What's inside United's ultramodern Airbus A321neo coming to SFO in the spring

United Airlines’ Airbus A321neo is the first new Airbus jet to join its fleet in more than 20 years. In this week’s aviation news, ; it has been a terrible week to fly, with thousands of cancellations and delays due to massive winter storms and the grounding of 144 737 MAX 9 planes at United and Alaska Airlines; the FAA is developing guidelines for how to fix the aircraft after a side door blew out on an Alaska flight last weekend; ; ; United cuts some California service this summer and Southwest expands at Burbank; there’s international route news from Avianca, Porter Airlines, Norse Atlantic and Air India; American Airlines announced changes to its AAdvantage program; .

. According to AeroRoutes, , using it for five of the carrier’s 11 daily flights in that market. The airline’s ongoing deployment of the new planes is all happening on routes out of its O’Hare hub; by May, it will be used in limited service on United routes from O’Hare to SFO, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Myers.

While United’s A319s and A320s carry 126 to 150 passengers, its A321neos will be configured with 200 seats — 20 in first class, 57 in Economy Plus and 123 in regular economy. All seats will have seatback screens with Bluetooth capability, power and USB ports, and more spacious overhead bins. The A321neo will have four cabin doors — two at each end of the aircraft — as well as a new midcabin lavatory.

The Points Guy said the A321neo will provide a new passenger amenity not currently available on United’s aircraft: . “The snacks will include a mix of That’s It bars, Undercover chocolate quinoa crisps and a savory snack mix,” as well as water, the Points Guy said. “The walk up snack bar will only open after the flight attendants complete the first round of snack and beverage service.” Advertisement Article continues below this ad A section of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 with the missing panel on a Boeing 737 9 MAX in Portland, Ore., on Jan.

7, 2024. . Air travelers across the U.S. were hit with massive numbers of flight cancellations and delays this week due to a perfect storm of circumstances — i.e., a series of literal storms and the mandatory grounding of scores of 737s at Alaska Airlines and United. According to FlightAware, which tracks airline performance, .

The primary disruptor of airline schedules was a series of three major winter storms that rolled across the country from west to east in quick succession, bringing heavy rain and flooding to the southern half of the country, snow and blizzard conditions to the northern half, and strong winds almost everywhere.

. No one was injured, mainly because the two seats adjacent to the big hole in the fuselage were unoccupied at the time, but during initial inspections, technicians at both airlines found some other planes with loose bolts in the doorframes. in consultation with the National Transportation Safety Board, and by late in the week both airlines were still waiting for that advice.

United is the largest operator of 737 MAX 9s, with 79, followed by Alaska with 65, with smaller numbers at some foreign airlines like Aeromexico and Panama’s Copa Airlines. The groundings caused more than 100 flight cancellations a day at Alaska and up to 200 at United. “The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737 9 Max to service,” the FAA said.

. The Alaska Airlines incident, which happened when the aircraft was at 16,000 feet following its takeoff from Portland, attracted massive media coverage, ranging from detailed speculation about the cause of the accident, to to interesting sidelights like the fact that . A story in Business Insider suggested .

It noted that the last time a similar incident happened — aboard a United 747 at 22,000 feet on its way from Hawaii to Australia in 1989 — there was a much larger breach of the fuselage and nine passengers were sucked out the opening to their deaths. Advertisement Article continues below this ad FILE — A helicopter point of view of San Diego International Airport.

. The Transportation Security Administration has issued its year end tally of firearms caught by its officers at airport security checkpoints, and the number set another record. . In the fourth quarter of last year, TSA said, it caught 1,665 firearms at airport checkpoints, an average of 18 a day. In the report’s only bright spot, TSA said the rate of firearms interceptions last year was 7.8 per 1 million passengers, down from 8.6 per million in 2022, since the number of total passengers increased significantly in 2023.

What happens to those who are caught? “When a firearm is detected at a security checkpoint, TSOs immediately contact local law enforcement, who remove the passenger and the firearm from the checkpoint area,” TSA said. “Depending on local laws, the law enforcement officer may arrest or cite the passenger.

