United on Tuesday reported a Q4 profit that easily beat Wall Street forecasts, sending shares higher, as the carrier scheduled more flights out of its hubs and won back customers after a series of public relations disasters. Shares of United Continental Holdings jumped 6% to $86.11 in extended trading, lifting the airline sector and investor confidence after the carrier reported a 5% rise in revenue per mile flown, a closely watched industry measurement. That growth was at the top end of United’s forecast and outpaced growth reported by rival Delta earlier Tuesday. Airline shares had fallen this month after both Delta and American Airlines Group lowered estimates for Q4 unit revenue, raising concerns about the industry’s ability to raise fares in an uncertain global economy. United attributed its revenue growth to a strategy launched last January to expand its domestic network by adding flights and more options for connections through its seven main hubs, with a particular focus on Chicago, Denver and Houston. For 2019, United said it expects adjusted earnings of $10.00 to $12.00 per share. United posted Q4 net income of $462m, or $1.70 per share, compared with a profit of $579m, or $1.98 per share, a year ago. The airline said it planned to boost its flight network by another 4 to 6% next year, and said it had placed orders for four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and 24 737 MAX planes. However, the ability of airlines to introduce new aircraft into their fleets is being hampered by a partial US government shutdown.<br/>
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Lufthansa cancelled more than a third of its flights Tuesday due to a strike by security staff at eight German airports, including the airline’s main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. About 500 of the 1,300 scheduled services were scrapped, the airline said. Security workers at the airports, which also include Hamburg, Hanover, Bremen, Dresden, Leipzig/Halle and Erfurt, have staged a walkout as the Ver.di union pushes for higher wages. At Frankfurt airport, Germany's largest, about 600 flights or half of the total scheduled for all airlines were called off, a spokesman for operator Fraport AG said. Talks between Ver.di and the employers’ group representing security operators will start again on Jan. 23.<br/>
Air Canada has disclosed several dozen routes on which it might deploy new Airbus A220s, which are expected to come online in January 2020. The routes span North America and originate from major Canadian cities of Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, according to a map displayed on 14 January by Air Canada vice-president of network planning Mark Galardo. Galardo, speaking during a media event at Airbus's A220 assembly site in Mirabel, notes that the routes are only under study and that Air Canada has not made final decisions. But among them are several that would be new to Air Canada's network, including Montreal-Seattle, Halifax-Vancouver, Toronto-Monterrey (Mexico) and Vancouver-Washington, DC. Routes described in a presentation by Air Canada's Galardo as "A220-300 possible destinations" Air Canada has orders for 45 A220-300s. It expects to take delivery of its first aircraft in late 2019 and to place the first aircraft into revenue service in January 2020, Galardo says. He also addressed Air Canada's decision to buy the aircraft, saying the move reflects the A220s unmatched economics and a desire to help a struggling fellow Canadian aerospace company.<br/>
LOT Polish Airlines plans to begin 5X-weekly Warsaw-New Delhi services from Sept. 17 using a Boeing 787 in a three-class configuration, its first route to India. LOT CEO Rafał Milczarski said the long-awaited flight between Poland and India is becoming a reality. “The potential for this flight is huge—over 8.9 million passengers traveled between India and Europe in 2017,” he said. The carrier broke a record in 2018 by carrying more than 8.8m passengers in a single year, which is 2m more compared to the year before. In 2019, LOT plans to transport 10m passengers. LOT plans to add nine Boeing 737 MAX 8s to its fleet this year, taking to 14 the number for this type. Also, four more Boeing 787-9s will be added to the fleet, which will make 15 787-8/9s by year-end.<br/>