(intense music)
- Travel is back, everyone's back on flying.
- It is definitely back in the US.
- Travel is definitely coming back here
in the United States.
(upbeat music)
- Morning, it's such a small world.
I've met up Jeb Brooks
on a hotel shuttle all the way to the LAX airport.
I'm going to San Francisco on United,
he's flying Delta to JFK
and travel is back!
Everyone's back on flying and travelling right now.
It's so exciting.
- Ah, look, travel is definitely coming back here
in the United States.
There's no doubt about it.
I've flown pretty regularly since about July of 2020
and you can really see an uptick
in the number of people who are,
who are here and it's not just leisure travel.
American airlines announced just yesterday, that 47
of their 50 biggest corporate accounts, expected back
to full-time travel for their, for their travellers
by the end of this year.
And business travel is really
really what pays the bills for airlines.
That's what really gets them going.
And gone are the days when seats were blocked
and there was plenty of availability on planes.
They are so much more packed than they ever were before.
Every flight I'd been on the last two or three months
has been full.
Hey, the reason I came out to LA was to fly
with JetBlue on their brand new A321neo.
It has a new cabin, including the Mint Studio,
which offers the largest bed on US carrier
and the largest TV on any US carrier.
It was incredible, a really amazing experience.
I highly recommend it.
- Jeb, do you have plans to fly on new airlines?
Like Avelo or Breeze?
Something like that?
- Yeah, I, I certainly certainly hope to.
Today we just got the announcement
from Boom and United that they're going supersonic.
There's just so many exciting new things happening
in aviation after a really tough year.
It's great to see it coming back.
- Yeah, the grass is getting greener.
- Well put.
- Yeah, travel is definitely back in the US.
It has actually rebound much quicker than we fraught.
When I booked a recent flight from LA to San Francisco,
I was like amazed!
There were 767-300
so I immediately booked on that flight.
- My name is Alberto Diaz.
I'm the general manager here in Los Angeles.
I'm also one of our 737 captains here
and we're super excited.
The employees are just really excited to get
over a 100 flights coming up here in June.
We're at 97 today from a 75 or so.
You know what?
The low of COVID, we were at 12 flights.
So it's a big, big ramp up for us.
And right now we're just getting used
to the workload and getting enough employees on board
to handle all the extra work, but we're super excited.
- Super excited getting on a 767 wide-body to San Francisco.
I think that I can relate it to United pilot the most
because they inspired me
to love aviation when I was young.
I grew up in Hong Kong, all I watched was United 747
coming in and also fly United across the Pacific.
And that Boeing ship was there.
- Hi, I'm Captain Rogowski.
I'm flying with Tony today, my first officer.
We will be flying at 33,000 feet,
about 510 miles an hour.
And it's really exciting because we're flying a wide-body
from LA to San Francisco, which is very rare.
So giving these passengers a big treat.
- And by the way, you look like Charlie Sheen, right?
(they are both laughing)
- Some people say that, I don't know.
- Not Donald Trump.
(more light-hearted laughing)
This aeroplane must be 25 plus years old. Right?
It's been coming out in the late '90s right?
It's still a great aeroplane.
- It's still a great plane.
It handles great.
It's like a big Cadillac.
It handles very smooth and it's a really fun plane to fly.
- I just love it.
Like it's such a versatile aeroplane.
You can do small and big routes
and it's got the bright 232 at the back.
Wow. This is my first time sitting at a 767 Polaris.
That was a last minute sit change as well.
It was an old configuration.
This morning I got an SMS.
Whoa. Aeroplane change.
I have to say, this is the only time
that I don't have a window.
I have maybe a quarter of a window,
which I could have filmed.
(plane engine roaring)
- Hi my name's Dalton.
I've been flying with United for four years now.
I was fortunately furloughed last year
at the downturn of the pandemic.
And this is my first flight back
and I'm super excited.
It's such a full flight
and travel is definitely coming back.
- I love these little Maui flowers.
You guys came from Maui on the 767.
- Yes we did.
- All right.
And then I heard the food is back as well.
- Yup. Food is back and we're excited to have flights full,
and passengers back and we are very excited about that.
(plane engine roaring)
(sound of plane landing)
- It is really exciting to see travel is back,
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If you look at the number of flights right now
happening to US, the numbers are doubled of last year.
So we're coming out of this.
If you look at Hawaii,
and that number has even surpassed 2019
to pre-COVID level.
And no doubt, this is the best time
to fly on a wide-body domestically in the US.
All the major airlines deployed at their biggest aeroplane
flying trunk routes.
So Delta is using A350 between LA to Detroit,
LA to Atlanta,
and Americans using 777,
seven flights a day, LA to Miami,
and also to Hawaii.
(plane engine roaring)
(sound of a plane landing)
(sound of plane taking off)
United has also deployed to the biggest 777-300ER
to Hawaii, and also the 787 Trans-Con.
(plane engine roaring)
(sound of plane taking off)
- So I've been flying all throughout the pandemic
for various reasons.
I was definitely feeling really scary.
Masks had just been mandated on board
and I was taking all kinds of precautions.
I was wearing gloves.
I was wearing PPE like N95 masks, face shields.
And initially I was making sure
that I wasn't eating or drinking onboard.