TSA does not confiscate firearms. In addition to any action taken by law enforcement, TSA fines passengers who bring a firearm to a TSA checkpoint with a civil penalty up to approximately $15,000, revokes TSA PreCheck eligibility for at least five years and may conduct enhanced screening to ensure there are no other threats present.” .

The airline’s new San Diego schedule, all using its Airbus A220 300 aircraft, includes nonstop service to Raleigh Durham, North Carolina, three days a week beginning April 30; twice weekly flights to Jacksonville, Florida, and four a week to Norfolk, Virginia, both starting May 1; three flights a week to Cincinnati as of May 2; and twice weekly service to Pittsburgh beginning May 3.

Breeze will also operate daily one stop same plane service from San Diego to Providence, Rhode Island, and to Hartford, Connecticut, starting April 30 and May 1 respectively. The airline’s summer schedule also includes seasonal service to Los Angeles International from Charleston, South Carolina, twice a week starting May 3.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad A row of Porter Airlines aircraft seated on the tarmac of an unnamed airport. , low cost ; the route is still flown by Southwest and Spirit Airlines. AeroRoutes reports that , suspending PSP Chicago O’Hare and PSP Los Angeles International service for the season from May 23 to Sept.

25. United will also suspend San Francisco Omaha and Palm Springs Houston service from May 23 to June 26. After 11 years of service at Denver International, . Southwest Airlines will introduce new daily service from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Kansas City on June 4, supplementing its existing LAX Kansas City flights.

It’s part of , which will also include service to Boise, Idaho; New Orleans; San Antonio; and St. Louis. , . Canada’s Porter Airlines is due to launch its first California service next week, beginning with daily flights between Los Angeles International and Toronto Pearson on Jan. 16, . Porter is flying the routes with its new 132 seat Embraer E195 E2 aircraft, which have a 2x2 all economy class configuration.

| | | | Advertisement Article continues below this ad , with , although it will increase frequencies between Gatwick and New York JFK to 10 flights a week as of May 1 and to twice daily from May 27 through . , but instead of offering daily flights starting March 20, the carrier will start with only three a week, increasing to six a week May 26 to Sept.

7. View From the Wing reported this week that , although no definite staring dates were mentioned. Looking out toward the runway at SFO. , . That may have been a concern for some frequent flyers after Delta boosted its requirements for earning Medallion status last year. AAdvantage status is now based on Loyalty Points rather than miles, and the required earning levels in 2024 are 40,000 points for Gold, 75,000 for Platinum, 125,000 for Platinum Pro, and 200,000 for Executive Platinum.

American is also adding a Loyalty Point bonus feature for members, letting them choose extra points toward elite status when they achieve certain point levels — 1,000 extra points for accumulating 15,000, 5,000 for earning 175,000, and 15,000 for making it to 250,000. Certain perks for travel on American will be offered exclusively to AAdvantage members, AA said.

Starting March 1, only members will be allowed to stand by for an earlier flight. Beginning later this month, members traveling on nonrefundable Basic Economy fares booked directly with the airline will be able to receive a partial trip credit for a fee if they cancel a domestic flight. Later in the year, AA said, members will have six more months than nonmembers to use trip credits when they cancel travel online, and only members will be able to put a flight reservation on hold for up to 24 hours for no fee.

Members will also be able to buy day passes to AA’s Admirals Clubs or Flagship Lounges. “Coming soon,” the airline said, members will be able to earn miles when paying cash to upgrade; “redeem miles for upgrades with select airline partners”; and “Request systemwide upgrades online.” .

Advertisement Article continues below this ad . That’s when work begins on the removal and reconstruction of two existing taxiways, . Runway 28 Left is one of the airport’s four main runways. The closure means arriving flights will all come in on Runway 28 Right under normal conditions. “SFO is working with airlines and the FAA to adjust flight schedules to minimize delays,” SFO said.

The delays would affect both domestic and international flights, SFO said. , SFO’s international terminal is expected to be renamed after the , according to SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel. The Airport Commission votes Tuesday on the resolution. If it passes, SFO staff would collaborate with the Dianne Feinstein 100 Plus Committee — a group of who want to recognize Feinstein’s achievements — on a plan, which would include the project’s budget and timeline, Yakel told SFGATE via email.

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