unaligned

Spirit Airlines shareholders have approved a takeover by JetBlue Airways after a six-month battle to create the country’s fifth-largest carrier, a deal that now faces a high hurdle with federal regulators. Spirit announced the results of the vote after a special shareholder meeting on Wednesday. In April, JetBlue made a $3.8b all-cash offer for Spirit, derailing Spirit’s plan for a cash-and-stock deal to merge with Frontier Airlines. The airlines said they expect to close the transaction no later than the first half of 2024. But they now must convince federal regulators that the agreement won’t harm competition or drive up fares for consumers, a major hurdle in getting the takeover approved. The Biden administration has taken a hard stance against deals they argue will harm consumers. The Justice Department is currently battling JetBlue’s existing partnership with American Airlines in the Northeast in court in Boston. If the takeover is approved, JetBlue plans to do away with the Spirit brand, known for its ultra-low airfares and bare-bones service with fees for add-ons like carry-on bags. The New York-based carrier, by contrast, offers more generous space on board, seatback screens and on some planes, business class. “This is an important step forward on our path to closing a combination that will create the most compelling national low-fare challenger to the dominant US carriers,” Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie said. “We look forward to continuing our ongoing discussions with regulators as we work toward completing the transaction and delivering value to Team Members, Guests and stockholders.”<br/>

Bahamasair CE Tracy Cooper is calling for greater harmonisation efforts to ease travel within the Caribbean, particularly on intra-island services. Cooper, speaking during a panel debate on 18 October at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Buenos Aires, noted the strength of recovery in passenger traffic in the Caribbean region had surprised airlines and caught out those that had made cuts during the pandemic. “Especially this summer we were not able to meet the demand that was there on our doorstep,” Cooper says of his own airline. ”One of the things as we move forward, perhaps we need to recognise, is the aviation industry is much more resilient than we thought.” While wider economic headwinds threaten to curb the pace of recovery, Cooper highlights the longer-term issue around a lack harmonisation within the Caribbean when asked about the key challenge facing Caribbean aviation. ”The whole thing for the Caribbean is we are still fighting some things we were fighting before the pandemic, and that is harmonisation of efforts and the limited infrastructure that we have.” He says this was a key topic at the recent Caribbean Aviation Day, the IATA co-organised event held last month in the Cayman Islands.<br/>

Copa Airlines’ low-cost carrier Wingo will take its ninth aircraft next month as it continues its rapid recovery from the pandemic. Speaking on the sidelines of the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Buenos Aires, Wingo chief executive Eduardo Lombana says the Colombian carrier has already doubled its operation since the pandemic. ”We operated four 737-700s before the pandemic and now we are operating eight [737-800s] and we will bring the ninth, with 186 seats, in mid-November,” he explains. ”We have already put together a network of 33 routes, seven of those have been started this year,” Lombana adds. ”We are focused on making sure the routes make financial sense and the demand is there, and we are confident there wil be.” The majority of the routes, 26, are international and Wingo has benefited as Colombia’s borders remained among the most open in the region during the pandemic. ”So far we have been able to get the route rights we want,” he says. ”We have some challenges with nations that are slower in opening up, particularly in Venezuela.” The airline had been due to resume services between Bogota and Caracas earlier this month, but authorities have delayed the start. "We were the only the airline that connected both countries up until the pandemic, and we will be the first to connect both coutnries once its re-activated,” he says. Wingo initially began operations with the smaller 737-700s before moving to the larger -800s. <br/>

Canadian start-up airline Lynx Air named Jim Sullivan as its new chief operating officer on 18 October as the company seeks to carve out a place among North American discount carriers. Chosen following a global search, Sullivan will be responsible for nearly 200 pilots and other airline employees and all aspects of the company’s flight, airport and technical operations, Lynx says. Sullivan will move to Calgary from Huntington, New York to join Lynx’s executive team. His aviation career has spanned more than 30 years, including experience as a pilot and an airline executive – most recently as vice-president of flight operations for JetBlue Airways. “I’ve had a passion for flying and aviation for my entire life,” Sullivan says. “There is a lot of potential in the Canadian aviation market right now and I am incredibly excited by the opportunity to join a start-up airline like Lynx.” Lynx, a privately owned ultra low cost carrier (ULCC), joined Canada’s suddenly crowded discount airline market earlier this year by launching revenue flights with new Boeing 737 Max 8s. Fellow start-up airline Canada Jetlines completed its first passenger flight on 22 September, joining more established passenger carriers Flair and Swoop in the ULCC segment. <br/>

