Ryanair and CE Michael O'Leary failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss a securities fraud lawsuit accusing Europe's largest budget airline of defrauding them by downplaying its willingness to recognise labour unions. While dismissing much of the proposed class action, US District Judge Paul Oetken said shareholders could try to prove that Ryanair intended to mislead them with statements indicating a "near certainty" it would not welcome unions, the recognition of which could increase costs and reduce profitability. The Manhattan judge said this included O'Leary's statement at Ryanair's September 2017 annual general meeting that hell would "freeze over" before the Dublin-based carrier accepted unions. Such statements "are impossible to reconcile with O'Leary's subsequent admission that he had 'long anticipated' unionization," and were "direct evidence" of possible intent to mislead shareholders, Oetken wrote. Ryanair offered that December to recognise pilot unions, to avert a possible strike, and its American depositary shares fell 5.2% that day. Oetken also dismissed claims concerning other statements about Ryanair's labor relations, profitability and growth targets, finding no proof the statements were false.<br/>
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Emirates said it’s unable to commit to outstanding aircraft orders in light of the coronavirus crisis, casting doubt over a backlog worth tens of billions of dollars to Boeing and Airbus. “All bets are off,” Tim Clark, the Dubai-based carrier’s president, said in a online forum Monday. “We are nowhere near confident enough that the economics, the cash flows, the bottom line will put us in a good position to be able to guess if we’ll buy a hundred of this or a hundred of that.” Emirates ranks as the world’s largest long-haul carrier and had unfilled orders for more than 200 jets at the end of March, comprising Boeing 777s and 787s, Airbus A350s, and the last few A380 superjumbos. Grounding existing aircraft is not always an option since they may be encumbered by leases and other debt, and the carrier’s focus is on getting those planes flying again, he said. Aircraft manufacturers are aware that airlines have to “keep cash where it needs to be” and have understand that they may need to defer or even cancel orders, Clark said. “This is about surviving the present.”<br/>
A marked improvement in air travel might need to wait until summer of 2021, according to Emirates airline’s President. “We will start to see an uptick, quite a large uptick in demand," Tim Clark said, adding that Emirates would be able to get its fleet ready within 48 hours if it had to. I think probably by the year 2022-23, 2023-24 we will see things coming back to some degree of normality and Emirates will be operating its network as it was - and hopefully as successfully as it was." The airline was flying to 157 destinations in 83 countries before it grounded passenger flights in March and has since operated limited services. Emirates has warned that the current period would be the most difficult in its 35-year history, and on Sunday said it had made some staff redundant due to the impact of the pandemic. Clark said physical distancing on planes was not economically and environmentally practical because it would mean flying aircraft half empty. Emirates will for now continue to ask passengers to wear gloves and face masks onboard, he said. And he does not believe “corporate travel will diminish”.<br/>
Congo Airways’ decision to swap orders for Embraer 175s to larger E190-E2s party reflects an effort by the company to expand on routes previously served by financially struggling competitor South African Airways. “This will be an opportunity for us… We wanted to increase the capacity,” says Kinshasa-based Congo’s CE Desire Balazire Bantu. In December 2019, Congo ordered two 76-seat Embraer E175s and took options to acquire an additional two examples. Deliveries were to begin this December. But the government-funded carrier has now swapped those orders and options to four E190-E2s. It has also pushed back deliveries until May 2022, though the jets could arrive sooner, says Bantu. Congo will outfit the E190-E2s with 96 seats, including 12 in business class. It will use them to replace De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s. Bantu notes that SAA has historically flown from Johannesburg to both Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lubumbashi, in the country’s south. But with SAA’s future uncertain amid a government-led rescue plan, Bantu seen an opportunity for Congo to expand on such routes.<br/>