United Airlines say business travellers are booking flights at a faster clip than a year ago. The airline said Wednesday that business-travel bookings in the first week of January rose 11% from a year ago. On top of its quarterly earnings that beat expectations, the comments helped boost United's stock almost 7% in afternoon trading. CEO Oscar Munoz says the partial government shutdown isn't having a major impact, but the airline is watching the situation closely. United says occasional long security lines haven't caused it to delay flights. United reported Tuesday it earned $462 in Q4, down 20% from a year earlier but better than analysts expected.<br/>
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United Continental, seen until recently as the laggard of the airline industry, promised Wall Street that the improvement in its earnings performance has plenty of room to run. The shares jumped the most in six months. “The pipeline of ideas and changes was not just for 2018,” CCO Andrew Nocella said Wednesday. Much of last year’s moves extend into 2019 “and then there is a whole host of other initiatives that come online.” The carrier is bucking the industry gloom stoked by Delta and American Airline, which cautioned investors this month about their ability to push fares higher. United, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with an aggressive expansion plan, stepping up its luxury offerings and planning tweaks to its new revenue-management system. “Overall the guidance is encouraging as revenue growth continues into 2019 despite Easter moving to the second quarter and a weaker macro environment in certain international markets,” Cowen & Co. analyst Helane Becker said. “The company did a great job executing their strategic plan in 2018.” “We are committed to, as we said before, moving heaven and Earth to hit our numbers,” United President Scott Kirby said on the conference call. There are short-term risks. A percentage point of United’s passenger revenue forecast is under threat from the U.S. government shutdown.<br/>
United employees will get their first look Wednesday at new uniforms that will soon roll out to all 70,000 of the carrier’s frontline workers. The new line comes with a distinct look that includes colours like “Pacific Blue,” “Premium Purple,” and “Atlantic Amethyst” -- all among a half-dozen hues that United first teased this past August. Those new colours have already started to make it onto some of United's updated cabin interiors, such as with the company's new international-style "Premium Plus" seats. Now, they'll also be on bold display as United unveils the uniforms that have been in the works for more than a year, with fashion designer Tracy Reese and retailers Brooks Brothers and Carhartt working behind the scenes to craft the look and newly designed pieces. “United should stand toe-to-toe with any global airline in terms in of how good their employees look and the quality of their uniforms,” Reese said. The new designs for flight attendants and customer-service agents will feature some of the most sweeping changes to United’s current colour scheme, which is heavy on neutral blues and grays. <br/>
The head of Lufthansa has suggested that plans to close Berlin's aging Tegel airport should be reconsidered. Dpa reported Wednesday that Carsten Spohr cited growing passenger numbers in the airport and doubts about whether a long-overdue airport slated to be opened in 2020 has sufficient capacity. Tegel is meant to close six months after the new Willy Brandt airport south of the capital opens. Willy Brandt was originally due to begin operations in 2012 but that has been delayed by construction problems, forcing the adjacent Schoenefeld airport and Tegel to remain open. Spohr said his airline would keep pressing for improvements to what he called the "untenable situation" at Tegel airport, which opened in the 1960s.<br/>
The Indian government is looking for candidates from the private sector to take up senior management roles at state-owned Air India. In a video interview, minister of civil aviation Suresh Prabhu says that the positions include CEO, COO and a CTO. He explains that this is part of the government's plan to turnaround the debt-laden carrier. "We must very clearly demarcate between the past and the future.[Where] the past is unconcerned, we are working with the finance ministry to find out the past issues were committed. Where the future is concerned, is should be completely be based on professionalism." Prabhu says that once a new management team is in place, New Delhi will not interfere in the operations of the airline. He also implied that past government involvement "was the problem". "Air India is suffering because of legacy [issues]. Air India's past policies have resulted in them accumulating huge debt. The debt is unserviceable on the basis of what the airline's profitability is today."<br/>
All Nippon Airways is conducting further trials of an autonomous, “driverless” bus at Tokyo Haneda Airport, and could introduce the system operationally by next year. The latest trial will run through Jan. 25. This will be the second stage of testing, following earlier trials by ANA in February 2018. In addition to the ANA project, other companies are investigating the technology at Tokyo Narita, Sendai and Nagoya airports. The bus will be guided using magnetic trackers embedded in the ground, and sensors onboard the bus. For these tests, someone will also be sitting in the drivers’ seat to take over if an emergency stop is required, ANA said. However, this person will otherwise not touch the steering wheel. The bus also has an advanced dispatcher system, which allows an operator in a remote location to monitor the bus and control it if necessary.<br/>