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Home » Icelandair » Was It Something I Said? Icelandair Abandons San Francisco
IcelandairNewsSan Francisco SFO

Was It Something I Said? Icelandair Abandons San Francisco

Matthew Klint Posted onOctober 8, 2019November 14, 2023 5 Comments

several airplanes parked at an airport

The day after I published my review of Icelandair Premium Saga (business) class from Reykjavik to San Francisco, Icelandair announced it was dropping the route. Was my review that bad?

I’m joking, of course, though it was not one of my most charitable reviews. I felt the 767-300 “business class” was much more like a premium economy cabin and should have been labelled as such.

> Read More: Icelandair 767-300ER Business Class Review

But Icelandair is indeed abandoning San Francisco…again.

Icelandair returned to San Francisco in 2018 after an 11-year absence and will operate its flight through the end of spring 2020. But next summer, SFO will be cut. Icelandair cites poor financial performance on the route:

Icelandair’s flight schedule for the summer 2020 is currently under review with the aim to improve the profitability of the Company’s route network and minimize risk in relation to the suspension of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. New gateways are being analysed but a decision has already been made to discontinue flights to San Francisco and Kansas City in the United States for commercial reasons.

We don’t know whether the route lost money or whether other routes are simply more profitable in light of the aircraft shortage Icelandair faces due to the continued grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX.

CONCLUSION

Seattle and Portland will remain West Coast destinations, but Icelandair will lose its only link to California. That’s a tragedy, though maybe Icelandair will consider trying a Los Angeles flight in wake of WOW’s collapse.

Will you miss Icelandair in San Francisco?


image: Icelandair

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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5 Comments

  1. henry LAX Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 4:51 pm

    @Matthew : don’t feel bad. I’ve cursed much worse :

    It was Sunday 5/30/09, a sunny afternoon in New York. While casual chatting with a friend, he inquired whether Airbus A330 of Avianca he recently booked on are safe. I simply told him the truth – no hull losses of 330 up to that point after commercial services began in the early 90s (there was one during an air show IIRC)

    that exact same night, Air France 447.

  2. Mick Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 5:05 pm

    Wow that’s a powerful comment!!!

    I just flew Norwegian to Barcelona from Ord for about $500. Pretty good seat. Would take it over premium exonomy any day.

    Out of interest I think it shows up as prem Econ rather than business on a lot of search engines.

  3. Dick Bupkiss Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 9:34 pm

    “Icelandair will lose its only link to California. That’s a tragedy”

    Is it? Maybe “Inconvenience” or “annoyance” or perhaps “disappointment”. But “tragedy”…really?

    Tom Waits wrote, “the heartbreak of psoriasis? Christ, you don’t know the meaning of heartbreak, buddy.” Yeah. Step right up.

  4. Natalia Reply
    June 21, 2020 at 6:39 pm

    I went on one of the last flights to SFO stayed for 3 days and had the same cabin crew on the way back. Since flight attendants in Iceland are working on a contracts which have more than 30 years history, tey have a lot of rest time in their contracts. Icelandair had to stop because of that cost of the crew. Keeping the whole crew on salaries for 3 days in San Fran made it to expensive route. I heard that the cost for flight attendants (because of the rest they have in contracts) came out as having 18 flight attendants on board. This is also the reason why most flight attendants with Icelandair are nurses and lawyers because salaries are great, paid stop overs abroad and work about 60 hours a month.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 21, 2020 at 9:02 pm

      Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I had no idea.

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