Swoop airline president says spiking fuel costs mean pricier fares
An ongoing spike in jet fuel prices will have to be passed on to passengers - at least in part - even as competition ramps up among discount carriers, says the new president of budget airline Swoop. Bob Cummings, named head of the WestJet Group's ultra-low-cost subsidiary last week, said in an interview that budget carriers aim to minimize the impact of labour and fuel costs on airfares, but that market forces can't be ignored. “We're always adjusting, almost real time, to those market forces when input costs to go up. And they really do need to be passed through in order for the company to be financially healthy,” he said Monday, his first day on the job. “We'll be doing everything we can to minimize that and have affordable fares.” Fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including sanctions and oil import bans, helped push up the price of jet fuel by 129 per cent year over year to nearly US$153 per barrel by April 8, according to the International Air Transport Association. The price has dropped slightly since. Fuel costs amount to a major headwind for airlines in the coming quarters, National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said in a note to investors last week. Cummings, who joins Swoop after a three-and-a-half-year stint away from the company following 13 years as a WestJet executive, nonetheless expects bookings to surpass pre-pandemic levels this summer. Other hurdles include rapid domestic expansions by rivals Flair Airlines and recent entrant Lynx Air as well as ongoing COVID-19 testing requirementsand a global pilot shortage.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-04-19/unaligned/swoop-airline-president-says-spiking-fuel-costs-mean-pricier-fares
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Swoop airline president says spiking fuel costs mean pricier fares
An ongoing spike in jet fuel prices will have to be passed on to passengers - at least in part - even as competition ramps up among discount carriers, says the new president of budget airline Swoop. Bob Cummings, named head of the WestJet Group's ultra-low-cost subsidiary last week, said in an interview that budget carriers aim to minimize the impact of labour and fuel costs on airfares, but that market forces can't be ignored. “We're always adjusting, almost real time, to those market forces when input costs to go up. And they really do need to be passed through in order for the company to be financially healthy,” he said Monday, his first day on the job. “We'll be doing everything we can to minimize that and have affordable fares.” Fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including sanctions and oil import bans, helped push up the price of jet fuel by 129 per cent year over year to nearly US$153 per barrel by April 8, according to the International Air Transport Association. The price has dropped slightly since. Fuel costs amount to a major headwind for airlines in the coming quarters, National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said in a note to investors last week. Cummings, who joins Swoop after a three-and-a-half-year stint away from the company following 13 years as a WestJet executive, nonetheless expects bookings to surpass pre-pandemic levels this summer. Other hurdles include rapid domestic expansions by rivals Flair Airlines and recent entrant Lynx Air as well as ongoing COVID-19 testing requirementsand a global pilot shortage.<br/>
