Air Canada is eager to revive a revenue-sharing arrangement with United Airlines on cross-border routes, now that a bill in the Canadian Parliament has been introduced that could make such joint ventures easier to pass regulatory muster. “We’re definitely interested in pursuing a JV with United,” Yves Dufresne, Air Canada’s VP of alliances and regulatory affairs, said Tuesday. “The Canada-US bilateral air transport market is still the largest in the world. We made an attempt several years ago but there were so many roadblocks.” The carriers in 2012 abandoned efforts to coordinate cross-border service after Canada’s Competition Bureau said the venture would create a monopoly on 10 routes, hurt competition and spark “significantly higher prices.” <br/>
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United Airlines said Tuesday it is about to enhance the experience it offers customers traveling through its hub at Houston George Bush Intercontinental. United traditionally has operated a schedule of 10 flight banks at its Houston hub. The airline's new plan in Houston — effective Oct 29 — calls for shrinking the 10 flight banks to just 8 to create more east-west connection opportunities throughout United's domestic route system and to Latin America, for which United's Houston hub is a major gateway. If it succeeds, the plan will mean shorter flight connection times and better access to more destinations through the carrier's Houston hub. If it doesn't work — which can happen when weather and mechanicals and other situations cause significant delays — then United customers may not be so thrilled with the rebanking plan. <br/>
The Union Cabinet will soon decide the fate of Air India by deliberating on 3 options to divest the govt’s majority stake and consider the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to get rid of a major portion of its more than INR500b debt. The 3 options on the table are a full 100% sell-off, a 74% stake sale or retaining a 49% share in the airline, as per the note prepared by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for the Cabinet's consideration, officials aware of the development said. While the Central govt think-tank NITI Aayog and the Finance Ministry are in favour of an outright sale of the ailing airline, the Civil Aviation Ministry is keen that the govt continues to remain a stakeholder in the carrier after handing over the management to the private sector. <br/>
SAS still expects to turn in a pre-tax profit for its 2016-2017 financial year despite a sharp increase in losses in the fiscal year’s first half. The airline turned in a net loss of SEK876m (US$101m) for the 6 months ending Apr 30 2017, compared to a net loss of SEK75m a year previously. The loss was made on revenue of SEK18.8b compared to SEK17.2b for the year-ago period. The financial year’s Q2 “trended in line with our expectations,” president and CE Rickard Gustafson said. The most positive news was an increase of more than 300,000 passengers compared to the corresponding quarter last year. This resulted in increased revenue and a year-over-year improvement in income before tax and nonrecurring items. “However, profitability remains too low and must be raised,” he said. <br/>