unaligned

A Southwest employee was taken to a Dallas hospital Saturday after being assaulted by a passenger at Love Field Airport, according to the airline and the Dallas Police Department. The female passenger "verbally and physically" assaulted the female operations agent shortly after being asked to get off the flight she had just boarded from Dallas to La Guardia Airport in New York City, Southwest said. Dallas Police said that shortly after boarding, 32-year-old Arielle Jean Jackson had a verbal altercation with an operations agent in the back of the plane, then was asked to exit the aircraft. As she was exiting, Jackson got into another verbal altercation with a second agent and struck her with a "closed fist on the head," the airline said. Jackson was charged with aggravated assault, Dallas Police say. Jail records show she is being held on a $10,000 bond. The employee was transported to a local hospital and released on Saturday evening, according to Southwest's email. She is at home resting, the airline said. "Southwest Airlines maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding any type of harassment or assault and fully support our employee as we cooperate with local authorities regarding this unacceptable incident," the email said.<br/>

Southwest on Saturday offered its flight attendants new incentives aimed at avoiding more flight cancellations, particularly over the peak holiday period, amid concerns over staffing, according to an internal memo. Southwest canceled more than 2,000 flights around Columbus Day weekend, disruptions the air carrier said cost it $75m. American Airlines, which is also offering flight attendants and other crews extra pay for holiday shifts, struggled with mass flight cancellations late last month and in early November as well. Flight attendants, pilots and other operations employees could receive up to 120,000 Rapid Rewards points, valued at more than $1,400. Flight attendants are eligible for working 36 days between Nov. 15 and Jan. 14, while cabin crews who work 28 days over that period could get 60,000 points, the note stated. Southwest said that the number of qualifying shifts or days varies by work group. The number of no-shows or unreachable flight attendants has been elevated recently, Southwest’s vice president of Sonya Lacore, vice president of inflight operations, said in her note to cabin crews, which was reviewed by CNBC. Sick calls have surged as well when the company has lifted emergency policies that required flight attendants to show a doctor’s note if calling out ill. For example, Lacore said when the airline last lifted those procedures on Nov. 9 sick calls went from 20 an hour to 90 an hour for two hours in a row. “We have a great opportunity here to uphold that commitment to them, and you, in the midst of what has been a difficult time for us all,” wrote Lacore. “Our first step in addressing this, and actively working to protect the operation, was to reduce the schedule, and we believe this incentive program will take us another step in the right direction.” The airline is also offering as much as triple pay to ground operations employees for working Thanksgiving and Christmas and double pay for overtime shifts between Nov. 17 through Nov. 30 and Dec. 17 through Jan. 3, up from time-and-a-half pay.<br/>

Wizz Air CE Jozsef Varadi said on Sunday the Hungarian budget carrier was built for organic growth, but was not “blind”. “(Wizz) is a platform based on organic growth. I think what we are saying is of course we are interested in market consolidation and to some extent we can pay that game; we can buy out airport slots for example,” Varadi said. “We keep an eye on the market in trending terms and we will continue to do that. We are not a Lufthansa, we are not an IAG. Those are consolidating forces, we are not. We are an organic company with a clearly defined business model, but we are not blind,” he said after announcing an order for 102 jets in Dubai. EasyJet in September said it had rejected a takeover approach, opting instead to raise $1.7b from shareholders and go it alone. It declined to name its suitor, but a source familiar with the matter told Reuters it was Wizz Air.<br/>

Nigerian regional airline Ibom Air is close to a deal to buy at least 10 A220 jets from European planemaker Airbus, delegates at the Dubai Airshow said on Sunday. One industry source said the deal could extend up to 20 aircraft. Airbus declined comment. The airline could not immediately be reached for comment.<br/>

