unaligned

Spirit Airlines said Thursday that it had again delayed a shareholder vote on its proposed acquisition by Frontier Airlines, allowing it to continue discussions with Frontier and with JetBlue Airways, which has made a rival bid. The vote, which was to take place Friday morning, was rescheduled for July 15. The postponement is the third time in a month that Spirit has pushed back the vote as it has repeatedly spurned JetBlue, arguing that antitrust regulators would probably reject a combination of the two airlines. Instead, Spirit has encouraged shareholders to support the Frontier deal, which it has said has an easier path to regulatory approval. JetBlue has argued that regulators are likely to scrutinize either deal and could find as much to object to in a combination of Spirit and Frontier, which compete in many markets. JetBlue’s all-cash offer also values Spirit more highly, at about $3.6b; Frontier’s stock-and-cash proposal valued the company at about $2.4b. The Biden administration has taken a dim view of large corporate mergers and is expected to be skeptical of either deal, particularly with airlines struggling to overcome episodes of mass flight cancellations. Either combination would create a new fifth-largest U.S. airline, however, which could better compete with the four carriers that dominate the domestic market. <br/>

Europe’s legacy airlines, including Air France-KLM, International Airlines Group and Lufthansa, are pushing for weaker aviation emissions policies despite publicly communicating net-zero 2050 ambitions, according to a new report from a climate change think tank. InfluenceMap, a nonprofit that researches corporate lobbying on climate policy, found large airlines in the region and their trade associations have actively campaigned against the EU’s regulations to curb global warming and emissions. The EU’s “Fit for 55” package, which sets a 55% reduction target for commercial aviation emissions by 2030, proposes a number of measures to decarbonize aviation. Referencing annual reports, position papers, and documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, the report found Air France-KLM advocated against an EU-wide kerosene tax, a levy that Lufthansa and IAG also opposed, while IAG lobbied for a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) mandate to be limited to flights within the bloc. The report also noted that the UK’s Air Passenger Duty was opposed by many legacy carriers as well as low-cost airlines, but the latter appeared more open to expanding flights that must comply with the EU emissions trading system and SAF requirement. In order to meet the Paris climate agreement’s stretch goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the aviation industry must shift toward more sustainable fuels and reduce customer demand, the report said, citing an assessment from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in April. Compared with cars, aviation is more difficult to decarbonize as large electric or hydrogen powered aircraft are still several years away. The authors warned the EU’s compliance with the Paris Agreement is at risk as air passenger traffic grows back to pre-pandemic levels. In response to the InfluenceMap report, IAG, which owns brands including Iberia, British Airways, and Aer Lingus, said it’s committed to decreasing carbon emissions. “IAG was the first European airline group to commit to powering 10% of its operations with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030,” a spokeswoman said. “The group has committed $865m in SAF purchases and investments over the next 20 years.”<br/>

Air France-KLM’s low-cost carrier Transavia is at risk of walkouts by cabin crew this summer even after agreeing to pay bonuses to staff in a bid to maintain labor peace. One of the carrier’s flight attendants’ unions, SNPNC, has issued a strike warning that runs through mid-September, without yet giving any specific dates, according to spokesman Lionel Trovao. The union refused to sign a labor agreement reached last week with other groups including the biggest CGT union because the accord included bonuses but no increases in base pay, which is below minimum wage for new cabin-crew hires, he said. The labor agreement included special payouts and improved staff scheduling, a spokesman for the airline said, adding that when variable portions are added to base pay, compensation is above minimum wage. Air France-KLM’s decision to grant extra compensation to Transavia staff in a bid to avert strikes comes amid travel disruptions across Europe. Any significant labor action at Transavia would shatter one of the achievements most vaunted by Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith. He took the helm in 2018 following a period of crippling Air France strikes, and has said the labor peace that has followed is crucial for the turnaround of the embattled carrier.<br/>

The head of airline and tour operator Jet2 has criticised UK airports for being “woefully ill-prepared and poorly resourced” for the holiday season, blaming them for the “inexcusable” travel chaos that has engulfed the sector in recent months. Philip Meeson, Jet2’s executive chair, said airport operators’ “often atrocious customer service”, combined with long queues at security and a lack of baggage handling staff, had contributed to “a very much poorer experience at the start and finish of our customers’ holidays than they were entitled to expect”. He added: “This difficult return to normal operations has occurred simply because of the lack of planning, preparedness and unwillingness to invest by many airports and associated suppliers.” Jet2, which operates out of 10 airports across the UK, stressed that it had invested “well ahead” of summer to ensure it had “adequate resources to be able to operate efficiently”. The air travel industry has been blighted by a wave of delays and flight cancellations in recent months, due in large part to staffing shortages among ground handlers and air traffic controllers. Strike action among some check-in staff and workers who refuel planes is expected to exacerbate the problem. Jet2 said on Thursday that revenues in the year to March 31 were GBP1.23b, more than three-fold higher than the year before when the airline’s fleet was largely grounded because of travel restrictions imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19. The Aim-listed group reported an operating loss of GBP324m, down from GBP336m the previous year. A total of 4.85m passengers flew with Jet2, compared with 1.32m the year before.<br/>

Gulf carrier Emirates said it’s taken steps to bolster operations against the disruption that’s roiling Europe and other travel markets this summer following talks with airports and service providers. The Dubai-based company plans to operate all 24,000 flights scheduled for July and August after co-ordinating with ground-handling providers at airports around the world, it said Thursday. That includes routes to 39 destinations in Europe, 12 of them served by Airbus A380 double-deckers that can carry up to 615 people in configurations deployed by Emirates, putting airport infrastructure under particular strain. The company will resume flights to London Stansted from Aug. 1. Staffing shortages following the coronavirus pandemic have led to delays and cancellations around the world, with the crunch most acute in Europe. Emirates said it has also secured additional resources at its Dubai International Airport hub to ensure efficient operations. Tim Clark, the carrier’s president, said on June 22 that capacity was at about 70% of former levels, though getting pilots and cabin crews back into service would take some time because of bottlenecks at training facilities.<br/>

India's newest budget carrier Akasa Air, which is backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has got a final approval from the country's aviation regulator to begin flying passengers, it said on Thursday. The airline plans to launch its first flight later this month, Akasa said in a statement, after receiving its air operator certificate (AOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). "We now look forward to opening our flights for sale, leading to the start of commercial operations by late July," the airline's founder and Chief Executive Vinay Dube said. The certificate is awarded by the DGCA at the end of a rigorous process to check whether the airline meets all regulatory requirements, and after conducting several 'proving' flights to show its operational readiness. Akasa, which will compete with other Indian airlines like IndiGo, the country's largest, and SpiceJet, placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX jets last year, valued at nearly $9b at list prices.<br/>