Eastern Airlines announced new service from New York to Guayaquil, Ecuador set to begin this December. But a number of questions still surround this mysterious airline.
The new service, subject to government approval, will start on December 05, 2019 from JFK.
Non-stop flights will operate on Thursdays and Sundays using large cabin, wide-body, Boeing 767-300ER aircraft configured with 30 Premium and 212 Economy seats. Eastern will offer introductory fares and 2 checked bags in addition to a carry-on. Fares and schedules will be announced soon.
Fares will be announced soon? We are talking about filling up a 767-300ER to Ecuador in December. The lack of leadtime raises many questions.
Recall, Eastern first announced this route last March with a plan to begin service in May. That never happend. The airline also announced from New York to Anchorage to Jinan, China
Perhaps instead of Eastern Airlines I should call it Eastern Airlines 4.0, since this will mark the third time Eastern has tried to “come back from the dead”.
But this airline really strikes me as amateurish. For example, the “Customer Service Plan” (.pdf) which is similar to the Contract of Carriage includes items like:
For more information, please see our insert link to Tarmac Delay Contingency Plan.
There is no link…
Or how about cancellations?
Insert link to Refund Cancellations and Changes Policy
Nice.
How about seating? What is business class like?
With our premium seating on Eastern, we’ve reimagined the flying experience and provide the ideal combination of price and value with more leg room and more comfort, we allow you to explore beyond the expected.
So that sounds like recliner seats? No pictures or other info…
It does appear the carrier will offer meals onboard. Maybe?
On Eastern, before your flight departs, select your own locally prepared meal.
That’s it for the meal section.
CONCLUSION
I’m not linking Eastern to Global Ghana, but I’ll be very surprised to see Eastern start its Ecuador service this year.
Would you fly Eastern Airlines to Guayaquil?
image: BriYYZ / Wikimedia Commons
“On Eastern, before your flight departs, select your own locally prepared meal.”
Translation: you need to buy some overpriced take out from the nearest fast food place in the terminal, then bring it on the plane with you to eat later.
Isn’t the Eastern brand owned by Swift? I thought it was just a charter operation. Maybe that has since changed?
Guayaquilean here, the JFK-GYE route is an underserved one, a few years back a similar sketchy airline flew the route on a daily charter, Dynamic Airways, which I believe is also part of Swift Air.
The demand for US travel is clearly there. AA flies from MIA twice daily. Spirit and JetBlue fly once daily from FLL. Tame (local airline) also flies 4-weekly to FLL, and they used to fly daily to JFK until the end of the lease of the only widebody they had. This December JetBlue will start flying from JFK (on the same date) and AA will add a new route from DFW.
This gives the route some credibility, however it seems unlikely since there have been no local announcements.
LATAM has been flying this route daily on a 767-300 for years, and JetBlue will also start flying JFK-GYE on December 5. Seems a bit odd to start flying on the same exact date as a major competitor who has already spent months promoting the route.