Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary gave a pessimistic outlook for the resumption by Boeing of deliveries of its grounded 737 Max, saying the carrier has frozen payments to the manufacturer and started talks on recouping costs of the delay. Deliveries of the aircraft will likely slip “another couple of months” to March or April, he said Thursday, calling it the biggest operational challenge currently facing the airline. “The best outlook is the first aircraft will come in January, more realistic outlook is end of February or March,” O’Leary said. “If it runs later than March, April or May we will have to take some more aircraft out of next summer’s schedule and slow down the growth further.” Any delays in adding the new planes to its fleet could lead to more job losses. <br/>
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On the seventh day of industrial action by pilots employed by Ryanair in the UK, the airline has been accused of being “hell bent on prolonging the dispute”. Flight crew have already stopped work for 2 days in August and 4 days in September. Members of the Balpa are in dispute about a wide range of concerns, including pensions, loss of licence insurance and maternity benefits. They also want to “harmonise pay across the UK in a fair, transparent, and consistent structure”. Strikes have also been called for Sept 21, 23, 25, 27 and 29. No impact has been felt in terms of cancellations to and from British airports. The pilots’ union claims that members have been told that benefits will be removed should they take part in current strike action. <br/>
Nearly half of Ryanair's shareholders voted against a pay deal for Michael O'Leary that could hand the CE E99m. The airline said that just 50.5% of investors voted in favour of the company's remuneration report. The revolt comes at a difficult time for Ryanair which is facing more strike action from pilots and is cutting jobs. Following the vote, a spokesman said it would consult with its investors. He said: "Ryanair is, and will continue, to consult with its shareholders and we will report back to them over the coming year on how the board will adapt its decision-making to reflect their advice and input on all these topics." Pilots are planning more walkouts this month in a row over pay and conditions. <br/>
Thomas Cook’s attempt to secure a GBP900m rescue deal have been hampered by demands from its lending banks to secure an additional GBP200m funding. The tour operator, which has been negotiating with its debtholders and largest shareholder Fosun on a rescue deal, had to delay a crucial hearing on the deal this week as banks including RBS and Lloyd’s pushed for an extra credit facility to be put in place to see the holiday provider through the winter season. In July, Thomas Cook presented a business plan to its lenders that showed it required GBP900m in financing. The rescue deal agreed by Thomas Cook will see GBP450m of capital put forward by Chinese conglomerate Fosun in return for control of 75% of the group’s tour operator business and up to 25% of its airline. <br/>
Virgin Atlantic faces "key decision points" in the next 2 to 3 years regarding the growth of its fleet, as it awaits a UK govt decision on how slots will be allocated at an expanded Heathrow. Executive VP of operations Philip Meher said that Flybe is a key part of Virgin Atlantic's plans for domestic and intra-European services, adding that a decision is still to be made on how that operation will be branded. He was commenting on the day that Virgin Atlantic unveiled ambitions for a massive expansion of its services from Heathrow – a plan that hinges on a UK govt decision regarding the allocation of the extra capacity created by a proposed third runway. Meher said he is "absolutely" confident that Virgin Atlantic is set up to handle the rapid expansion required should the slot decision work in the airline's favour. <br/>
Southwest Airlines expects its Q3 financial and operational results to be within range of its previous guidance, with some metrics showing improvement. Southwest has reduced its CASM forecast by 1 percentage point, and now expects a 8-10% increase rather than one of 9-11%, it has disclosed in an SEC filing. The carrier has adjusted the figure "primarily due to the shifting of maintenance and technology expenses from Q3 into Q4 2019, and continued cost control", and notes that the "majority of year-over-year unit cost increase in Q3 2019 is driven by lower Q3 2019 capacity as a result of the Max groundings". Prior to the 13 March grounding of the Boeing 737 Max fleet, the airline had predicted that CASM would increase just 2%. <br/>
Corsair is speeding up plans to transition to an all-Airbus fleet as it seeks to grow its fleet and network with the backing of its new shareholder. German airline investment group Intro Aviation, which became Corsair’s majority shareholder in March when it bought TUI Group’s stake, said at the time it wanted to revamp Corsair’s fleet. Corsair plans to operate a fleet of 13 Airbus aircraft by 2023, with the first fleet transformation phase scheduled to be completed by May 2021, by which time it will operate a fleet of 10, including 5 neos, the airline said Sept 17. Corsair said that—as part of a plan to speed up fleet changes—1 Airbus A330-200 would leave the fleet in Jan 2020, earlier than planned, while a first Boeing 747-400 would exit in Dec 2020, and the last 2 in April 2021. A second A330-200 will leave the fleet in June 2022. <br/>