Southwest Premium Seats, Ambitious Canadians, and Other Airline News From This Week

Every week, we look at the most important stories that did not get an individual article in the past 7 days.

This week, there has been quite a bit of news from airlines, from Southwest and Emirates giving us an idea of when to expect their new premium seats to the expansion of a plucky Canadian airline in the biggest U.S. city.

Let’s dive in.

Southwest Premium Seats Timeline

Big changes are coming this year to Southwest Airlines. Last year, the airline said that for the first time in its history it would have premium, extended-legroom seats, and now we know when.

“As we finalize our cabin layout and work towards FAA certification, we plan to begin retrofitting aircraft mid-year,” Executive Vice President Ryan Green said on an investor call, Simple Flying reported.

The first planes in the fleet to get premium seats will be Boeing 737-800s. The smaller 737-700s will follow “later in the year.”

The second half of the year is also when Southwest plans to introduce assigned seating, another first for the airline.

Porter Adds Toronto-LaGuardia Service

Big news for travelers based in New York City: Canadian airline Porter, which has been expanding in the U.S., will begin flying from New York-LaGuardia (LGA).

That is a much better option for many passengers because it’s closer to the city than the only airport in the NYC area that Porter currently serves, Newark (EWR). From there, Porter flies to Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ), located on an island just in front of the city center.

Starting May 1, Porter will run up to 3 daily flights between LaGuardia and Toronto-Pearson (YYZ).

The flights will be operated by Embraer E195-E2 jets. Danny the Deal Guru reported that Porter will be based at LaGuardia’s new Terminal B.

These Embraer jets have 132 seats in one class with no middle seats. Wi-Fi is free for all passengers; premium snacks and free beer and wine served in glassware are included for all passengers. 

Notably, flyers can accrue Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles or JetBlue TrueBlue points on Porter flights. In fact, the new service between Toronto and New York can be booked on the Alaska and JetBlue sites.

More Love for Memphis

Memphis International Airport (MEM) will get new flights from 3 airlines soon. Southwest will start flying from Memphis to Nashville (BNA) on April 8, providing the only flight link between the 2 cities, according to Simple Flying. This adds to Spirit Airlines’ route expansion that will offer a Memphis-New Orleans link starting in February for peak Mardi Gras travel. Spirit Airlines will also fly from Memphis to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), starting on March 5. Additionally, Delta will start nonstop, daily flights between Memphis and Austin, Texas (AUS) on May 7.

Aeromexico Flying to Philadelphia

Aeromexico is expanding its U.S. footprint, and the latest big addition is a route between Mexico City (MEX) and Philadelphia (PHL).

Ishrion Aviation reported that Aeromexico will fly daily between the 2 cities using a Boeing 737 MAX 8, starting on June 5. On the same day, Aeromexico will add a route from the Atlanta (ATL) hub of its partner Delta Air Lines to San Luis Potosi (SLP), operating daily with an Embraer 190.

Norse Links Athens to Los Angeles

Another noteworthy flight out of the U.S. is the Norse Atlantic Airways 4x-weekly connection between Los Angeles (LAX) and Athens, Greece (ATH). The low-fare, long-haul airline will start the flight on June 3 using Boeing 787-9s.

The 6,900-mile flight will be the only direct connection from Greece to the U.S. West Coast. Fares will start at $269, Simple Flying reported. Norse Atlantic has a premium class, but it’s essentially a premium economy with recliners, not flat beds.

Finally, Cathay Pacific Does Group Boarding

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has some of the best service in the skies, but it also tends to have chaotic boarding for coach class. That should be ending as the airline introduces boarding by group number, something it wasn’t doing previously.

A post on FlyerTalk cited an email to passengers saying that Cathay will invite passengers to “board progressively from Group 1 to Group 6 (or 7 on some larger aircraft).” Cathay also said that “boarding gate systems will strictly enforce the group numbers,” although it didn’t say how. This may be similar to the automatic beeps now employed by American Airlines when someone tries to board before their group.

The airline added that Cathay Diamond, Gold, or Silver members, Emerald or Sapphire elites in the Oneworld alliance, and people traveling in first or business class will “continue to enjoy priority boarding under these new arrangements.”

Emirates’ New Lounge — and New Seats?

Emirates said it has opened the second-biggest of its 41 lounges at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport (BKK). At nearly 16,000 square feet with a capacity for 250 people, it serves 6 flights a day to Dubai (DXB) and is located at Satellite 1 Terminal.

Emirates also has 2 other major developments in the works: a new economy-class seat and a new business-class suite with a door.

Executive Traveller reported that Emirates President Sir Tim Clark called the new economy seat a “game changer” during a meeting with media in Australia. In particular, the new seat would stand out for legroom and recline, he said, adding that he’s been talking to manufacturers. The problem, Mr. Clark added, is getting approval from safety regulators. “I can’t say whether that’s going to be successful or not,” he said.

