Shares of 4 major US air carriers are taking off Monday after Warren Buffett — the famed investor whose Berkshire Hathaway owns stakes in all four — said he hadn’t ruled out buying an entire airline. The turn higher comes after Buffett said in an interview with CNBC that he “wouldn’t rule out owning an entire airline”, the way that Berkshire went from owning a stake in railroad BNSF to buying the whole thing in a 2009 deal. But Buffett cautioned that air travel “is a different business” than railroads, which require tracks and other infrastructure to operate and therefore offer more limited space for new entrants to disrupt the sector. “You can’t build a new railroad — you could add a flight”, he told CNBC. “It’s a different set of economics between the two industries.” <br/>
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A plan to almost double the US$4.50 Passenger Facility Charge cap doesn’t fly with US airlines. In a letter last week, the heads of 6 major carriers, including American Airlines Group and JetBlue Airways, urged Transportation secretary Elaine Chao to reject a Senate subcommittee’s proposal to boost the airport tax amid the appropriations debate. Air travel is already treated like a so-called sin product, with federal taxes and fees accounting for about 21% of the total cost of a round-trip ticket; plus, airports have ample sources of revenue, including the “nearly US$6b in unobligated funding in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund that could be utilised for airport infrastructure,” they said. <br/>
Australia’s project to bring together military and civilian air traffic management systems has moved another step forward with Thales, Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence formally signing a A$1.2b (US$940m) contract. Under the ‘OneSky’ initiative, Thales will deliver the Civil Military Air Traffic Control System (CMATS), which will replace separate systems used by Airservices and Defence air traffic controllers. The new system will allow controllers to use advanced technology and real-time traffic prediction tools, while airlines will have more flexibility to fly the most efficient routes, Airservices says. Despite only recently signing the contract, Thales has already started major delivery work on CMATS. The transition to CMATS is expected to start this year, with full operating capability due in 2023. <br/>