Alaska Airlines CE Brad Tilden said Wednesday that he might keep the Virgin America brand, running it and Alaska as two different products within the same airline group. In April, Alaska announced plans to buy Virgin America for US$2.6b, a deal that would make it a West Coast powerhouse. Both airlines have very loyal — but different — followings, and almost immediately both groups expressed fears that the combination would kill off what they love about their own airline. A decision hasn't yet been made, but Tilden noted that European carriers have kept their own identity following mergers. “We are looking at that because we do believe in the power of the Virgin America brand, and we don't want to lose all that loyalty and revenue that exists today,” Tilden said. <br/>
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Virgin Australia will raise A$852m and slash costs as part of a new plan to cut its debt load and improve earnings. The equity raising will be supported by shareholders SIA, Nanshan Group, HNA and Virgin Group, although shareholder Etihad Airways has yet to commit to taking up its rights under the offer, Virgin said Wednesday. CE John Borghetti said Etihad was "still going through their internal processes and we haven't received the outcome of their processes as yet.” "Obviously they need to talk to their board," he said. "I'm not concerned because the $852m is underwritten." About $425m of the capital raised will be used to repay funds loaned to Virgin in March by its shareholders, with the rest to be used to strengthen Virgin's balance sheet by cutting next debt which currently stands at around $2b. <br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle’s expansion into long-haul flights linking Europe with North America is set to depress fares in the world’s most lucrative travel market, according to Virgin Atlantic Airways. Virgin, which returned to profit in 2014, aided by a trans-Atlantic venture with Delta Air Lines, is expecting a dip in pricing on services that make up about 70% of its entire operation as Norwegian extends its reach, CE Craig Kreeger. “They’re someone we compete with aggressively,” Kreeger said, describing the Scandinavian carrier as “relatively small” right now but with “gigantic” growth plans. “We need to -- and we do -- take them very seriously.” Virgin is analysing Norwegian’s route choices as it expands its fleet of Boeing 787 wide-bodies from 10 now to 42 by 2020. <br/>
The CE of Porter Airlines said Wednesday he would consider taking the carrier public in the medium term, as a strategy to support the company’s broader growth plans. “I think an IPO is something that probably makes sense in the mid-term,” said Porter CE, who did not specify an exact number of years. “Even though we don’t require additional funding now, in the future ... it would be an additional opportunity for us to consider our growth path.” Deluce said Porter has no debt, was profitable last year and is on track to be profitable this year. Porter considered an IPO 6 years ago, but held back from taking the company public because of weak market conditions. Deluce said Porter will announce some of its growth plans by year’s end. <br/>
Air Mauritius recorded a net profit of E15.4m (US$17.4m) for the year ended March 31, reversed from a net loss of E23.7m the previous year. Operating revenue for the period increased 5.4% to E488.3m year-over-year (YOY), while expenses fell 1.8% to E443.9m YOY. The company said the results would have been “significantly better” had it not been for the impact of a fuel hedging policy that cost it E26.6m following a series of contracts it entered into in 2014. Further headwinds came from a combination of the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar and deterioration in yields. Despite the hedge situation, however, lower oil prices had an overall positive impact on the carrier. Passenger numbers rose 9.4% to reach a record 1.5m. <br/>
Flybe will now take only 15 Bombardier Q400s from Republic Airways, down from the 24 originally agreed, and it has deferred delivery of 4 Embraer E175s. In 2014, Flybe agreed to sublease 24 former Republic Q400s over the 2015-19 period. In return, Republic took over 20 E175s from Flybe’s order of 24 of the type. This left Flybe with 4 remaining E175s on order, but it has negotiated a 12-month deferral on these aircraft. “These will now be delivered in January-April 2019,” Flybe said. Flybe is also in negotiations with Danish regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital to cancel its lease obligations on 9 of the 24 former Republic Q400s. Flybe has already received 5 of them and has delayed delivery of a further 5 from 2015-16 to 2016-17. <br/>