Delta One Losing TSA Lanes, Hawaiian Flight Numbers Disappear, and Other Airline New You Might’ve Missed

Taking a break from the norm of announcing exciting updates such as new routes, the themes this week are mainly cuts and closures. Closures in the form of some of Delta’s priority TSA lines, Alaska Airlines and Sun Country cutting some routes, and more news.

Let’s get into it.

Delta Closes Some Delta One TSA Priority Lanes

If you’re flying from Los Angeles (LAX) or New York (JFK) this weekend and are eligble to use the Delta One check-in, you might want to build in some buffer time should there be long wait times at the regular TSA security lines.

Almost a month into the government shut down, there’s no sure sign that things will get back to normal anytime soon.

Among other things, the shut down means that some government employees will go without pay this month. This includes a large number of TSA airport security staff who are alleged to be skipping work at the airport in favor of earning money through side hustles.

The knock-on effect in airports, due to fewer staff, means longer lines for passengers waiting to pass through security. In busy major airports like LAX and JFK, staff are being moved around to ease the flow, and Delta‘s priority security lanes for Delta One passengers have been temporarily closed.

Uh Oh, Flying Blue Taxes and Fees Just Went Up

Using points to book a flight with a U.S. airline is as close to getting a free flight as you can get. That’s thanks to taxes and fees on points bookings being as low as $5.60.

Hop across the Atlantic to Europe where the regulations around points redemptions are different, and taxes and fees are a different story.

As flagged by Frequent Miler, taxes and fees have just jumped up a couple of hundred dollars when making a redemption via Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue frequent flyer program. This is certainty something to consider when deciding where to transfer your points for redemptions.

Still, at least these costs are still far below the $1,000+ in taxes and fees you’ll be charged when redeeming with certain British carriers or flying out of the U.K.

Alaska Cuts Major Routes From LAX and SFO

It was just last week that we were excited to announce that Alaska Airlines has plans to significantly increase its number of routes up and down the West Coast next spring.

However, the planes needed to fly those routes must come from somewhere. As first flagged by TPG, Cirium data shows that Alaska has pulled 3 routes from LAX and 4 routes from San Francisco (SFO).

Routes being cut from LAX include Las Vegas (LAS), Reno (RNO), and San Jose in California (SJC). Further up the coast, SFO will say goodbye to its Alaska-operated services to Austin (AUS), Boston (BOS), Burbank (BUR), and Newark (EWR).

This switch-up of plane utilization isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The 7 axed routes are operated by, on average, at least 3 other airlines. Instead, Alaska would rather prioritize connectivity at other hubs to provide a more complete and varied route network for its passengers.

Hawaiian Airlines Flight Numbers Are Disappearing

This week marked the official end of an era for U.S. aviation.

As a result of Hawaiian Airlines‘s process of integrating systems and merging with Alaska Airlines, all of Hawaiian’s flights will eventually operate under Alaska Airlines flight numbers and callsigns.

It was widely reported that on Wednesday October 29, Hawaiian’s “HA” letters at the start of the flight number and the Hawaiian callsign were used for the last time. In theory, flight HA866 from Pago Pago, American Samoa (PPG) to Honolulu (HNL) was the last-ever Hawaiian Airlines flight.

However, Hawaiian’s HA flight numbers and callsigns are still being used as per airport departure boards and the world’s most used flight tracking app, FlightRadar24.

Moving forward, planes painted in the Hawaiian Airlines livery will still operate flights, but the flight numbers will start with Alaska Airlines’ “AS” code, and pilots and air traffic controllers will use the “ALASKA” call sign instead of “HAWAIIAN.”

Sun Country Cuts 3 Routes From Minneapolis Hub

Ultra-low-cost Sun Country made some changes to its route network this week by completely removing 3 cities from its route network.

As of next summer, Sun Country will no longer fly to Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ); Louisville, Kentucky; and, Oakland, California (OAK).

A likely reason is lack of demand for the routes, especially given that its Minneapolis (MSP) hub is also a hub for Delta, whose passengers are predominantly using the airport to transit. While passengers can still rely on Delta to fly from MSP to Albuquerque and Louisville, Sun Country’s exit from Oakland means there will no longer be a nonstop service between the Californian city and MSP.

Wizz Air’s Pretend Business Class

The airline industry is constantly in a state of flux as airlines look to compete on fares to attract more passengers. A popular trend these days is hybridization: legacy carriers cutting costs and cheapening their economy class offerings while low-cost carriers introduce business class-style seats and slightly more premium offerings.

This leads to airlines on both ends of the scale almost meeting in the middle, and that’s what European airline Wizz Air is trying to do with its newly announced premium product.

The airline, headquartered in the self-governing island of Jersey, will follow in the footsteps of its U.S. counterparts and introduce a somewhat more premium experience from December.

The so-called “Wizz Class” (see what they did there?) will be limited to the first row of its Airbus family aircraft. The perks of Wizz Class are minimal, with a blocked middle seat being the main bonus. In true low-cost style, Wizz Class passengers can forget any kind of complimentary food and drink service.

To start with, Wizz will test the new concept on a select few routes from 5 of its main hubs at Bucharest (OTP), Budapest (BUD), London Luton (LTN), Rome (FCO), and Warsaw (WAW).

Final Thoughts

It seems strange to close out the week without an exciting route announcement to let you know about. On the plus side, the routes being cut by Alaska and Sun Country shouldn’t affect your travel plans as much as the closure of the Delta One priority TSA lanes might.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for the last remaining Hawaiian flight numbers, and try your hardest not to be tempted by the allure the new European Wizz Class.