United said Tuesday that the FAA has cleared the path for the return of 52 Boeing 777s powered with Pratt & Whitney engines that were grounded after an engine failure in February 2021. “Late last night, the FAA issued the final paperwork on our Pratt & Whitney-powered triple sevens,” United’s CCO, Andrew Nocella, said at a Bank of America industry conference. The planes represent 10% of United’s capacity, “so it’s really, really material,” Nocella added. ’You really can’t rush safety.” “The FAA approved the service bulletins that will be used to make the necessary changes outlined in the Airworthiness Directives to the Boeing 777-200 with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines,” the FAA said. United last week said it plans to bring the planes back gradually once they were cleared, starting later this month, and later expand them to international routes. The planes were grounded after one of United’s 777-200s heading for Honolulu from Denver suffered an engine failure. It dropped debris in a residential area before returning to Denver’s main airport. No injuries were reported. The planes’ return had been delayed through at least May 13 from an expected return in April, CNBC reported last month. United shares were sharply higher in premarket trading Tuesday after the carrier reported it expects Q2 revenue per seat mile, a gauge of how much it’s bringing in for each seat it flies a mile, to rise as much as 25% over 2019, even though it would fly about 14% less. The trend shows higher fares for travelers, who have returned in droves after two years of the Covid pandemic.<br/>
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Comments made by a top US airline executive suggest efforts to ease flight-hour rules for new pilots might lack support from at least one major US carrier. Speaking on 17 May, United CCO Andrew Nocella addressed an effort underway to ease the controversial “1,500-hour rule” for new pilots. “Its a safety debate – its a safety issue that has to be thought about incredibly carefully over a long period of time,” Nocella says of an effort to ease the rule. Nocella did not specify whether United supports changing the rule, and the carrier did not respond to a request for comment. Nocella also doubts any regulatory changes could come fast enough to address the immediate problem. “It wouldn’t shock me if we are past the worst of this before that debate is even completed,” he says. “I can’t imagine a solution this year or next year… It’s just too late.” The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents United’s pilots, staunchly opposes easing the 1,500h requirement, also on safety grounds.<br/>
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines performed better than expected in Q1 of the year on the back of their robust cargo transport businesses, but Jeju Air and other LCCs in Korea continued to lose money due to the stagnant passenger flight numbers amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, according to industry analysts, Tuesday. Korean Air recorded 2.8t won in sales ($2.19b) and 788.4b won in operating profit during the January to March period. This is an increase of 60 and 533%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The net profit for the year went into the black by recording 543.9b won. In Q1 this year, cargo route sales recorded 2.14t won. The company focused on maximizing sales by increasing cargo planes. In Q1 of this year, passenger route sales increased 128% from a year earlier to 359.8b won due to the easing of entry restrictions in foreign countries. Asiana Airlines recorded record-high earnings in Q1 with rising demand for its cargo business. Sales increased by 46.4% to 1.14t won. Operating profit went into the black with 176.9b won and a net profit of 36.4b won. In Q1, the cargo business recorded 884.3b won in sales, up 45% from the same period last year. From Q2, the LCC's performances are forecast to improve as the number of travelers recovers due to the easing of quarantine measures. However, it will be difficult to turn turn a profit due to a rise in the exchange rate and crude oil prices.<br/>
More than 1.45m passengers flew on Singapore Airlines and Scoot planes in total in April - a 62.7% increase from March, and more than 10 times the number of passengers the two airlines carried over the same period last year. This comes on the back of a major easing of border restrictions in Singapore and around the world, which also led to passenger volumes at Changi Airport doubling and reaching close to 40% of pre-Covid-19 levels as at end-April. About 1.93m passengers passed through Changi last month, according to statistics published on Changi Airport Group’s website on Tuesday. In March, 1.14m passengers passed through the airport - the first time the 1m mark was crossed since borders were shut due to Covid-19 in March 2020. Releasing its latest operating results on Tuesday (May 17), SIA Group - which operates the national carrier SIA and budget carrier Scoot - said demand for air travel increased significantly after Singapore reopened its borders fully to travellers vaccinated against Covid-19 on April 1, and removed requirements for pre-departure testing on April 26. Many key markets also relaxed their border measures further, SIA Group added, which led to the company posting its highest passenger load factor since the pandemic started more than two years ago.<br/>