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Lufthansa will rein in expansion plans this year as a glut of plane seats depresses ticket prices and travellers delay bookings amid fears of terror attacks. Capacity growth this year will be below the previously targeted 6%, CEO Carsten Spohr said Wednesday. That marks the second reduction in projected expansion in recent weeks. “There’s too much capacity in the market, and a better adjustment of capacity and demand will help us with our profitability,” Spohr said. The cuts will come on short- and long-haul routes at Lufthansa’s namesake brand, while the Eurowings low-cost arm will continue its expansion, the executive said. The move, which is partially a response to an increasing proportion of shorter-term bookings, will also help ease a shortage of cabin crew, Spohr said. While low oil prices have led to record profits at Lufthansa and other airlines and spurred expansion, summer capacity plans failed to take into account the impact of terror attacks in Paris, Brussels and Turkey. Lufthansa still plans to add more capacity that rivals Air France-KLM Group and British Airways-parent IAG SA, even after its yield, a measure reflecting average ticket prices, suffered the biggest drop in more than four years in Q1. As part of the adjustment, Lufthansa is considering grounding three Airbus Group SE A340 long-haul aircraft stationed in Frankfurt and Munich after the summer, while maintenance schedules could be used to reduce short-haul capacity, Spohr said. Lufthansa had already curtailed its capacity growth plans this month from an earlier target of 6.6 %.<br/>

Three years ago, at the height of Jeff Smisek's rocky reign as United CEO, the carrier introduced new uniforms created by a down-market uniform provider Cincinnati-based Cintas. At the time, some viewed United's "fashion" statement, like that made with the coffee United served on board, as another effort by Smisek and his management team to cut corners and, of course, costs. But now, with Smisek abruptly exiting last fall, United is about to unveil reworked uniforms for some of its key employee groups, including thousands of customer-service agents and flight attendants. Cintas is still providing the uniforms, but with a different mandate from United management. The new uniforms being tested reportedly include higher-quality fabrics, reinforced pockets and blazers with a more functional construction. Sources among United's ranks of flight attendants said the outfits introduced in 2013 were of poor quality, with baggy pants and blazer coat pocket flaps that weren't properly attached. A team of 120 United employees is now testing the reworked Cintas uniforms. More changes could come based on the feedback from the uniform testers, with final versions of the new uniforms expected to be available in early 2017.<br/>

Aircraft-leasing firm Doric is preparing to take back five Airbus A380 superjumbos from Singapore Airlines starting next year, in a move that would be the first test of second-hand demand for the world’s biggest jetliner. While Singapore Air hasn’t officially decided to return the planes, London-based Doric and fellow owner Dr. Peters Fund KG of Germany are preparing for their possible refurbishment, reserving time in paint shops and exploring the availability of hundreds of replacement seats. “It appears possible that Singapore will not exercise its lease extension,” Doric MD Bernd Reber said. The asset manager is also working with Airbus to highlight the possible availability of the double-deckers to potential users. Singapore Air was the initial A380 buyer and operates 19 of the jets, second only to Dubai-based Emirates, on routes including London, New York and Beijing. The first 10-year leases expire in 2017, though until now Doric and Dr. Peters had said the carrier would likely exercise an option to keep the five aircraft for two further years, even though it has five more new planes due. Reber said tier-one airlines are among parties interested in the Singapore jets. British Airways parent IAG has said its evaluating the possibility of taking used A380s to supplement the 12 planes it has already ordered for BA, and that aircraft could even be allocated to its Iberia and Aer Lingus units. There’s no established second-hand trade in the aircraft yet because the first example was handed over only in 2007, while the market will also lack liquidity, with only 180 planes in service with a dozen operators. Singapore Air said in an e-mailed statement that it has yet to make a firm decision on whether to extend the leases on its first five planes.<br/>