EasyJet has agreed with Airbus to delay the delivery of 24 new aircraft as the budget airline tries to stave off a shareholder rebellion led by its founder and former CE, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Haji-Ioannou, easyJet’s biggest shareholder, has repeatedly called for easyJet to cancel its orders for new planes, with coronavirus lockdowns likely wiping out months of revenues. He has called a shareholder meeting to remove two of easyJet’s directors if the airline does not cancel the orders to reduce its planned GBP4.5b in spending up to 2023. EasyJet Thursday confirmed that the meeting would go ahead by 7 May, as well as saying it would defer the delivery of 10 planes this year, 12 next year, and two in 2022. The airline could also defer another five aircraft orders in 2022 if demand does not pick up again, and it has the option to delay or cancel another 24 operating leases due for renewal in the next 16 months. Responding to the news that easyJet had agreed to delay the delivery of the Airbus planes, Haji-Ioannou said: “A deferral is the same as kicking the can down the road. In addition they are not telling the investors how many Airbus aircraft will easyJet go ahead and pay Airbus for and how much per aircraft during the next six months using UK taxpayers money.”<br/>
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Japan Airlines has decided to delay the debut of its new budget airline, Zipair Tokyo, as the new coronavirus pandemic squelches demand for air travel and upends the global aviation industry. Zipair's scheduled first flight between Narita Airport near Tokyo and Bangkok on May 14 will be postponed for at least one month, according to sources at JAL. The outlook for the low-cost carrier has been seriously blighted by the worldwide spread of the deadly virus. JAL may need to reconsider the future of Zipair, and its overall business strategy, which aims to power the group's future growth by expanding its no-frills operations into medium- and long-haul flights. Zipair was created to drive this strategy. JAL will announce the delayed launch as early as Thursday. No new date for the rollout has been set. The company is also likely to postpone the start of Zipair's Narita-Seoul service, slated for July 1.<br/>
WestJet Airlines says it will bring back nearly 6,400 laid-off employees to the payroll using Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to crater the airline sector. The company plans to apply to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and rehire workers at three-quarters of their previous wage once the federal government has approved it. "This does not automatically mean that they will be coming back to work as there may not be work there for them," CEO Ed Sims said Wednesday. The majority will likely stay home, as the airline has slashed domestic capacity and cancelled all transatlantic and US routes until May 4. The 12-week program covers 75% of a worker's salary or up to $847 per week at companies that have seen revenues drop off by at least 15% in March. <br/>
Flydubai will resume regular operations when the time is right and for the time being will continue to operate flights for repatriation purposes, its CCO said Thursday. The UAE has suspended scheduled passenger flights since March 24, though has allowed limited services for foreigners wishing to leave and for returning citizens. “We look forward to resuming our operations when the time is right and we are working closely with the authorities,” CCO Hamad Obaidalla said. Flydubai will operate up to ten repatriation flights over the next week, it said.<br/>
West Air, a Chinese budget carrier owned by the HNA Group, has persuaded some creditors to postpone receiving their bond payments, getting much-needed breathing space as its indebted parent company struggles for financial survival. The carrier, operating 35 aircraft from its base in Chongqing in central China, persuaded bondholders to withdraw 292m yuan (US$41.3m) of put options, according to West Air’s statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, where the bonds are traded. The 13-year old carrier eventually paid 235.9m yuan of bonds on April 7. The deferment is a relief for West Air’s parent HNA, one of China’s biggest global asset acquirers to emerge in the past two decades. China’s largest private-sector aviation conglomerate, HNA is under de facto state ward by the local authorities of Hainan province to trim its debt burden.<br/>
Virgin Australia has cut all but one return flight due to the coronavirus outbreak. Until at least June 15, the airline will run a daily Sydney to Melbourne return service - apart from Saturdays - and nothing else. It’s the latest drastic action taken by the airline, following thousands of staff being stood down and a plea for a financial lifeline. Good Friday marks the first day the grounding comes into place after it was announced on Thursday. The airline will continue to assist the Federal Government in repatriating Australians stranded overseas. Virgin says the cuts were a result of travel restrictions. “As a result of government restrictions, less people are travelling and we have made changes to our schedules to reflect this,” it said.<br/>
Among the big European carriers, nobody pushed boundaries more than Norwegian Air Shuttle. Late Wednesday, Norwegian spelled out what it will take to keep the lights on: Bondholders and lessors are being asked to convert a portion of more than $4b in liabilities into equity, so that the group can tap 3b kroner (US$290m) of loan guarantees offered by Norway’s government. Long-suffering shareholders face dilution but the airline is out of better options. Having thrice raised capital from equity investors in the past couple of years and with the markets in turmoil, a rights issue would be challenging. Norwegian’s shares are capitalized at just $130m, about half the list price of one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets. It can’t borrow more without the government’s backing because lenders worry that its $5.7b of borrowings won’t be repaid. Some E250m of Norwegian bonds maturing next year sell for less than half their face value. Norway is offering only modest help and on onerous terms, unlike the US, whose airlines have been promised up to $50b in assistance.<br/>