Airline fares within the US are inching higher again. American Airlines confirmed Thursday that it raised domestic fares $5 each way. J.P. Morgan said Southwest followed by raising prices on tickets bought within a week of the flight and favored by business travelers. Southwest did not immediately comment. Airlines had raised prices just five weeks ago, and J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said he wasn't expecting another round of increases so soon. Spot prices for jet fuel, a major airline expense, have dipped since May.<br/>
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Boeing is coming to this year’s Paris Air show with some hard choices that will go far in determining who comes out on top in the jetliner duopoly it shares with Airbus. Reeling from the grounding of its most important aircraft in the wake of two deadly crashes, Boeing needs to reconsider its timeline and strategy for new models. Piling on pressure is Airbus’s likely unveiling of a long-range variant of its A321 model, potentially siphoning off more business from its US rival in the increasingly important market for midrange planes. The cat-and-mouse game over jets to be rolled out during the next decade is one of the top issues for Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg as he meets customers and faces the public at the industry’s biggest gathering, which kicks off June 17 on an airfield north of Paris. His choices: spend big on a so-called mid-market airplane, or NMA, to stanch customer defections to the A321. Or plow that $15b or so into the 737’s successor -- a scenario that has gained considerable urgency now that the Max grounding is in its fourth month and some customers are considering dropping their orders outright. If Boeing doesn’t strike just the right balance, “Airbus has a clear path to 60% market share for the next 10 to 15 years,” said Henri Courpron, chairman and founder of Plane View Partners and a former executive in the aircraft-leasing business. “Airbus is sitting pretty and waiting to see Boeing show its hand.” Story has more.<br/>
Dublin Airport is halting work on a E2b expansion following regulators’ proposals to cut the gateway’s passenger charges, hitting projects needed to accommodate record numbers of air travellers. The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR), which determines what Dublin Airport charges airlines for the passengers they fly from there, recently proposed cutting the levy to E7.50 a head for 2020-2024 from E9.30 currently. Dalton Philips, CE of the airport’s owner, DAA, has told senior staff that the State company’s board is “standing down” work on a planned E2b expansion timed for 2020-2024, blaming the uncertainty created by the CAR. Philips points out in a memo to senior colleagues that DAA’s investment plans depend on charges staying close to E9.65 a head, its 2018 cap, for the next five years. He states that the CAR’s proposal to cut the levy by 22% means “it would not be prudent to progress the capital investment plan” at Dublin Airport, where airlines warn bottlenecks are already causing delays. A record 30m people travelled through there last year.<br/>
The SpaceJet is not going to take you to the moon or Mars, but it can get you to a smaller city on earth without having to switch flights in Atlanta, Dubai or another big airport hub. The newly renamed regional jet by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is being showcased at the Paris Air Show next week, along with a new model that can seat 76 passengers. The Japanese manufacturer is using the industry gathering to go on a marketing blitz after the airplane suffered multiple delays and setbacks. The SpaceJet is the first airliner built in Japan since the 1960s. Mitsubishi Heavy, a longtime supplier to Boeing Co., is betting the timing is ripe for a new regional plane as more cities across the globe seek to link up with each other. The duopoly of Bombardier Inc. and Embraer SA, which has long dominated the market for regional commercial jets, is looking at other segments. “The reaction has been very positive,” said Alex Bellamy, the SpaceJet’s chief development officer at Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., the company’s airliner segment. The SpaceJet program and details of the new plane will be previewed at the airshow at Le Bourget, just outside the French capital. The second 76-passenger jet will be called the SpaceJet 100, or the M100, with deliveries scheduled to begin as early as 2023, Bellamy said.<br/>
More than 80% of business travel managers are concerned about flying on the Boeing 737 Max and two-thirds think their employees might change travel plans to avoid the aircraft even after it has been deemed safe to return to the skies, according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by the US-based Global Business Travel Association for the Financial Times, is one of several recent opinion polls aimed at gauging passengers’ views of the plane, which has crashed twice since October, claiming 346 lives. Passenger attitudes could be central to determining the final cost of the 737 Max crisis to Boeing, its airline customers and suppliers. The attitude of business flyers, in particular, could be critical because they contribute a large proportion of major carrier revenues. It remains unclear when the 737 Max, a newer variant of the decades-old 737, will return to the skies following its grounding in March. Airlines around the world are beginning to consider how best to reassure passengers when the aircraft comes back into service. Boeing has said that restoring the trust of the flying public is one of its biggest challenges. The GBTA poll of travel managers found that 38% were personally “very concerned” and 43% “somewhat concerned” about travelling on a Max, while 19% said they thought their employees were “very likely” to book away from the Max, with 48% saying this was “somewhat likely”. Collectively GBTA’s members manage more than $345b of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. The association received survey answers from 155 members contacted between June 7 and 11.<br/>
Experts at Fodor's have launched their inaugural travel awards, giving shout-outs for everything from the best airlines for plus-sized fliers and pets to the best travel apps and travel influencers. Why the need for another travel awards ceremony? Editors at the travel publication say theirs is meant to be a recognition of the companies and individuals that make travel "a little bit better." "We wanted to answer useful questions, but also keep it light," editors say. That means highlighting traditional winners like the best international airline (Emirates) and the best airline in the US (Delta Air Lines), but also creating useful and fun categories that take into account different travel needs. For instance, with more legroom and a larger seat width than the industry average, JetBlue is given the title of best airline for plus-sized and long-legged fliers, while American Airlines' "Cuddle Class" -- a special cabin cubicle in front of the plane -- is the top airline for pets. <br/>
Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR is tackling a slump in deliveries resulting from a combination of industrial delays, unsold aircraft and pilot shortages, industry sources said. The turboprop maker, owned jointly by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo, has delivered only a handful of aircraft in 2019 but aims to recover in the second half. ATR declined to give a figure for mid-year deliveries but said it was confident of achieving its target of matching last year’s total handover of 76 aircraft. “Our market is a very volatile one and we are used to managing that well,” a spokeswoman said. ATR dominates the turboprop market, competing against the Bombardier-developed Q400, recently acquired by Canadian manufacturer Viking Air, and China’s upcoming MA700. With debate about aviation’s environmental impact intensifying, ATR aims to pitch its 72-600 at next week’s Paris Airshow as cleaner than regional jets, with 40% less emissions per trip. While the show is dominated by competition for big jets, ATR says a third of the world’s commercial airports rely solely on turboprops, which help drive regional economic development.<br/>