Emirates will also introduce a new business-class seat, its first with a door, when the Boeing 777-9 enters service next year. Mr. Clark told Executive Traveller that in 2019 the airline had a new business seat ready to install on the 777-9 when it was first supposed to be delivered. Then, the introduction of the newest model of the 777 (also known as 777X) was delayed repeatedly, and the seat that Emirates would have installed has now become obsolete. As a consequence, Emirates had to design a new one.

The 777-9 is scheduled to begin flying commercially next year.

Lufthansa Will Be First To Fly the 777X

Emirates, which has the most 777-9s on order, won’t be the first to get them, though. Boeing said that the first airline to get the new plane will be Lufthansa. Aerospace Global News reported that the German airline will put the 777-9 in commercial service in 2026, probably in the summer.

Besides Boeing’s delays in testing and delivering the plane, Lufthansa is also encountering trouble certifying the new seats to be installed in the 777-9. Those are the Allegris first- and business-class seats that the airline has begun installing on Airbus A350s.

Lufthansa Investing in AirBaltic

Lufthansa also just bought 10% percent of Latvia-based airBaltic, Simple Flying reported. The airline’s attractiveness for the European giant is that it has many fuel-efficient Airbus A220 jets that can be put to use on short-haul routes. In fact, the Lufthansa Group is already leasing some A220s from airBaltic, complete with crews, to cover routes in its own network.

Uruguay Gets an Airline

AirBaltic’s A220s are also heading a bit further from Latvia than Germany, as 5 of them are going to Uruguay as the fleet of a new airline in the South American country.

Air Data News reported that Uruguay, which had been without a flag carrier since the demise of Pluna in 2012, is getting a new one, called SUA Líneas Aéreas. The new airline will begin flying in October using planes, crews, training, and support from airBaltic.

The 5 A220s will fly from the capital Montevideo (MVD) to South American destinations primarily in neighbors Argentina and Brazil. As for who’s bankrolling the venture, CEO Antonio Rama said that reports of Saudi funding are incorrect, and the airline is still working on finding investors.

British Brunch Backtrack

British Airways has reversed the decision, taken late last year, to serve less food in premium classes on long-haul flights.

The carrier had begun serving light bites instead of full dinner in Club World business class on most long-hauls departing after 9 p.m. This meant things like soup and salads but no dessert.

Customer backlash led to reversing the decision, PYOK reported.

British also ended its brunch service on long-haul flights, which frequent flyers hated so much that the new dining policy gained the moniker “Brunchgate” in online forums. On all long-hauls departing up to 11:30 a.m., brunch with dishes like pancakes and omelets had taken the place of lunch, essentially forcing people who had already eaten breakfast to have another.

That’s all over now. In a rare victory for passengers versus cost-cutters, British has reinstated its dining services as they were before the change.

To Angola on Boeing 787s

Angolan flag carrier TAAG Angola Airlines may be a fairly exotic name to most U.S.-based flyers, but it’s investing in the latest jets.

The first of 4 Boeing 787s it has ordered has been delivered, Boeing said. The 787s will take the place of TAAG’s 777-200s, but the airline is keeping its bigger 777-300s.

The oil-rich African country’s airline is also getting new Airbus A220s for shorter flights, while the 787s will be used for long-hauls to Brazil, Portugal, Spain, and Cuba.

United’s New Drinks and Dishes

United Airlines is rolling out updated canned cocktails on all its routes. Those include a new cocktail called Monlighter, made exclusively for United by Crafthouse Cocktails.

Live And Let’s Fly said an internal memo — which was shared with the site — announced that United is bringing back mai tais and offering a pineapple daiquiri on routes to Hawaii (costing $12 or 1,420 miles in economy, complimentary in the premium cabin and United Premium Plus).

On other routes, espresso Martinis and the Moonlighter (a lavender and chamomile vodka spritz) will be available at the same price.

Another change on routes to and from Hawaii is a larger menu for both the main and pre-arrival meal services. Whereas meal choices on those flights have typically been bland, now United has more interesting dishes in premium cabins. Those include braised calamansi pork belly and cavatelli with forest mushroom cream sauce and arugula.

The mixed nuts served before meals in Polaris business or domestic first are also changing. Besides salted cashews and almonds, you’ll also see pecans and gluten-free pretzels (on flights from the U.S.)

Final Thoughts

Several airlines made news this week, from giant, popular carriers like Southwest and Emirates to Canada’s small but ambitious Porter.

And a change of policy from British Airways after passengers staged a social media revolt reminded us that developments in the airline world don’t always mean more money for less service.