The fate of debt-laden Jet Airways India, the country’s oldest surviving private airline, could be determined as soon as a creditor-imposed deadline for takeover bids runs out Wednesday. Creditors led by State Bank of India had not received any bids for as much as 75% of Jet Airways as of Tuesday, though that doesn’t mean that offers won’t come in on the final day, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Questions abound from potential bidders, including debt levels and how much of a stake will actually be available for sale, the people said. There’s much at stake beyond the troubled airline, which once represented a cornerstone of the Indian travel market. The deal will be pivotal for creditors seeking to recover more than $1b in debt from the carrier, which has posted losses in nine of the past 11 years and had to ground planes amid its liquidity challenges. “I am not very optimistic that they will get any investors coming in and with a large part of its fleet grounded," said Jitender Bhargava, aviation expert and former director of Air India. “The future of the airline looks very bleak unless some kind of divine intervention takes place.”<br/>
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Virgin Atlantic has suffered a loss for a second year in a row and warned it would not make a profit for at least another two years as its earnings were hit by Brexit and higher fuel costs. The company made a loss before tax and exceptional items of GBP26.1m in 2018, an improvement on the previous year’s figure of GBP49m. Its problems, including the pound’s fall after the UK’s vote to leave the EU, trouble with Rolls-Royce engines and a fuel bill that went up by GBP149m to almost GBP700m in 2018, would continue to be “challenging” this year, the carrier said. CE Shai Weiss, who took the helm at the end of last year, said he was targeting a return to profitability in 2021: “Everything we’re doing is meant to lead to that crescendo . . . We would like to see continuous improvement in the run-up to the return to profitability.” CFO Tom Mackay said he expected 2019 to be flat on 2018 and the year after to be “broadly break even”. Revenue in the year to the end of December increased 5.8% to GBP2.8b, including a 1.7% increase in passenger revenue per available seat kilometre. Weiss said: “While a loss is disappointing, our performance has improved in 2018 despite challenging economic conditions and put us on a trajectory for growth and return to profitability.” In a letter in Virgin’s annual report, chairman Peter Norris said it was “astonishing and intolerable” that there was no clear path for Brexit. He added that the process of negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU had been “chaotic” and warned that a no-deal scenario had “only a significant downside for our business and for the economy of the UK as a whole”. However, the company said that transatlantic flying would be “undisturbed” by Brexit thanks to the US and UK signing an open skies agreement, and that it would not lose access to the US once Air France-KLM buys its 31% stake in the group this year.<br/>
JetBlue Airways said it will use long-range Airbus jets with a modified version of its premium cabin as it prepares to join the hyper-competitive market for business travellers flying between the US and Europe. JetBlue will fly starting in 2021 from its hubs at New York’s John F. Kennedy and Boston Logan to an unspecified airport in London using the single-aisle Airbus A321LR, the carrier told employees at a rally Wednesday in New York. The announcement capped months of vows from CEO Robin Hayes that JetBlue could bring new travellers to the market by undercutting “obscene” business-class fares and offering its posh Mint service. The trans-Atlantic jump is a major gamble for JetBlue, which carved out a domestic business starting in 2000 by offering plush leather seats and innovative seat-back video screens at discount fares. The carrier will immediately face twin competitive threats from entrenched global airline alliances and struggling low-cost operators, while also needing to secure space at crowded airports. “This is one of the biggest step-changes in growing an airline, going international,” said Samuel Engel, head of the aviation group at consultant ICF. “And the Atlantic is not just any international market. The trans-Atlantic is a graveyard for airlines. JetBlue is better positioned to succeed than almost any other airline that has grown into it.”<br/>
Iran's second largest airline has begun direct flights to Venezuela, as the two countries cultivate closer ties in the face of US sanctions. Iran's official IRNA news agency says Mahan airline's first flight to Venezuela left Tehran on Monday carrying a Foreign Ministry delegation. The US blacklisted Mahan in 2011 after accusing it of providing support to the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The carrier recently halted flights to Germany and France due to US sanctions over its alleged military transport flights to Syria, where Iran supports President Bashar Assad's forces. <br/>
A Norwegian Air subsidiary has agreed with Airbus to postpone plane deliveries scheduled for this year and next, cutting its capital spending by $570m, the loss-making budget carrier said on Wednesday. It is the second time in two months that the airline has postponed aircraft deliveries. The Oslo-listed airline has shaken up long-haul rivals by offering cut-price transatlantic fares, but its rapid expansion has left it with hefty losses and high debts, leading it to shift recently to focus on bolstering its finances. The latest postponement covers an order by Norwegian Air’s Dublin-based aircraft leasing company Arctic Aviation Assets DAC for A320neos and A321LRs, Norwegian said. A spokeswoman declined to provide details, but said the agreement comes in addition to the previously announced plans. In February, Norwegian said it was postponing deliveries of 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from 2020 to 2023 and 2024, and four Airbus 321LR aircraft from 2019 to 2020.<br/>
IAG's Vienna-based LCC Level opened a base at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport April 7, with services to London Luton, Rome Fiumicino and Vienna. All routes will be operated by Austria-registered Airbus A320/A321s. Level will take over the majority of the current existing LCC Vueling routes from Amsterdam. This summer, additional Vueling-frequencies will be transferred to Level on routes to Barcelona and Fuerteventura (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal) and Milan-Malpensa. Both Vueling and Level are part of IAG. Level will base three to four Airbus A320/321s at Amsterdam-Schiphol. The airline launched operations from Vienna on July 17, 2018. For the summer of 2019, Level plans to operate a fleet comprised of three A320s and four A321s.<br/>
Cabin crew could serve strike notice on Irish airline Stobart Air on Friday, potentially grounding Aer Lingus Regional flights in coming days. Staff directly employed by Stobart Air in the Republic voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in a dispute over pay, conditions and union recognition. A spokesman indicated their trade union, Fórsa, could serve strike notice on the airline by Thursday. This could leave Stobart facing possible stoppages in as little as seven days. Stobart Air operates Aer Lingus Regional services, connecting the Republic with provincial airports in Britain, under a contract with the larger carrier. Any industrial action would hit these flights. Aer Lingus is not directly involved in the dispute between Fórsa and Stobart. The airline noted the ballot’s result but said it would wait for any notification of industrial action before commenting further. Fórsa says the dispute is over Stobart’s refusal to negotiate with the union on staff pay and working conditions.<br/>
Longtime Porter Airlines executive Michael Deluce has become president and CE of the Toronto-based regional airline, assuming a role previously held by his father, Porter founder Robert Deluce. The shift, effective immediately, comes as part of a broader executive shakeup at the company. Michael Deluce had previously been Porter’s executive VP and CCO, and was among the executives who worked at the airline in 2006, when it launched.<br/>