Southwest is backing off plans for a quick recovery following a series of operational challenges that culminated in a meltdown that saw nearly 2,000 flights cancelled earlier this month. The carrier has cut Q4 capacity by 3 points to down roughly 8% versus 2019, and executives expect these reductions to continue well into 2022 as the airline focuses on operational integrity and staffing issues. The slowest to return will be markets historically strong with business travelers that saw their deep, multi-flight schedules pruned dramatically as Southwest pivoted to offering more leisure-oriented breadth over depth during the Covid-19 crisis. Headline capacity will return to 2019 levels next year but that depth — and possibly the return of lucrative corporate road warriors — that will take longer. “2022 will be another transition year in the pandemic recovery,” said incoming Southwest CEO Bob Jordan during the airline’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday. “The restoration of the network is a top priority in ’22 and ’23, but it will take time and it will be largely dependent on the pace of recovery of business travel and our ability to staff.” Business demand at Southwest was down roughly 73% compared with two years ago at the end of September, said CCO Andrew Watterson. This was a drop from down roughly 60% in July and August, and where the carrier hopes to end the year at. For comparison, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both said business demand was at roughly half of 2019 levels — or nearly 20 points above Southwest — in September. And Alaska Airlines, American and United Airlines all plan to be back to or nearly to 2019 levels next year.<br/>
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One of America's largest regional carriers, SkyWest Airlines, has canceled hundreds of flights three days in a row, and it's not the only airline impacted. The Utah-based carrier operates flights for American, Delta, United and Alaska airlines. "SkyWest experienced an internal technical issue, resulting in approximately 700 flight cancellations before the issue was resolved Thursday evening," SkyWest said. "We apologize to customers for the inconvenience." The airline said it continued to experience operational disruptions as it worked to get crew and aircraft into position. More than 700 SkyWest flights were canceled Friday, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations and delays in real time. Disruptions continued the following day, with more than 100 flights canceled Saturday. SkyWest said Saturday that it is "focused on efforts to return to normal operations as quickly as possible."<br/>
Although most airlines see hope in Q4 and beyond, few can say they are in better shape now than they were before the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the industry. But that’s precisely what Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Volaris claims in its Q3 results and its guidance for the near-term future. “Volaris is in a stronger position than when the pandemic began,” CEO Enrique Beltranena said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Friday. The carrier is not looking to cut any routes or capacity but is focused on aggressive growth, he said. And by most measures, this is no idle claim on Beltranena’s part. Volaris is one of the few carriers in the world that operated more capacity than it did in 2019, before the pandemic struck. The airline flew 21% more capacity in Q3 compared with 2019, and it plans to fly between 26-29% more than 2019 in Q4. Volaris said it expects to grow ASMs by the mid-20% range next year. Part of this is a function of fleet growth: More aircraft means more ASMs to operate. Volaris ended the quarter with 94 Airbus A320 family aircraft and plans to finish the year with 101. By the end of 2022, Volaris expects a fleet of 113 aircraft. Its fleet now is 40% A320neos, and this proportion will grow as it adds more planes; the airline is in the process of moving to an all-Neo fleet, Beltranena said.<br/>
Online travel agent On the Beach is suing Ryanair for blocking it from booking flights with the airline, in an escalation of a long-running dispute between the travel groups. According to legal documents filed with the High Court, On The Beach claims Ryanair breached competition rules by blocking the company’s credit cards and preventing its customers from managing bookings online. On The Beach claims Ryanair abused its “dominant” position in the market and caused it loss by unlawful means. The travel agent claims Ryanair stops it from creating a “my Ryanair account” required to make a booking and has made false and disparaging claims about the company. Ryanair has long tussled with online travel agents, which prevent the airline dealing directly with customers. CE Michael O’Leary has characterised online agents as “overcharging scam artists” for adding their own fees to the airline’s prices, and Ryanair has previously complained that travel agents have provided incorrect passenger information to the airline. Airlines prefer to deal with customers directly, particularly as it allows them to sell extra products ranging from seat selection to car rentals and hotel bookings. These so-called ancillaries are crucial to Ryanair’s low-cost business model in particular, and the airline pioneered using them in Europe to keep headline fares low. On The Beach is seeking damages from the airline and claims Ryanair sought to “degrade the experience for On The Beach customers by making it less convenient and/or more expensive for . . . customers to use Ryanair than for direct customers”.<br/>
El Al management has signed an agreement with its workers committee and the Histadrut in which 300 employees will take voluntary retirement. Under the terms of the agreement 50 employees in the engineering and maintenance departments will take voluntary retirement and 250 employees in administration. The cuts will come into effect by February 28, 2022. All the employees will receive early pension terms or an enlarged compensation package, depending on their age. The agreement also includes special assistance for El Al's 1,389 employees who have been on unpaid leave since the start of the Covid crisis and who are no longer eligible for government furlough payments. El Al has also agreed only to reduce its fleet by 9 aircraft from 45 to 36, rather than by 16 aircraft as originally planned. El Al began the Covid crisis with 6,300 employees with 1,900 pf them laid off by the end of July 2021. The latest cuts of 300 will see the number of employees fall to 4,100.<br/>
Creditors of China's HNA Group have voted to approve the company's restructuring plan, according to a court comment posted on HNA's official WeChat page on Saturday. The court in China's southern island of Hainan, where the group is based, said the vote had been conducted in accordance with the country's bankruptcy laws. HNA was placed in bankruptcy administration in February and a working group was created by the Hainan government to address the company's liquidity problems. HNA will receive strategic investment of 38b yuan ($5.88b) after its restructuring, which will go to 11 of its entities including Hainan Airlines. In the 2010s, HNA used a $50b global acquisition spree, mainly fuelled by debt, to build an empire with stakes in businesses from Deutsche Bank to Hilton Worldwide. But its spending drew scrutiny from the Chinese government and overseas regulators. As concerns grew over its mounting debts, it sold assets such as airport services company Swissport and electronics distributors Ingram Micro to focus on its airline and tourism businesses.<br/>