JetBlue Airways reported a Q2 net profit of US$180m, up 18.5% over net income of $152m in the prior-year period. JetBlue’s Q2 revenue was up 2% year-over-year (YOY) to $1.64b. JetBlue’s Q2 operating expenses continued their Q1 trajectory and were flat YOY at $1.33b, with fuel expenses falling 26.1% YOY during the quarter to $274m. Operating income for the quarter was $313m, up 11% YOY. The carrier’s operating margin increased 1.6 points YOY to 19.1%. JetBlue’s unit revenue (PRASM) during Q2 fell 10.5% to 10.94 cents, compared to 12.22 cents in 2Q 2015. Traffic increased 10.3% YOY to 11.55b RPMs on an 11.1% increase in capacity to 13.6b ASMs, producing a load factor of 85% for the quarter, down 0.6 point YOY. Yield fell 9.9% YOY to 12.87 cents; RASM was down 8.2% YOY to 12.09 cents. <br/>
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JetBlue Airways has placed a follow-on order for 15 Airbus A321ceos and 15 A321neos. JetBlue, which already operates A321s, will have the option to switch the A321neos to the longer-range A321LR variant from 2019. “We intend to deploy many of these aircraft to expand our successful Mint experience and our West Coast presence,” JetBlue president and CE Robin Hayes said. Airbus will deliver the first of the 15 additional A321ceos in 2017, kicking off the 7-year delivery term, with the first A321neos from the order scheduled to arrive in 2020. Mint will take the majority of the extra aircraft, including 5 A321ceos in 2017. JetBlue has flexibility to take the deliveries in Mint or all-core configurations. “We have only scratched the surface on what Mint can do to disrupt the valuable coast-to-coast market,” Hayes said. <br/>
Six days after some of Southwest Airlines' worst moments, the carrier still is trying to resume normal operations. The system wide operational meltdown the airline suffered last Wednesday exposed — in many ugly ways — the fragility of the house of cards from which CE Gary Kelly has managed to wring hundreds of millions of dollars in profit in recent years. In the days after the meltdown began, sources inside Southwest spoke of gruesome experiences on the front line, as hundreds of planes and thousands of pilots and flight attendants were out of position — to say nothing of tens of thousands of customers left in the lurch — when Southwest began its first feeble attempts to put its house back in order last Thursday. The near total disarray made it impossible to resume normal operations easily or quickly. <br/>
The EC will launch an arbitration procedure to resolve a dispute between Norwegian Air Shuttle and US regulators over the carrier's wish to fly to the US from Ireland, two sources said. The EU executive will take the unprecedented step as it considers the delay in granting flying rights to Norwegian's Irish subsidiary a breach of the EU-US Open Skies agreement, one of the people said. Norwegian's Irish subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, applied for permission to operate flights to the US more than 2 years ago, but the typically routine request has languished amid opposition from labour unions and some US airlines, which say the carrier would undermine wages and working standards. The delay has hindered the airline's ambitions to expand its long-haul operations to the US. <br/>
Suasa Airlines violated aviation laws, including carrying paying passengers on a "demonstration flight" from the Kuala Lumpur International to Langkawi, said transport minister Liow Tiong Lai. He said the airlines had operated without obtaining an Air Service Permit (ASP) from the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), a requirement to run a commercial flight. "Though Suasa Airlines has received 'technical approval' from DCA in the form of an AOC Jul 22, it did not give the airlines to start flying commercially," Liow said Tuesday. DCA director-general Azharuddin Abd Rahman said Monday Suasa Airlines should not conduct any commercial air transport operations without both the AOC and ASP approvals. <br/>
Introduction to service of the Boeing 737 Max will be a "game changer" for Ryanair, argues the airline's finance chief Neil Sorahan. Sorahan highlighted the aircraft as a key part of a "relentless focus on cost" at Ryanair. "In 2019, we start to take delivery of the Boeing 737 Max 200 aircraft, or 'The Game Changer' as we've christened it at Ryanair, because we think it's the next step up in the evolution of costs in Ryanair," Sorahan says. The airline has 100 737 Max jets on firm order, plus 100 options. Aside from a 16% improvement in fuel efficiency over Ryanair's current fleet of 737-800s, the Max 200 will carry more passengers – 197 versus 189 – without incurring extra cabin costs, says Sorahan. Ryanair currently has 353 in-service 737-800s, with 115 outstanding firm orders for that variant, on top of its 737 Max orders. <br/>
Emirates Airline said it will not bring back the Airbus A380 on its Dallas/Fort Worth to Dubai route in September as it had originally planned. Instead, the carrier will continue to use a Boeing 777-300ER on the route. Emirates made the switch from an A380 to the Boeing 777 in February. “This decision was made as part of our routine operational review, to ensure that our capacity is deployed to best serve customer demand across our global network,” the company said. Emirates first used the double-decker A380 which carries 489 passengers on the route in Oct 2014 but the airline faced stiff competition from Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways who both offer direct flights from DFW to the Middle East. In some months, the Emirates A380 was leaving DFW only half full of passengers. <br/>
Stockholders in Virgin America have approved the acquisition of their airline by Alaska Airlines. The chairman of Virgin America announced the voting results at a shareholders meeting Tuesday. This is the next-to-last major hurdle for the airline takeover. The remaining step is US Justice Department approval. Antitrust regulators are already scrutinising the proposed combination of the nation's sixth and 11th largest airlines as ranked by passengers flown. The feds could require the combined carriers to shed assets to preserve competition. Alaska Airlines management insists the result of its acquisition of Virgin America would be "pro-consumer." Alaska Airlines and Virgin America's leaders both say they expect the deal to close by the end of this year. <br/>
WestJet reported a Q2 net profit of C$36.7m (US$28.2m), down 40.5% from net income of $61.6m in the 2015 June quarter, but the period did mark its 45th consecutive quarter in the black. The airline cited “continuing economic weakness” in the Alberta province, which is heavily tied to the oil industry, for the profit decline—the second straight quarter the carrier’s net profit fell. But president and CE Gregg Saretsky pointed to top line revenue growth—WestJet’s Q2 revenue increased 0.8% year-over-year to $949.3m—as a sign that the carrier’s “fundamentals remain strong” despite its home region’s economic issues. WestJet’s Q2 expenses increased 5.5% year-over-year to C$887.9m, partly the result of a $13.3m rise in maintenance costs tied to the launch of Boeing 767 flights to London Gatwick in May. <br/>