United Airlines forecast another profit for the end of the year and said consumer appetite for travel is showing no signs of slowing down despite high airfares and concerns about the economy. Shares were up 7% in early afternoon trading on Wednesday. United’s CEO Scott Kirby said more flexible workplaces are changing travel patterns, allowing the airline to offset headwinds from a slowing economy. “Hybrid work allows every weekend to be a holiday weekend,” Kirby said in an interview Wednesday with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” He said remote work is allowing travelers to fly on days they wouldn’t be able to before the pandemic, when they were in the office more often. “It wasn’t money that constrained people from travel. It was time,” Kirby said. “They’re untethered from the desk.” The Chicago-based carrier posted a Q3 profit of $942m, down 8% from three years ago, and $12.88bi in revenue, which was ahead of analysts’ estimates and up 13% from 2019. Adjusting for one-time items, United earned $2.81 per share, easily topping the $2.28 analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting. The airline said it expects adjusted earnings per share of as much as $2.25 for the fourth quarter, far ahead of analysts’ estimates of 98 cents, according to Refinitiv. United said it expects its fourth quarter operating margin to be about 10% and above 2019 for the first time since the pandemic began. The strong summer travel season and sunny outlook for the rest of the year indicate consumers are willing to continue to spend on trips, a turnaround from early in the pandemic when Covid-19 restrictions devastated demand. <br/>
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Air New Zealand passengers who have booked trips to Western Australia this summer are going to have a rather different experience than usual, one with a Spanish flavour. The national carrier is chartering a plane from Madrid-based Wamos Air from November 15 to February 17 next year. It follows Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran's announcement last week that the national carrier was looking at leasing aircraft and crew from overseas to get it through the summer period off the back of heavy domestic bookings. Wamos Air operates mainly leisure charter flights, but also leases out planes and crew, and the aircraft being used here is a A330-200. The current Air NZ plane flying on the Auckland-Perth route, a Boeing 787, will be kept on call for emergencies across the network. Air New Zealand General Manager Short Haul, Jeremy O’Brien, told Executive Traveller that the leasing is a “buffer against those unforeseen circumstances by freeing up an aircraft that can be brought in at short notice”. “It builds resilience into the network so that should things happen, we're able to recover really quickly.” The crew will be from Wamos and there will be some differences on board. There are no premium economy seats, so those with bookings in that section will be offered a seat in economy, along with a refund of the fare difference and a goodwill gesture of A$150. Affected customers can also claim a full refund or take credits if they don’t want to fly. There will be a full meal service on board, but there will be no ‘buy on board (in-flight bites) facility’ due to the lack of Air New Zealand's in-flight entertainment system. Wi-fi is also not available.<br/>