American Airlines said Tuesday that Q1 revenue, while not back to pre-pandemic levels, will probably be better than Wall Street expected on strong travel demand. However, spending on labor and jet fuel are rising at the same time. The mixed outlook from American could provide a hint of what other airlines will say when they begin reporting financial results for the quarter, starting with Delta Wednesday. American said revenue will likely be down 16% from two years ago, slightly better than the 17% difference it had forecast earlier. That would work out to $8.89b, which is slightly above the $8.87b consensus among analysts were surveyed by FactSet. The airline said spending in the quarter also would be slightly higher than it projected less than a month ago, and up to 13% above the same quarter of 2019. American has been adding workers after struggling with its operation at times last summer and fall. Fuel prices are also 7 cents per gallon higher than expected – not an insignificant amount, since the company estimated that it burned 895m gallons in Q1.<br/>
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Qantas’s flight credits policy is at the centre of a complaint to the consumer watchdog, with reports some customers have faced difficulties using vouchers after flight cancellations during the pandemic. Dean Price, a spokesperson for consumer advocacy group Choice, said these flight credits often come with “contract terms that cause a financial detriment to consumers”. A March survey conducted by the group found more than one in five people who had received flight vouchers during the pandemic had been “unable to use” them. “We’ve heard from way too many consumers about the real difficulties that they’re facing being able to use their flight vouchers,” Price said. “It got to the point that these complaints were so common we made the decision that we should make a complaint to the ACCC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission], and ask them to investigate whether the terms and conditions for people’s use of their vouchers are actually unfair contract terms under Australian consumer law.” Choice hopes its complaint will help start a process of consumer reform across the entire industry. “People currently have clearer rights for say, a $10 gift card than a $1,000 flight voucher that’s on hold from Qantas,” Price said. A spokesperson from the ACCC said it is “looking into reports that some consumers are facing difficulties in using Qantas credits”. “This has included seeking information over the past few weeks from consumers about their experiences using Qantas flights credits.” Qantas, which was not the only airline that garnered complaints, said that 80% of customers had already successfully redeemed their flight credits online. The requirement to book a flight of equal or greater value than the original flight is a crucial caveat that frustrates many passengers. “It causes a lot of problems, particularly if people have had international flights booked,” Price said.<br/>
Qantas has sent out an urgent plea to unrostered pilots to fly three international flights and a number of domestic flights scheduled for Wednesday due to “critically short uncrewed flying for tomorrow April 13″. The communication, sent from Qantas Operations on Tuesday morning sighted by this masthead, said an unspecified flight to London, a Sydney to Johannesburg flight and a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles were short of captains and first officers. It is also looking for an unspecified number of crew to pilot A330 domestic flights on Wednesday – the start of the busy Easter holiday break. Airlines have been in damage control over the past week as customers have taken to social media to complain about customer service phone wait times, culminating in Qantas issuing an email apology to its frequent flyers. The snaking queues of passengers at Sydney and Melbourne airports over the past four days is further evidence that neither the airlines nor the airports have properly prepared for the return of passengers following COVID-19.<br/>