Norwegian Air Shuttle warned it was facing a “very uncertain” future after Norway’s government turned down the low-cost airline’s request for additional support to survive the coronavirus crisis. Jacob Schram, Norwegian’s CE, on Monday lashed out at the centre-right government in Oslo, calling it “impossible to understand” why they failed to back the airline that employs thousands in the country and brings in tourists from across the world. Iselin Nybo, Norway’s minister for trade and industry, said that Norwegian had asked for billions of krone of support and that the government considered it was not a “sound use” of taxpayers’ money. “The fact that our government has decided to refrain from providing Norwegian with further financial support is very disappointing and feels like a slap in the face for everybody at Norwegian who is fighting for the company when our competitors are receiving billions in funding from their respective governments,” said Schram. Norwegian entered the coronavirus crisis as one of the most vulnerable airlines in Europe due to its high debt levels. It managed, thanks to a previous support package from Norway’s government, to convert NKr18b ($2b) of debt into equity from leasing companies, bondholders and suppliers, leaving its former shareholders with almost nothing. But as coronavirus has returned in a second wave in Europe and airlines have grounded most of their fleets and extended the timeline for an industry recovery, Norwegian has been forced to ask for additional help. Norwegian is likely to find a second restructuring harder as its biggest creditors, the leasing companies for its aircraft, have stressed that it is highly unusual for them to take an ownership stake.<br/>
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Southwest is in advanced talks with Boeing and aircraft lessors to acquire as many as thirty 737 Max “white tails,” or new jets that have lost their original buyers, said people familiar with the matter. Any of the aircraft that Southwest accepts from storage at Boeing would replace a similar number of the 249 planes that the airline has already ordered, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. In other words, the largest Max customer isn’t looking to pad its order book amid a market depressed by the coronavirus pandemic. The discussions are part of a broader push by Boeing to reap cash from its best-selling jet, which has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes. The strapped planemaker has also approached United, Alaska Air Group and Delta about taking some of the planes that lack buyers, the people said. Of the 450 or so Max built during the flying ban, nearly a quarter are white tails, one of the people said. While pandemic-battered carriers aren’t eager to add new jets, those able to strike deals now would gain advantageous terms for models that will lower fuel and maintenance costs ahead of the eventual rebound in commercial flying. “Although we have nothing new to share today regarding fleet plans, we’ve publicly shared that Southwest is currently working with Boeing to refresh our order book,” the airline said. The company declined further comment. Boeing declined to comment, as did United and Delta. Alaska said only that it continues to track the Max’s regulatory certification process closely while maintaining contact with manufacturers. <br/>
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters remains open to cost-savings talks with Southwest, a spokeswoman said Monday following news last week that the airline had sent notices of potential furloughs to 42 material specialists represented by the union. Southwest said on Friday it had sent the warnings of furloughs, which would be the first in the company’s history, because the union was discontinuing all cost-savings negotiations for its material specialists. “That simply is not true, and further we continue to be open to any other cost savings the Company believes might be helpful,” Teamsters airline division director David Bourne said in a Nov. 6 letter to members. The union had informed Southwest that an overwhelming majority of the workers indicated in a survey that they did not want pay cuts, but said the union was open to other ideas to meet Southwest’s goal of 10% cost savings without furloughs or concessions. Southwest is asking all of its unions to agree to pay cuts in order to prevent furloughs and layoffs through 2021 as the industry struggles to stem losses from the coronavirus pandemic in the absence of more federal aid.<br/>
The CEO of Alaska Airlines’ parent is stepping down next year and will be replaced by the company’s president. Alaska Air Group said Monday that Brad Tilden will retire as CEO on March 31 after leading Alaska for the past eight years. He will be replaced as CEO by Ben Minicucci, a 16-year veteran of the airline who was promoted to president in 2016. Tilden will remain chairman. Seattle-based Alaska is the nation’s fifth-biggest airline and is particularly strong on the West Coast. Tilden expanded it by acquiring California-based Virgin America for $4b in 2016. In a statement, Tilden, 59, said the company is “through the initial phases of our coronavirus response ... and now is the time to move forward with this long-planned transition.”<br/>
Canada’s Porter Airlines has again delayed its restart after the coronavirus and associated shelter-in-place orders halted operations eight months ago. The Toronto-based regional carrier says on 9 November that ongoing travel restrictions within Canada and to the neighbouring USA continue to challenge operations. Porter has now pushing back its scheduled resumption of flights until 11 February 2021, nearly 11 months after initially shuttering operations on 21 March. It is the seventh time the restart has been delayed. The airline says that planning its restart after the traditionally slow weeks following the end-of-year holiday season will give it “a reasonable opportunity to begin flying if conditions improve”. The government of Canada maintains some of the strictest travel restrictions in the world, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all inbound passengers. Some individual provinces also have distinct isolation requirements, designed to stop the spread of the highly-communicable virus, but making travel within the country difficult and complicated. In addition, the border to the United States has been effectively sealed to non-essential travel since 21 March. A re-opening of the frontier has been repeatedly pushed back, and is now scheduled for 21 November.<br/>
South African carrier Comair will initially operate 15 aircraft across its two airline brands when it restarts flights from 1 December. Comair says a reintroduction of domestic flights by low-cost unit Kulula is to serve as the “first phase” of its “ramp-up to full operations over the next few months”. Domestic and regional flights operated under the British Airways franchise are reopening “soon”, says Comair, as are Kulula services from Lanseria. Comair entered business rescue in early May amid rising debt levels from a fleet-renewal programme, exacerbated by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max and the Covid-19 crisis. In September, a consortium comprising seven named individuals and an investment vehicle, Luthier Capital, agreed a rescue deal to acquire 99% of the airline. Prior to the pandemic, Comair had been operating a fleet of 27 aircraft, which has been reduced to 23 during the business-rescue process. Its restructuring plan envisages the fleet eventually being restored to 25 aircraft, including two 737 Max jets. The airline foresees the initial 15 aircraft “gradually increasing as the remainder of the fleet returns to service over the next few months”.<br/>
Mexico’s VivaAerobus says it will become the first airline in the Americas to return to 100% of pre-coronavirus capacity in November. In a note on its website on 5 November, the low-cost-carrier says that its November 2020 capacity will equal that of the same month a year ago, after the global pandemic decimated the air transport industry earlier this year. The airline says October capacity was at almost 94%, and that it transported 885,000 passengers during the month. That’s up 21% from September and represents a load factor of 85%. “In November [VivaAerobus was] the first airline in the entire American continent to have reactivated its operational capacity to 100% compared to November 2019,” the airline says on its website. The airline plans to operate 109 routes - 96 domestic and 13 international during November. That’s up from 97 routes - 86 domestic and 11 international - during October.<br/>