Southwest is offering a new appeasement to some customers after last week's glut of cancellations while the misplaced baggage fiasco could grind on for days longer. On Tuesday, Southwest informed some passengers affected by its Christmas travel meltdown that they would receive 25,000 frequent flyer bonus points as a "gesture of goodwill." In an email from the airline to passengers that was obtained by CNN, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan wrote that "no amount of apologies can undo your experience." He said the 25,000 gift points are worth about $300, and the airline said the offer is in addition to reimbursements and refunds. "For those who have requested refunds, reimbursements and/or are waiting to be reunited with lost bag(s), those processes are being handled with great urgency and we appreciate your patience," Jordan wrote. The airline said the offer is being extended to travelers with flights canceled or delayed more than three hours between Christmas Eve and January 2.<br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines has ordered two additional Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, bringing the airline’s firm order of the type to 12. Hawaiian and Boeing have also agreed to defer delivery of 10 787s that were ordered in 2018, according to a 4 January 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The first of those was originally scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2022. Now, the first aircraft is scheduled to arrive in the fleet in Honolulu during the fourth quarter of 2023, with three more to follow in 2024. The deliveries will continue into 2027. The filing did not include financial details of the additional aircraft. Hawaiian’s 2018 order represented a shift in the airline’s widebody strategy, as it canceled its previous order for six Airbus A330s. “The Dreamliner’s excellent fuel efficiency makes the 787-9 an ideal choice for Hawaiian’s long haul Asia/Pacific and North America routes,” the airline said at the time. Hawaiian notes in the 4 January filing that the delivery dates are subject to change based on “various potential factors, including production delays by the manufacturer”. Boeing has struggled to meet delivery targets, particularly with its beleaguered 737 Max programme. <br/>
LATAM Brasil announced today that in 2022, it reduced wait passenger wait times by almost 50% by implementing new technology like online check-in and baggage self-drop. More than 80% of LATAM's Brazilian passengers currently use the airline's automated check-in service available online and through the app. This eliminates the need to wait in lines at the airport, as passengers can also get their boarding passes online. In nine airports in Brazil, more than 70% of LATAM's passengers use kiosks to print and tag their bags, only needing to drop them off with an agent. Kiosks are available in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro - Galeão, São Paulo - Guarulhos, Salvador, Natal, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, and Belo Horizonte - Confins. Additionally, LATAM began using biometric technology for boarding at the Congonhas Airport in São Paulo and Aeroporto Santos Dumont in Rio de Janeiro. LATAM is the leading airline for using biometric boarding technology in Brazil in terms of passenger numbers.<br/>
Ryanair hiked its forecast for after-tax profit by up to 325m euros on Wednesday, citing recent pent-up travel demand while warning that COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine could still affect the outcome. Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers saw profit for the year to end-March at between E1.325b and E1.425b, up from a previous range of 1b to 1.2b due to stronger than expected holiday traffic and fares. The forecasts mean Ryanair is set to easily pass the E1b annual profit it made before two years of COVID-19 losses and come close to the record E1.45b reached in the year to March 31, 2018. The low cost carrier said it expects to report a stronger than expected after-tax profit of close to E200m in the three months to Dec. 31 after strong pent-up travel demand over the Christmas and New Year holidays. That would represent a record quarterly profit for that period for the airline, almost double the E106m generated in the three months to the end of December 2017. It said it still expects the period from January to March to be loss making due to Easter holidays falling in April and a recent softening in traffic and pricing for flights out of the United Kingdom and between Irish and provincial UK airports.<br/>
Saudi Arabia’s flynas, a leading low-cost airline in the region, has doubled annual growth in operation and performance during 2022, increasing passengers by 91% to 8.7m; flights by 45% to 66,000 and seat capacity by 46%. Additionally, flynas launched 16 new destinations and 30 new routes as the fleet upscaled to 43 aircraft, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA). “The growth rates recorded by flynas during 2022 in performance, operations, and localization programs reflect the company’s commitment to continuing expansion under the slogan ‘We Connect the World to the Kingdom’ and to consolidating its leading position as the best low-cost airline in the Middle East and one of the top 10 airlines in the world of its category,” said CEO and Managing Director of flynas Bander Almohanna. “The annual results confirm the progress in the company’s strategic plan with the receiving of 8 new Airbus A320neo and joining 2 Airbus A330 aircraft, which will contribute to serving pilgrims and Umrah performers as well as expanding to new markets. Moreover, the company's Board of Directors approved raising the booking orders of 250 aircraft, in line with the goals of the Saudi vision 2030, and the civil aviation strategy to reach 330m passengers, 250 international destinations, and 100m tourists annually,” he added.<br/>