JetBlue Re-times San Francisco - Austin Route

From the Flyertalk forums comes word JetBlue has re-timed their daily non-stop flight between San Francisco and Austin, Texas. The adjustments mean the flight to Austin will depart late in the afternoon, returning back to San Francisco early the next morning. The changes have been updated on the JetBlue website.

-Current schedule through September 8, 2009:

AUS-SFO 1850-2032

SFO-AUS 0832-1403

-Schedule beginning September 9, 2009:
AUS-SFO 0815-1005
SFO-AUS 1630-2156

Related:

Last month American Airlines announced they were pulling their 'Nerd Bird' route - San Jose-Austin effective later this August, citing operating costs exceeding actual revenues. This announcement caused Alaska Airlines to quickly get into the action and replace the American Airlines flight with one of their own, believing they can find a way to turn a profit on this route. That flight is expected to start on September 2, 2009, a week after the American flight ends.

SFO to welcome Aer Lingus later this month

New airline at SFO takes flight later this month.
The airline will begin non-stop service from San Francisco to Dublin Ireland on October 28th, with connecting service elsewhere in Europe.

The flight departs at 3:15pm arriving Dublin 8:15am the next day.

Initially operating twice a week, starting in December service will be upped to 4 times weekly. Fares are available as low as $577 roundtrip w/taxes.

Though Aer Lingus left the Oneworld Alliance (Cathay Pacific, American, etc) earlier this year, it still retains some mileage accrual offers while traveling on certain partner airlines. Otherwise, Aer Lingus has their own frequent flyer program - the Gold Circle Club.

ExpressJet Inaugurates Sacramento-Bakersfield this week

Airline begins non-stop service from Sacramento to Bakersfield CA on September 9th.

Scheduled daily departute out of Sacramento is 635pm arriving Bakersfield at 7:37pm.

The route will be operated by an Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft configured with no middle seats. ExpressJet also offers premium in-flight service including upgraded entertainment with more than 100 channels of free XM® Satellite radio, complimentary recognized name-brand snacks and cushioned leather seating.

ExpressJet flies non-stop to other small to medium size markets as well: Sacramento, CA
Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Spokane, Tucson and Tulsa.

They also flight non-stop between Monterey and San Diego and Ontario.

Official Website for ExpressJet

Southwest Airlines initiates nonstop Oakland to Tucson service beginning November 4th.
The flight departs Oakland at 610pm and arrives Tucson at 925pm.
Several other departure times are available, but require a connection in Las Vegas, Los Angeles or San Diego.

Domestic on time arrivals in the United States have hit an all-time low. According to a Department of Transportation (DOT) press release, the first 6 months of 2007 saw more than 1 out of every 4 flights delayed, the worst record in the 12 years statistics have been recorded by the DOT.

American Airlines reported only 57.9% of its flights on time among the major carriers, while Southwest had the most on time flights at 75.3%.

Northwest Airlines continues to cancel flights across the nation today. Friday and Saturday reports indicate up to 8% of NW scheduled flights had been canceled. (Usually an airline cancels no more than 2% of daily flights for various reasons). San Francisco and Sacramento airports are included on the list of cancellations this weekend, which are expected to continue as a result of ongoing pilot shortages. Be sure to check your flight status with the airline before heading on down to the airport. Northwest Airlines.

Competition heating up for flights to Australia

V Australia Airlines, Virgin Blue's new trans-pacific airline received Australian regulatory approval to start flying from Australia to the West coast of the United States. Airline officials declined comment on which cities would be served, but San Francisco and Los Angeles are considered the most uncompetitive long-haul air routes in the world, with Qantas having a strong-hold over all other carriers. Additionally, based on demand, the San Francisco Bay Area has demonstrated a need for additional service to to Australia. The initial rollout calls for 10 weekly flights to the U.S West coast.

V Australia still needs U.S government approval, but says its plans are to fly by the 4th quarter 2008 when brand new 777-ER planes are delivered.

JetStar, another Australian based low cost carrier had previously reported targeting the Bay Area with service direct to Australia by the end of 2007.

Contributing source: The Australian

A lack of "Sun" at San Francisco Airport (soon to change)

Have you seen this plane hanging around at San Francisco Airport?
(probably not)

Sun Country Airlines, recently named top 5 on the list of Top Domestic Airlines in Travel+Leisure’s 2007 World’s Best Service Awards has daily service out of SFO. So where are their planes?
Well according to its schedule, the planes are on the ground at SFO for a mere 50 minutes - a quick drop off and reload of passengers, hardly time to gatch a glipse of their fairly new & crisp planes.

So who are they? The privatly owned company initiated its first flight in 1999 and today has over 1200 employees on staff. Based in Minneapolis, Sun Country offers year round service from San Francisco to destinations in the U.S such as New York's JFK, Washington Dulles and Dallas via its Minneapolis hub. Sun Country is really known however for its flights to Sunny destinations including Miami, St.Petersburg/Tampa, South Padre Island, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Acapulco, Montego Bay and San Juan.

The airline just announced a "UFLY" frequent flyer program in attempt to attract new business. For coach passengers this means 10 round-trip flights=1 free flight with no blackout dates or restrictions.

Beginning later this month, Sun Country will add to its existing 1240am "red eye" service to include a 605pm departure to its Minneapolis hub (arriving at almost midnight). The airline's entire 737 fleet is young, averaging less than 5 years old. Each plane has leather seats in both first and coach class, along with high fidelity audio programming.

With this added 2nd plane you may be seeing more "Sun" at SFO.
More information about the airline can be found here.