As the man commanding the world’s largest international airline for almost two decades, Emirates President Tim Clark has perfected the act of playing arch-rivals Airbus and Boeing off one another. His tactics were on display again this weekend in Dubai, where the biennial air show is taking place on Emirates’s home turf. Clark, speaking in an interview, said he’s conducting a fleet “reset.” That, in turn, might amount to a shift away from Boeing, which the executive singled out as still having issues to resolve around the 777X wide-body, for which Emirates is the biggest buyer. Clark might lack the take-no-prisoners bravado of Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, who revels in the public shaming of Airbus and Boeing if he can raise the heat to get a better deal. But Emirates arguably has more clout than its regional rival because of its sheer size, having ordered 115 777X alone and running by far the largest fleet of Airbus A380 double deckers. And Clark is no stranger to making painful decisions at the expense of one airframe maker. In 2014, he axed a deal to buy 70 Airbus A350s, which constituted the single biggest order loss for the European planemaker at the time. He did eventually come back to buy 50 units, but the move left executives at Airbus in Toulouse under no illusion just how important it is to keep Clark on their side.Clark’s comments come at a delicate moment for Boeing. The US planemaker is grappling with years of delays on the 777X, and Emirates could seek to accelerate handovers of the Airbus A350, Clark said Sunday. He indicated that the number of jets required and the split between the manufacturers is also under review. “You can never say never,” he said. “There are issues still out there which Boeing has got to resolve. We also have aircraft from Airbus coming in. So we’ll have a look at all that and see how it best fits the network. In terms of mix and the absolute number that could all change.”<br/>

The president of Emirates has said he sees a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic coming from Europe which is concerning the airline. Speaking at the Dubai Air Show, Emirates President Tim Clark said: “I see a fourth wave coming through and we have all sorts of concerns about what may happen. We’ve got to look at it very carefully, because if the European markets — which have already started to open in a big way — start to go the other way we’re going to have to deal with that. But we will deal with it … we’re very good at working around problems, and we’ll just do what we have to do,” he said. Earlier this month, the WHO warned that Europe was once again the epicenter of the Covid pandemic. The region’s biggest economy, Germany, is currently reporting around 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day, and France has also reported a surge in cases. Austria, meanwhile, is expected to shortly impose lockdown restrictions on millions of unvaccinated people in an effort to contain rising infections. Airlines have been hoping that the Dubai Air Show marks a turning point for the industry after a devastating period. It’s the first major aerospace exhibition to take place since the start of the coronavirus pandemic which saw travel restrictions across the world decimate the industry. The IATA said last month that the global airline industry is expected to lose almost $12 billion next year. The IATA, which represents nearly 300 airlines that operate more than 80% of the world’s air traffic, added that industry losses in 2020 were worse than originally thought, coming in at $137.7b. However, Clark said that Emirates was already experiencing a significant pick-up in demand and had started to turn a profit. “We’re bouncing back with a high degree of, dare I say, robustness,” he said. “Demand is coming back at such a pace that we’re frankly having difficulty trying to supply the assets because we’re short of pilots, we’re short of cabin crew, we’re short of just about everything. But there’s no shortage of demand, it’s a really good story.”<br/>

Air Arabia PJSC plans to keep its schedule for Airbus jetliner deliveries unchanged as the discount carrier’s network of bases spread around the Middle East, North Africa and into Asia helps sustain demand. The airline, based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, reached the conclusion after reassessing its need for 120 A320neo jets -- double the current fleet -- ordered months before the coronavirus shattered demand for global travel, CEO Adel Abdullah Al Ali said Sunday. “When we did the order in 2019 we agreed to take delivery starting in 2024, and when the pandemic came we looked at everything and decided to keep the deliveries as they are,” Al Ali said at the Dubai Airshow. “So we’re not delaying or postponing anything.” The carrier is currently talking with both General Electric Co.’s CFM venture and Pratt & Whitney, the rival engine providers for the the A320neo, he said. Air Arabia is focused on building up its joint venture with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi, which was launched at the height of the pandemic, and sees “fantastic growth” there, Al Ali said. A second startup, new Armenian flag-carrier Fly Arna, is also up and running, while a third in Pakistan will take up some of the new planes and could become a significant force. “You have a 200 million population, a big domestic market and a big international market,” he said. “It’s potentially going to be a large airline.” The discount carrier filled 70% of seats in Q3, posting net income of 209m dirhams ($57m). Three-quarters of the fleet is back in operation, with the rest to follow by March. The CEO said the group’s wide spread of bases helped it cope with disruption from the virus. “One place was shutting down and another was opening,” he said. “When we were totally closed in the UAE our business was doing very well in Morocco. Egypt has been good for us from Abu Dhabi and even places like Oman.”<br/>

