United Airlines' Q3 profit fell by one-third as the carrier was rocked by hurricanes that hit its hub in Houston and other airports. A key revenue measure indicated that United is also paying for a brutal fare war with budget Spirit Airlines, a fight that is expected to drag down average prices again in Q4. The Q3 profit still beat Wall Street expectations. United said Wednesday it canceled 8,300 flights in the quarter. The bulk of the cancellations came after Hurricane Harvey forced the closure of Houston's largest airport, a major United hub. That was followed by Irma and Maria, which disrupted flights in Florida and the Caribbean. The airline said it flew 46 relief flights after the storms. The hurricanes accounted for one-third of the reduction in United's pretax income, or about $185m. United plans to increase passenger-carrying capacity by 3.5% in Q4, compared with a year earlier, which would be at the high end of an earlier forecast. Over the summer, investors grew worried that US airlines were growing too fast, pushing fares down. That led to a drop in airline shares, although the stocks have partly recovered recently. Analysts are expected to question United executives about weak pricing power and the airline's growth plans when the company holds a conference call for investors on Thursday. CEO Oscar Munoz said that despite the challenges, the airline was continuing to "set the stage for United's long-term success."<br/>
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Scandinavian Airlines has delayed the launch of its new Ireland-based operating unit until December 2017, citing aircraft delivery delays. SAS is planning to operate nine Airbus A320neos from a new Irish air operator’s certificate in a bid to lower costs. Five of the aircraft on the Irish AOC will be based at London Heathrow—the airline’s first base outside Scandinavia—while the remaining four will operate from a second new base in Malaga. “There has been a delay in the delivery in [A320neo] aircraft from Airbus and therefore we have to postpone until the beginning of December,” an SAS spokeswoman said. She was unable comment on why the aircraft had been delayed and Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SAS president and CEO Rickard Gustafson had previously said the aim was to start operations from the new Heathrow base from Nov. 1, followed by Malaga in spring 2018.<br/>
SAA chairman Dudu Myeni will leave the state-owned airline in a shake up of the board before the arrival of the new CEO, according to people familiar with the matter. Myeni, who is friends with South African President Jacob Zuma and heads his charitable foundation, is the most prominent of a number of directors to be replaced by the National Treasury on Thursday, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the moves haven’t been announced. Deputy Chairman Tryphosa Ramano, also CFO of cement maker PPC Ltd, is among those to be ousted, one of the people said. “I do not respond to cabinet leaks,” said Yunus Carrim, chairman of Parliament’s finance committee and an African National Congress lawmaker. Myeni has overseen the unprofitable airline as it struggled under a series of temporary leaders, and the finance ministry was forced last month to bail out the carrier to avoid it defaulting on a $221m loan. Vuyani Jarana will start as a permanent CEO on Nov. 1, and the former Vodacom Group Ltd. executive has pledged to reassure the airline’s lenders that the carrier can return to profit for the first time since 2011.<br/>
THAI plans to return to the US market after a UN safety upgrade of Thailand’s aviation sector raised the odds of the FAA following suit. The state-controlled carrier may add direct flights to America next year if the FAA promotes Thailand to its top safety category, said Krittaphon Chantalitanon, VP of alliances and commercial strategy. He reaffirmed the airline will add a maximum of 28 narrow- and wide-body aircraft to renew its fleet. “Part of the strategic plan is to have the aircraft that would be able to fly nonstop from Thailand to the US efficiently,” he said, adding the company is also paring costs to curb losses and achieve sustained profitability in 2018. The UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization earlier this month scrapped a red flag that was imposed on Thailand in 2015 over safety concerns, after remedial steps by the nation’s military government. Krittaphon said he’s optimistic the FAA will upgrade Thailand given the progress made by the country’s carriers and civil aviation authority. “We have been working very hard on cost restructuring,” he also said in the interview last week. “We have to be leaner.”<br/>
THAI and its subsidiary Thai Smile Airways have added extra flights between Bangkok and provincial airports during the Royal Cremation ceremony period. Additional domestic flights will be operated from October 23-31. THAI said in a press release that it will more daily round trips as follows: 11 additional flights between Bangkok and Phuket; five between Bangkok and Chiang Mai; three on the Bangkok-Krabi route and two between Bangkok and Samui. In all Thai Airways will operate 183 flights with more than 110,000 seats during the nine-day period. Altogether, Thai Smile will operate 393 flights with more than 131,000 available seats during the period. <br/>