Indigo Partners has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for 430 A320neo-family aircraft in a deal worth USD$49.5b at list prices. The deal, announced at the Dubai Airshow, is for 273 A320neos and 157 A321neos. The aircraft will be allocated to Indigo Partners’ LCCs Frontier Airlines of the US, Chile’s JetSMART, Mexico’s Volaris and Hungary’s Wizz Air. Frontier will receive 100 A320neo and 34 A321neo aircraft; Wizz Air will get 72 A320neos and 74 A321neos; Volaris is down for 46 A320neos and 34 A321neos; and JetSMART will take delivery of 56 A320neos and 14 A321neos. Managing partner Bill Franke said “This significant commitment for 430 additional aircraft underscores our optimistic view of the growth potential of our family of low-cost airlines”. <br/>
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Flydubai signed a landmark agreement for 225 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, with a list price value of US$27b, at the Dubai Air Show. According to Boeing, the deal represents the largest-ever single-aisle jet order—by number of aircraft and total value—from a Middle East carrier. The transaction includes a commitment for 175 MAX aircraft, plus purchase rights for 50 more. When finalised, the manufacturer said the purchase “promises to sustain tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs in Boeing’s US factories and network of suppliers.” This new deal surpasses the Flydubai's previous record order of 75 MAXs and 11 Next-Generation 737-800s, which was signed at the 2013 Dubai Air Show. <br/>
Michael O’Leary built Ryanair into Europe’s most valuable airline by being cheap, right down to charging pilots for coffee on their own flights. Now the pilots are pushing back. A group of disgruntled flight crew is demanding more pay, better conditions and the ability to bargain collectively across Europe. They’re emboldened by rising demand for pilots at rivals and a scheduling foul-up that forced Ryanair to scrap more than 20,000 flights, unleashing an outcry by aggrieved customers and a rebuke from Britain’s aviation regulator. That’s left O’Leary caught between his rebellious pilots, whose demands threaten to erode Ryanair’s low-cost advantage over rivals, and the potential wrath of investors should he make concessions that undermine the airline’s business model. <br/>
Bangkok Airways turned red in Q3, a reversal from a strong result seen a year ago, as it felt the impact of fierce market competition and higher costs. The carrier posted a net loss of THB157m (US$4.76m) in July-September compared with THB681m in net profit made in the same period last year. Weakening its Q3 bottom line were a 20.7% surge in expenses, higher fuel costs spurred by rising oil prices, an increase in excise tax on fuel for domestic flights, and THB69.6m in foreign exchange loss. The airline's revenue was up by 2.6% to THB6.87b as it carried 6.9% more passengers to record 1.52m, up from 1.42m in the previous period. But its load factor fell to 69.4% from 70.3% a year ago. Passenger yields also fell to THB4.33 per passenger kilometre from THB4.82 earlier. <br/>
Aer Lingus has "no plans" to re-join Oneworld, CE Stephen Kavanagh has said. That's despite expectations that the now IAG-owned carrier would do so by 2018. IAG CE Willie Walsh has previously said that next year would see the likely return of Aer Lingus to the alliance. IAG acquired Aer Lingus, which had previously been a Oneworld member, in 2015. However, Kavanagh said that Aer Lingus continues to work towards joining the existing alliance between British Airways and American Airlines. "We believe… that we can bring more choice to the market place and grow in connected businesses without compromising any of our existing businesses or the consumer," he said. "We're about building cost efficiency and capacity." <br/>
JetBlue's TrueBlue loyalty program obtained the highest customer satisfaction among US airline loyalty programs in 2017, according to a J.D. Power study. Alaska Mileage Plan and Southwest Rapid Rewards trailed close behind. Delta SkyMiles fell to the middle of the pack among the 6 programs that J.D. Power included the survey. American AAdvantage and United MileagePlus brought up the rear. The study, based on a September survey of 3,387 rewards program members, ranked the programs on a 1,000-point scale. TrueBlue recorded a satisfaction ranking of 800, edging out Mileage Plan's ranking of 796 and the Rapid Rewards ranking of 793. Alaska Mileage Plan is the only US airline industry loyalty program that still awards miles based upon distance flown rather than dollars spent. <br/>
The ultra-low-cost airline battle is heating up as fledgling airline Canada Jetlines prepares to take on WestJet’s efforts to regain its mantle as the country’s low-cost leader. The upstart airline’s CE said Tuesday that WestJet’s discount brand Swoop won’t be able to match its low costs, which will allow prices to average at less than C$100. “This country needs low fares. No doubt about it,” Stan Ganek said. But he said WestJet’s creation of a Swoop division just won’t cut it. “We all know that’s going to be a temporary measure and then when the competition is wiped out, guess what, the airfares go right back up again. So who’s kidding whom?” Gadek said Canada Jetlines will minimise costs by outsourcing everything but pilots and flight attendants. Tickets will only be available on the internet. <br/>
Emirates believes Airbus can meet demands from the airline’s owner, the Dubai govt, for the plane maker to guarantee development of the superjumbo A380 programme. “I am sure that if we get closer to a further order, the Airbus board will make that undertaking,” Emirates president Tim Clark said Tuesday. An anticipated order for A380 superjumbos worth US$16b failed to materialise at the last moment Sunday, forcing Emirates and Airbus into further talks to finalise a deal. Clark declined to speculate when a deal might be reached, but hinted Monday it could be a matter of weeks or months. Clark suggested that either Emirates or Flydubai could be interested in a mid-sized jet that Boeing is considering developing. <br/>
Samoa Airways is copping flak in the first week of its operation but says "Rome wasn't built overnight". Samoa Airways' GM Seiuli Alvin Tuala said he was working on solving problems that sparked criticism following the first day of the airline's operation Tuesday. The one aircraft airline has started flying between Apia and Auckland after the Samoan govt, which owns the airline, refused permission for Virgin Australia to fly the route. There were manual check-ins and boarding passes were hand printed. "It's a teething problem and it's being dealt with. We should alleviate the setback as soon as possible and remove any inconvenience to our passengers and travelling public," said Seiuli. Seiuli said the airline was formed in 6 months and he had expected "a lot of problems and setbacks". <br/>