of bankruptcy.

Air Canada Is Back in the Skies

After a tumultuous week, Air Canada is flying again — at least for now. The airline and its flight attendants couldn’t reach an agreement on a new labor contract, which resulted in shutting down operations for a few days.

The Canadian government ordered the airline and the union into binding arbitration to get flights running again, but the flight attendants didn’t return to work as quickly as they were ordered to. Now, the airline is running again, thanks to a potential deal that’s now up for a vote by the employees’ union. If approved, it will become permanent.

Those with upcoming flights (myself included) should be happy to see the end of cancellations for the time being. Flights resumed on August 19.

Ravn Alaska Shuts Down

In a surprising move, the regional carrier Ravn Alaska ended operations, as reported by the Anchorage Daily News. Ravn had a partnership with Alaska Airlines and served numerous routes within Alaska’s vast territory.

However, financial struggles since a 2020 bankruptcy have never improved. By 2024, Ravn was operating just a fraction of its former network, reducing its schedule to just a single route (Anchorage to Valdez) before shutting down completely.

Tulum Keeps Losing Flights

Delta is the latest airline to scale back operations at Tulum, Mexico (TQO). The airport, which is roughly 2 hours south of Cancun, only opened 2 years ago — and did so to much fanfare, with numerous airlines rushing to over service to what seemed like the new “it” place.

American, JetBlue, Spirit, and United have all reduced schedules to Tulum because the demand hasn’t met their original expectations. Now, Delta is reducing Tulum flights by ending service from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Detroit (DTW), though the carrier will still offer flights to Tulum from Atlanta (ATL).

Ho Chi Minh City Might Use a Unique, New Airport Setup

Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is chronically overcrowded. It’s the country’s busiest airport, hosting over 40 million passengers annually. While a new domestic terminal is available, international flights have numerous delays and bottlenecks.

In December 2025, we should see a new airport open in nearby Dong Nai province, and Your Mileage May Vary reported on some interesting ideas airport management is considering:

• Operate all international flights out of the new airport, using SGN only for domestic flights.
• Operate all flights over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) out of the new airport and anything shorter than that from the existing airport.

Both options have their problems. Imagine arriving at one airport and needing to transfer to another for your domestic connection. Plus, public transportation to the new airport won’t be ready for several years after it opens.

Southwest Drops Nearly 30 Flights

Southwest Airlines is changing … well, pretty much everything, including its flight network. While the carrier announced the end of 30 routes, we count just 29 on the list.

While Southwest has added or changed several routes lately, those accustomed to nonstop flights that will go away will find little solace in that. The airline is ending 7 routes from Denver (DEN), 7 routes from St. Louis (STL), 3 from Las Vegas (LAS), 1 from Houston (HOU), and 1 or 2 flights each from several additional cities like Baltimore (BWI), Oakland (OAK), and Phoenix (PHX), among others.

British Airways Boosts U.S. Flights

British Airways previously dropped flights to Dallas (DFW), but those are coming back as part of the airline’s latest announcement about 2026 flight plans.

For 2026, BA will offer 2 flights per day to Miami (MIA) and 1 per day to Dallas (DFW) and boost the number of flights to Las Vegas (LAS), San Diego (SAN), and Austin (AUS), all from London Heathrow (LHR). Moreover, the airline said all flights to New York Kennedy (JFK) will now operate from London Heathrow (LHR).

Chicago O’Hare Breaks Ground on Concourse D

The massive O’Hare (ORD) is getting more massive. The airport broke ground on Concourse D on August 18, which will offer 19 new gates after completing a $1.3 billion project. There will also be more than 20,000 square feet of lounge space, 30,000 square feet of commercial space, and even a children’s play area. The full concourse should cover 590,000 square feet and open in late 2028.

SWISS Unveils Luxurious 3-Person First Class Suite

SWISS is going all out on its new Swiss Senses upgrades, and the latest element is unique. The “First Grand Suite” will offer a self-contained space for 3 people, covering the window seat on the left side and the 2 seats in the center block of the cabin’s 1-2-1 layout.

SWISS’ first class has just 4 seats, meaning this space covers 75% of the seats in the cabin.

Available from 2026, SWISS says the aisle between the seats will be available just for these passengers — though it’s not clear how this will be enforced. Moreover, the space isn’t truly closed off from the outside world. While it looks incredible, some of the airline’s descriptions seem a bit exaggerated.

United Invests in Supersonic Flights

United Airlines’ venture capital arm, United Airlines Ventures (UAV), announced an investment in Astro Mechanica, a company pursuing supersonic flight.

Astro Mechanica is developing its own hybrid electric engine, Duality, with the goal of reaching Mach 3 speeds. Eventually, Astro Mechanica wants to offer supersonic commercial flights across the Pacific.

To be clear, that will not come soon. Astro Mechanica is a startup pursuing military uses for its technology first, and commercial uses will only come later. And since we haven’t seen any test flights from the Duality engine yet, the timeline for any of us flying an aircraft with it won’t be soon.

Final Thoughts

This week saw the potential end of troubles for 1 airline but signs of potential trouble for another. We also discussed a unique setup that might come to Vietnam, Southwest cutting flights while BA adds them, and continued flight cutbacks in Tulum.

We’ll be back next week with more exciting news from the airline industry.