Delta Air Lines is expecting US$2b in additional costs this year due to the swelling expense of jet fuel, CE Ed Bastian said Wednesday. Earlier this month, Delta blamed a 50% annual rise in fuel costs for its decision to lower its Q2 profit forecast to between $1.65 and $1.75 per share from a previous estimate of up to $2 per share. The rising cost of jet fuel already weighed on US airlines' earnings in the first Q1 and prompted rival American Airlines to cut its full-year profit forecast in April. Delta and its competitors are hoping strong demand, higher ticket prices and benefits from reductions in the US corporate tax rate will eventually offset the impact of higher fuel prices. <br/>
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Delta Air Lines and Boeing have discussed the possibility of the carrier launching the proposed New Mid-market Airplane (NMA), as Delta seeks a replacement for more than 100 ageing mid-market aircraft. "We've had discussions with Boeing about being a potential launch customer," says CE Ed Bastian. While Bastian caveats any launch order on the final parameters of the NMA that Boeing has yet to finalise, the carrier is "interested" and will continue to discuss the programme with the airframer, he says. The NMA family will seat 220-270 passengers with a range of roughly 9,260km when it enters service, which Boeing forecasts by 2025. The airframer aims to achieve trip costs roughly 40% better than current generation widebodies, like the 767. <br/>
Air France-KLM said Wednesday that its search for a new CE was continuing, adding it hoped to reach a decision "as quickly as possible", amid a backdrop of concerns by some shareholders over the process. Interim CE Anne-Marie Couderc told the SNPL pilots union earlier this month that a decision could come in early July. "The board has reviewed the progress made on the mid-term strategic plan for Air France-KLM Group. This will be the basis for the group strategic orientations to be decided by the future governance," the airline said. "During this meeting, the recruitment process for the future governance has also been presented and discussed...This process continues in line with the initial objective set by the board, aimed at implementation as quickly as possible," it added. <br/>