In the latest air travel developments, a major carrier announced it will add Santa Rosa to its route map next spring with service to four cities; another low-cost carrier plans to start flying out of Burbank next year; low-cost Avelo Airlines has placed a big order for new aircraft that would more than triple the size of its fleet; JetBlue Airways plans a major expansion at the Florida home base of financially troubled Spirit Airlines; Frontier Airlines plans to add a number of new routes to the Caribbean and Latin America; there’s international news from Royal Jordanian Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Italy’s ITA Airways; Boeing predicts that the number of commercial jets in operation worldwide will almost double in the next 20 years; arriving passengers at San Jose Mineta International Airport should soon be able to order rides in self-driving vehicles; travelers flying into some terminals at New York JFK will no longer be able to meet their ride-hailing cars at curbside.
Last spring, discount carrier Avelo stopped flying out of Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, ending service to several cities. But now a new carrier is coming to Santa Rosa: Southwest Airlines. The carrier said this week it will begin flying out of Santa Rosa on April 7, offering 737 service to San Diego, Las Vegas, Hollywood Burbank and Denver. Southwest flights are scheduled to operate daily to Las Vegas and San Diego (or twice daily to San Diego on peak days), five days a week to Burbank, and once a week on Saturdays to Denver.
Not long after Avelo Airlines decided to abandon its base at Hollywood Burbank Airport this fall, its low-cost rival Breeze Airways said it would move into Burbank next March, replacing Avelo on routes to Arcata-Eureka; Eugene and Redmond/Bend, Oregon; Pasco/Tri-Cities, Washington; and Provo, Utah. And now another discount carrier is adding Burbank to its route map. Allegiant Air said it will introduce service on Feb. 12 from Burbank to Provo, Utah, and Bellingham, Washington. It didn’t say how many frequencies it would operate, but Allegiant generally offers just a couple of flights a week on most routes.
Even though Avelo Airlines is pulling out of its California routes — in part so it can devote some of its aircraft to operating deportation charter flights for the federal government, a move that’s incurred major pushback against Avelo — the carrier Monday revealed a major growth plan that includes a big fleet expansion. First the airline announced that it has closed on “a new round of significant growth capital” (it didn’t say how much) thanks to an investment from an unidentified “new partner.” Then two days later Avelo announced a $4.4 billion order for up to 100 new planes — specifically, Embraer E195-E2s. That includes a firm order for 50 and purchase rights for 50 more, with deliveries to start in 2027. Avelo said it will be the first U.S. airline to operate the E195-E2, which it called “Embraer’s largest and most advanced commercial aircraft.”…