American Enhancing Inflight Dining, Avelo Updating Its Fleet, and Other News You Might Have Missed

It’s all about “out with the old and in with the new” this week, including route additions from Contour Airlines and Southwest, new aircraft updates from Avelo and JetBlue, and refreshed menus on some American Airlines flights.

Shall we jump in?

American Introduces New Inflight Dining on Routes From Oceania and South America

American Airlines is bringing you the tastes and flavors of your destination before you even get there.

In the Texas-based carrier’s latest update, we learned of new dishes coming to its global route network. From fall, Flagship Business passengers flying each of its 5 routes to Auckland (AKL), Brisbane (BNE), and Sydney (SYD) will enjoy flavors of the Pacific in main course dishes like sweet chile seabass and kona-crusted beef fillet.

The biggest focus is American’s routes to South America, with new dishes coming to all cabins on its 6 nonstop services back to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE); Montevideo, Uruguay (MVD); and, Santiago, Chile (SCL).

In Flagship business, passengers will enjoy main courses like grilled chicken breast with charred vegetables and garlic mash. As simple as that might sound, the dish is a staple of many South American countries.

New options in premium economy include spinach ricotta cannelloni (a nod to the Itlian influence in Argentina) and a grilled chicken breast dish similar to that served in business.

Economy passengers aren’t being left out. American’s new teriyak beef ragout and cauliflower pie are sure to be hits.

JetBlue Completes A220-300 Takeover of Embraer E190

The Embraer E190 has officially flown its last-ever flight for JetBlue, confirmed Warren Christie, chief operating officer for JetBlue.

“The E190 was instrumental in our early years and proved to deliver on critical connectivity in short-haul markets, allowing us to grow into new regions, especially in our New York and Boston focus cities,” said Christie.

As nostalgic as that might be for some, the fleet has been replaced by an even more remarkable aircraft: the Airbus A220-300. The state-of-the-art plane is fast becoming the cornerstone of many airline’s short-haul fleets.

JetBlue has now received 52 of the 100 Airbus A220s it has on order.

The planes have 140 seats and feature the airline’s widest seats, large overhead bins, custom seat-back storage, multiple charging ports (uncluding USB-C), as well as free Wi-Fi and IFE for every passenger.

Avelo Confirms 50 Embraer E195e Aircraft

Fleet updates are also on the horizon for Avelo.

As JetBlue says goodbye to its older E190s, Avelo has just confirmed a huge firm order of 50 Embraer E195-E2 jets. This plane is the Brazilian manufacturer’s largest and most modern aircraft to date.

“Our customers will love the E2’s comfortable 2×2 seating, in-seat power ports, large overhead bins, and quiet cabin,” said Andrew Levy, found and CEO at Avelo Airlines.

Avelo expects to take delivery of the first of the order in the first half of 2027. Until then, passengers will continue to fly Avelo’s Boeing 737 aircraft — the only aircraft type current in its fleet.

The arrival of the E195e will be significant for Avelo, as the aircraft is certified to takeoff and land at airports with shorter runways. This will help the airline continue its mission to provide convenient, affordable air travel to those living close to some of the most underserved airports in the U.S.

The news came 2 days after the Houston-headquartered carrier confirmed the largest capital investment since the airline launched in April 2021. This comes as part of larger changes at Avelo, where the airline is abandoning the West Coast entirely.

Contour Airlines Continues Caribbean Expansion by Adding Sint Maarten

We recently heard of Contour Airlines’ surprise network expansion in the Caribbean.

The U.S. regional carrier has set up a base on the island of Dominica and will launch routes to San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) and St. Thomas (STT) in the U.S. Virgin Islands later in September.

Even before its Caribbean operations have started, Contour has added a third route to its tropical island network. On November 14, the carrier will launch 3x weekly service between San Juan and St. Maarten.

Contour will be the only airline to operate service between the 2 islands, enhancing inter-island connectivity and giving vacationers more ways to hop between the tropical islands.

Tickets for the roughly 1-hour hop can be booked now via Contour Airlines’ website. One-way fares start at $150. Despite Alaska, American, and United all being partners with Contour, none of the airlines are showing availability to book the routes using miles from their respective loyalty programs.

Southwest Adds Sonoma County Airport to Route Map

Southwest also got in on the route announcement action this week. As of April 7, 2026, Santa Rosa (STS), also known as Sonoma County Airport, will welcome the low-cost carrier for the first time.

“Adding Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport to our route map provides more access to California’s famed Wine Country for our Customers and further solidifies our yearslong commitment to California,” said Andrew Watterson, chief operating officer at Southwest.

Southwest will kick off with 4 nonstop routes to Burbank, California (BUR), Denver (DEN), Las Vegas (LAS), and San Diego (SAN).

Burbank and Denver will be completely new destinations for Santa Rosa, where Alaska Airlines already operates regularly scheduled flights from the airport to Las Vegas and San Diego.

Final Thoughts

Avelo and JetBlue’s fleet modernization is a crucial part of keeping aviation as comfortable, green, and safe as possible. As for Contour and Southwest’s new routes, we love it when airlines focus on connecting places for the first time.

And American’s new menus have got me hungry for lunch. We’ll be sure to let you know our thoughts when we get to sample them for the first time.

See you next week!