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United Continental Holdings wants to acquire as many as 40 used Airbus jets, seeking a thrifty way to bolster short-distance service as the airline struggles to get costs under control. The carrier is looking at A319 and A320 single-aisle aircraft, the Chicago chapter of the United pilots union said Oct 10th in a memo. A deal for 30 to 40 of the jets is “imminent,” according to the memo. The ultimate agreement could be for fewer. Planes operated by EasyJet are a possible source of the aircraft, people familiar with the matter said. Most of the planes would be A319s, said one of the people. EasyJet, which declined to comment, has its own plans to take over leases on A320s from Air Berlin. The search for used planes underscores United’s efforts to reduce expenses as it seeks to regain investor confidence in its turnaround plan. <br/>

The erosion of free trade with the US and Mexico would be bad for Canada's largest airline, Air Canada's CE said Tuesday. "We see the economic value and the economic contribution that NAFTA has facilitated," Calin Rovinescu told the Forum of the Americas in Toronto. Although bilateral air agreements are not part of the agreement, he said the largest foreign carrier in the US by flight frequencies and cities served has relied significantly on connecting and business traffic coming across the border. Rovinescu said Air Canada makes a C$75b to $100b annual economic contribution when factoring in the model that estimates the economic benefit from airlines equalling 5 to 7 times revenues. "Serving those 70 or so cities in the US has enabled us to make more than our fair share of economic contribution," he added. <br/>