German green airline start-up Evia Aero has signed a tentative agreement for 25 Eviation Alice all-electric aircraft. Evia Aero intends to use the 250nm (460km)-range Alice as its primary aircraft for point-to-point services in northern Europe. No details of the delivery timeframe for the deal, which is the subject of a letter of intent, were disclosed, although the Alice is due to enter service in 2027. Eviation performed a first flight of the Alice on 27 September. The company continues to analyse data from that sortie and is hopeful a second flight can be achieved before year-end. To date, Eviation has disclosed tentative orders from Cape Air (75), DHL (12), and Global Crossing Airlines (50), although there are understood to be additional agreements in the pipeline. Evia Aero has previously disclosed a commitment for 10 of the hydrogen fuel-cell conversion kits for the Britten-Norman BN2 Islander being developed by Cranfield Aerospace Solutions.<br/>

Scottish airline Loganair has reported a return to profitability following two years of losses. The Glasgow-based company said it made a GBP4.98m profit before tax in the financial year to 31 March, with a turnover of GBP161m. It said the Covid pandemic hit its finances in the previous two years. Loganair is the UK's largest regional airline and its services include a number of lifeline routes backed by public funding. But it said subsidies from these Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes accounted for less than 5% of its turnover. The company, which was put up for sale earlier this month, said its charter and contract operations had played a part in its return to profitability. This included expanding a contract in support of the energy industry at Aberdeen, while the airline also secured work to provide charter services for several major football and Rugby SuperLeague teams. Earlier this year, Loganair also started work on a five-year contract providing Royal Mail's Highlands and Islands air services. CE Jonathan Hinkles said: "The efforts of every member of Loganair's team throughout the pandemic, and the diversified nature of our business, have enabled the airline to return to profitability far sooner than many of our UK airline industry peers. "It has, without doubt, been an incredibly tough two years."<br/>

Talks between Ryanair and its main Irish pilot union over the restoration of COVID-19 pay cuts have been "exhausted", the Forsa union said on Twitter on Wednesday, adding that it had asked the country's Workplace Relations Commission to mediate. Ryanair said that over 85% of its pilots were now covered by deals including "long-term pay agreements including accelerated pay restoration and ongoing pay increases" and it blamed Forsa for the impasse. "Ryanair has no difficulty with third party mediation but that cannot be a substitute for genuine and meaningful negotiations between the company and the union," the statement said. Ryanair in July said it had agreed on terms to restore pay cuts with all pilot unions other than in Ireland and Belgium. The airline saw minor disruption this summer due to cabin crew strikes.<br/>

India’s newest carrier Akasa Air took a 0.9% share of the domestic market in September, its first full month operating in a country where almost a dozen airlines vie for passengers. The low-cost carrier, backed by the billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who died in August at the age of 62, is trying to muscle into a market that continues to be dominated by IndiGo, which had a nearly 58% share in September, according to data published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Akasa started flying between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Aug. 7 using Boeing Co. 737 aircraft. It expanded to Bengaluru and Kochi later in the month, and its website shows it now also flies to New Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala and Chennai. The carrier’s debut came at a particularly turbulent time in Indian aviation, which had been rocked by the Covid pandemic as well as a spate of mid-flight incidents involving various carriers that led to inspections by the regulator. CEO Vinay Dube has said Akasa is financially strong enough to place larger orders and expand its fleet to 72 aircraft within five years.<br/>

A Japanese domestic airline is seeking to fill empty seats by offering subscriptions to Tokyo-based workers that will let them move to a city nearly 900 kilometers away, and commute back-and-forth to the capital by air as many times as they want. Star Flyer plans to roll out a monthly subscription service in spring that includes rented accommodation in and around the southern city of Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu, on top of unlimited flights between Kitakyushu — a city near Fukuoka where the carrier is based — and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, spokesperson Yuki Furuse said. The cost would be around 200,000 yen ($1,340) to 400,000 yen a month, which the carrier estimates will be competitive with rents for large apartments in the capital to attract workers with families. The regional carrier is betting that it can tap into rising demand for remote work to turn around its fortunes as airlines, hotels and retailers seek to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. "Compared with tourism, demand for business travel is still weak, which is one of the reasons we consider relocation as a way to cultivate new demand," Furuse said. Japan’s extensive rail network, which has long limited the appeal of short-distance domestic flights, has already seen job cuts as commuters stay home. The pandemic has also driven office vacancy rates in the capital to an eight-year high of 6.5%, according to data from office broker Miki Shoji Co.<br/>