And once on a trip to Mexico, I even wore
a hazmat suit to prove that you could be a safe traveller
and be a part of the problem at home
that things are all about your behaviour.
Demand is up and supply is not quite there.
So we're seeing a queue when you go to check in.
Seeing lots of what we call "gate lice,"
which are people crowding around the gates when
they're getting ready to get on the plane.
So a lot less social distancing,
a little bit more loosening of restrictions.
And I feel now that everyone
in the US has this pent-up demand for travel
and finally feels confident to meet that desire
by booking travel.
So I have a few tips for when you're booking a flight.
Earlier during the pandemic, a lot of the major carriers
in the United States got rid of all of
those domestic change fees.
So now you might go to book a flight
and it might be very expensive.
But closer to your travel date,
if that same flight is a lot less money,
I have a quick tip to save on travel right now.
So since the prices are quite high
for travelling between most destinations,
what you should do is you should go back
and check the price of that flight.
And if it's cheaper, closer to the travel date,
call the airline and get a voucher for the difference.
I did this on a recent trip
to Cancun and I saved $350 on my flight.
So it definitely works.
- We know aviation has been in crisis mode,
but that means there's also some opportunities out there.
There are two new airlines has recently launched in the US,
Avelo Airlines and also Breeze Airways.
My friend, Chris Sloan, went
on the inaugural flight and share with us his story.
- So on April 28th, 2021,
the first new airline to hopefully successfully launch
in the United States, Avelo Airlines took to the skies
from Burbank California to Santa Rosa, California.
So the first day of the first flight
is actually pretty low-key.
You have Andrew Levy, who's the CEO and founder.
Very gregarious guy, personally taking the tickets
and taking selfies and boarding with everybody
and welcoming everybody aboard that first flight.
- No, I feel great!
I just so excited that we're finally going
to take our first flight. Can't wait.
- You know, the flight itself,
fairly low-key.
I mean, there's only less than an hour in the air.
So we are offered a, well, not so much a champagne toast
because as the CEO Andrew Levy notes
the airline doesn't have his liquor licence yet,
but a toast of apple cider.
Avelo has a very similar business model on the outside
looking in as Allegiant.
Serving secondary airports, connecting those areas
that have never ever had non-stop service
with leisure destinations.
But there is a difference with Avelo,
in that Avelo is selecting bases in large cities
but secondary airports like Burbank
and the recently announced New Haven, Connecticut
and connecting those with cities that are much
much smaller that have never had any sort
of non-stop service.
So for instance, that's Burbank to, there's 15 cities.
So for instance, that's Burbank
to Santa Rosa, California in the wine country
or Medford or Eugene, Oregon
or Pasco, Washington or Grand Junction, Colorado.
And they're doing this at really, really low fares
to begin with at $19 in a true unbundled ULCC fashion.
But what's again unique is that they're offering
a you know, pretty inexpensive ancillary extras
like baggage checking is only $10 a bag.
And there is about 60 seats that are extended leg room
and you can buy party boarding and things of that nature.
So again, the service pretty basic at the beginning
and these fairs are obviously very inexpensive.
So hopefully the idea is that will stimulate traffic.
- Breeze is going to make your life better,
because if you're living in a smaller, medium-sized city
and you're used to flying through a hub,
chances are we can get you there twice as fast
for half the price.
And that's really why Breeze was born,
for convenience of our customers.
And by the middle of the summer,
we'll be at 15 cities, really desirable
cool cities like Norfolk, Charleston, Tampa, New Orleans.
Places people want to go.
- So what is Breeze Airways?
Well Breeze is a low-cost carrier,
particularly targeted toward bleisure market.
And this will be the sixth ULCC in America.
Now here on day one, there are a lot
of staff at Tampa and Charleston and Hartford
for the first day of operations to make sure
that things go well.
Every time there's a milestone
like the first safety briefing,
or all call for doors closed,
or pushback or anything like that,
there's wild applause.
You know, there's the typical water cannon salute.
And you know, it's a very, very short flight up
from Tampa to Charleston,
just roughly 59 minutes, maybe an hour.
And Neeleman comes on and makes a little PA announcement.
Very understated, just kind of joyful to be there
and makes a little bit of a nod
to the airline mag geek saying,
"Hey I told my wife that there's going to be a lot
of enthusiasts and ad geeks
and, you know, we want to give a big shout
out to them and our crew."
Just a very humble guy who sat in the middle, you know
in a regular seat with his wife.
You know we had a small, get a little snack
in this case, KIND bars
and Utz potato chips.
I think he made a joke cause
that they hope Utz help put butts in seats.
And it's a very, very kind of stripped down Spartan product.
No frills, but certainly friendly,
very motivated, excited crew
and a very casual vibe.
And, you know, nobody can count out any creation
that David Neeleman has in mind.
So it will be very, very interesting to see
how this plays out and how the competition responds.
- So I know not everyone travels internationally
at the moment,
but in the US, the demands are bouncing back much faster
which gives a lot of confidence on the recovery.
It's been a horrible year in aviation last year,
but right now we have new US airlines came up
and the airlines are rehiring,
and also bringing back the furloughed workers to work.
So things are looking up.
(Uplifting music)