Delta said Wednesday that its sales in Q2 were likely to exceed its previous forecast and return to prepandemic levels. The airline said in a securities filing that it now expected revenues of up to $12.5b from April through June, as much as it brought in over the same period in 2019. And while fuel costs have risen more than predicted, Delta said its profits would end up at the higher end of the range it published in April. “The business is in a very strong position,” Delta’s CE, Ed Bastian, said Wednesday. “The recovery is exceeding my expectations, I think probably all of our expectations.” Airlines are enjoying a resurgence as many people spend less on goods and more on services like travel and restaurant meals. Fast-rising fuel costs and high demand have contributed to huge increases in fares, but many customers appear to be willing to pay more for tickets because they are eager to go on vacations. Southwest and JetBlue issued similarly rosy updates last week. Higher revenue would “more than offset” rising fuel costs, Southwest said. JetBlue said that ticket bookings were exceeding its expectations and that it expected revenue for the second quarter to be “at or above” the high end of its previous forecast. But the rebound has challenged the industry, which has struggled to overcome disruptions caused by bad weather and a shortage of workers. Delta struggled over the Memorial Day weekend, canceling 7 percent of flights scheduled from Friday through Monday, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site. A fifth of its flights were delayed, on average for one hour. “This weekend was disappointing, but we’re on it,” Bastian said.<br/>
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Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on Wednesday it was still trying to reach an aircraft deal with Boeing. Reuters reported in March that Boeing was edging toward a landmark order from Delta for up to 100 of its 737 MAX 10 jets. Asked at an industry conference if he saw a place for the MAX in Delta's fleet, Bastian said he agreed. "I think there is. We've been trying to get a deal done with Boeing. We're keeping our eye on that, and hopefully, we'll be able to figure that out," Bastian said on Wednesday. At the event in New York to celebrate the opening of a new terminal at LaGuardia Airport, Bastian declined to offer details of the size of any potential 737 MAX order and emphasized no decision had been made. "We continue to see if there's opportunities with the MAX but no decisions, no hold ups," Bastian said. Delta is the only major US carrier without a 737 MAX on order.<br/>
When it launched in October 2021, ITA Airways, Italy's new national carrier, promised to bring a "100% Italian experience" to the skies.<br/>And now, nearly eight months later, the airline has unveiled its new look, including new uniforms and food planned by Italian celebrity chefs.<br/>The new look was unveiled alongside ITA's three new long-haul Airbus A350-900s -- the plane which is, according to the company, their "new ambassador." Sticking to their all-Italian pledge, the interiors of the A350 were styled by Walter De Silva, a car designer who worked for Fiat and Seat, before becoming head designer at Volkswagen. De Silva took his inspiration from the song "Il cielo in una stanza," or "The sky in a room," he said in a press release. That means bringing blue inside the aircraft -- but not the bright blue planned for ITA planes' exteriors, but a more subtle, midnight blue. In economy seating, that blue becomes the base of the seat, with a sand-colored stripe down the middle. The colors are switched for "comfort economy" seats which have a little more legroom, and for business class seats. There's a nod to the tricolore flag on the headrests, too. For long-haul flights there will also be mood lighting depending on the stage of flight (boarding, take off, mid-flight, and meal times) as well as for sunrise, sunset and night time.<br/>ITA plans to gradually upgrade its fleet from its current Alitalia aircraft to a fleet of new Airbuses, predicting that by late 2025, 75% of the fleet will be less environmentally damaging, new-generation aircraft.<br/>