FlyDubai, the low-cost sister company of giant long-haul airline Emirates, said it’s in early talks with both Boeing and Airbus about its next jetliner order after previously being a loyal customer of the US company. While FlyDubai is an all-Boeing operator, it scrapped 65 orders for the 737 Max model after deliveries were halted following two fatal crashes. Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al-Ghaith said the US firm’s European rival is in the running as it fleshes out fleet plans with demand recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. “We’re in dialog with Airbus and Boeing about new orders,” Al-Ghaith said in an interview Sunday at the Dubai Airshow. He added that the negotiations are preliminary and that there’ll be no deal until the timing is right. FlyDubai turned cash positive as early as last November and has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in terms of passenger numbers and aircraft movements, the CEO said. The recovery has been led by markets such as Russia, where it’s serving 11 destinations, with demand from nearby Gulf states still subdued amid ongoing travel restrictions. “We put a lot of flights into places that we think will bring tourists,” Al-Ghaith said. “It’s the start of a bigger recovery that will continue into next year and beyond.” He added that though Gulf markets are still less than halfway back, though there’s evidence of high pent-up demand. FlyDubai will take delivery of 33 Max planes from June through the end of next year while retiring 10 or 12 older 737 models.<br/>

Oman Air is seeking additional financial assistance from the government and will raise more debt as it recovers from the pandemic, with a target of breaking even in 2024, its chief executive said. The state-owned Gulf carrier has received government aid during the pandemic but further state support was needed to help cover next year's operational costs, Abdulaziz Al Raisi said. He did not disclose how much support had been received so far, or how much more the airline needed. Al Raisi, who took over as CEO in 2018 after serving in the role in an acting basis, also said the airline has raised debt against non-core aviation assets like hotels, and planned to raise more to cover operational costs. He said that while the loss-making airline was still receiving government aid, support was at lower levels than in past years. Oman, among the weakest countries financially in the oil-rich region, has introduced austerity measures over the past year as it looks to contain state deficits and ballooning debt. The airline had laid off 15% to 20% of its 5,800 staff during the pandemic, Al Raisi said, though the workforce will be expanded as operations ramp in response to passenger demand. Oman Air was currently operating about 40% of its fleet, he said, with that to increase to 60% to 70% in Q1.<br/>

Saudi Arabian Airlines is in talks with Airbus] and Boeing for a wide-body jet order, with a decision expected next year, its CE said Sunday. The state-owned carrier, also known as Saudia, is planning to expand rapidly over the next eight years as part of a government strategy to transform the kingdom into a transport hub. "It's a good size fleet order that will have to be placed," Chief Executive Ibrahim Koshy told Reuters at the Dubai Airshow, without disclosing how many aircraft it would order. "It's something that will take place. Definitely in 2022." The order would help fuel network expansion to 135 mostly international destinations by 2030, up from 90 in 2019 which included 28 destinations in Saudi Arabia, he said. It would later post orders to replace older aircraft and expand its narrow body fleet, while some aircraft types will be removed to simplify the fleet, Koshy said. Saudia is expanding ahead of a planned launch of a new state-owned airline to based in the capital, Riyadh.<br/>

Cebu Air resumed hiring cabin crew, anticipating a recovery in air-travel demand as the Philippines eases its coronavirus curbs. “The airline has reached out and encouraged former CEB cabin crew to apply as the airline gets ready for growth,” the Philippines’ largest budget carrier said Saturday. The airline unit of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings has been bringing back domestic travel routes and flight frequencies it had to cut during the pandemic, while also gradually resuming flights to key Asian destinations. A steady increase in fully-vaccinated Filipinos and a decline in daily Covid-19 cases have led to an easing of quarantine restrictions in many parts of the Philippines, including in the capital region, which accounts for a third of the economy. Domestic tourism has shown signs of a revival, with travelers from the capital Manila now visiting tourist spots, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Nov. 11.<br/>