unaligned

Southwest, one of the biggest carriers in the US, expects a profit wipeout in Q4 after a December blizzard triggered an operational meltdown. The Dallas-based carrier, a pioneer in low-cost aviation, was unable to recover operations, and expects a net loss for the period after taking a hit of up to $825m. The losses are a result of the airline’s inability to recover from the severe winter storms that swept across the US just before Christmas, stranding thousands of passengers and drawing a rebuke of the carrier from the White House. The fourth-largest airline in the US cancelled more than 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31. The company on Friday said it anticipated a “negative impact in the range of $725mn to $825mn” in Q4 from the disruptions. Between $400mn and $425mn of that figure is an estimated revenue loss, while the rest is related to reimbursing affected customers, giving them airline miles as a “gesture of goodwill” and extra compensation for employees. The loss is at the high end of what investors expected, said Savanthi Syth, an analyst at Raymond James. The figure implies the company lost between $43,000 and $50,000 for each cancelled flight — still less than the high-water mark seven years ago at Delta Air Lines when a systemwide outage cost the airline $65,000 per cancelled flight. “We believe sentiment and, in turn, shares will continue to be weighed down by the longer term implications of the operations meltdown,” she said. While all US airlines were affected by the “bomb cyclone”, a term given to an explosive storm that intensifies rapidly, most recovered fairly quickly.<br/>

The operational chaos that engulfed Southwest Airlines Co. over the busy holiday period was a crisis decades in the making. In the aftermath of a meltdown that led to 16,700 flight cancellations and may cost the airline more than $800m, blame has fallen on an outmoded crew scheduling system and an unusual point-to-point route network. Southwest was overwhelmed and unable to adapt as a severe storm swept the US. But behind those specific issues is an insular management team that critics say lacks the imagination and technology expertise to help avoid such crises. While the bootstrap culture instilled by co-founder Herb Kelleher turned Southwest into one of the nation’s largest carriers, the size of the company now demands new ways of thinking and investment in innovation. “It makes you wonder if there isn’t sort of a correlation or cause and effect here, where you’ve got a fairly entrenched, stagnant board, a grow-your-own leadership team since it was a very small, scrappy airline,” said Keith Meyer, global leader of the CEO and board practice at executive search firm Allegis Partners. “A founder-based culture can only take it so far.” Southwest is full of lifers. Bob Jordan, who took over as CEO in February, has been with the airline 34 years. The CFO and communications chief have each worked there 30 years, while the chief commercial and chief legal officers have been around at least 20. The closest to a newbie among Southwest’s top management might be COO Andrew Watterson, who joined a decade ago from Hawaiian Airlines.<br/>

Canadian airlines Sunwing Airlines and WestJet cancelled flights to the western Mexican city of Mazatlan after civil unrest caused that city to close its airport. The cancellations come after the Canadian government issued a travel warning for the region on 6 January. “There is widespread violence and security operations in Sinaloa State, particularly in Culiacan, Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Guasave since the arrest, on January 5, 2023, of a cartel leader,” the Canadian government writes on its website. “There are burning cars, exchanges of fire and threat to essential infrastructure, including airports. The Culiacan and Mazatlan airports are closed and all flights are suspended at Los Mochis airport until further notice.” Vacation specialist Sunwing said it was cancelling its flights “out of an abundance of caution”. The carrier operates weekly flights from Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna and Vancouver each. Calgary-based WestJet also had one round-trip flight scheduled to Mazatlan, from Vancouver. “We are monitoring the civil unrest in Sinaloa State closely and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our guests and crews have proactively cancelled operations to and from Mazatlan International Airport today, January 6, 2023,” WestJet says. The US State Department has had a standing travel warning in place for Sinaloa state since at least October 2022. “The US Consulate Hermosillo received reports of gunfire, roadblocks, and fires throughout the cities of Culiacan, Los Mochis, and Guasave,” a 5 January note on the State Department website reads. ”Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha has called for the public to shelter in place. US citizens throughout Sinaloa should remain alert for potential violence throughout the state.” US carriers that serve Culiacan and Mazatlan include American Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. All four airlines have put travel waivers in place allowing customers to cancel and rebook their tickets without penalty.<br/>

Grieving friends and relatives of victims killed during the downing of Flight PS752 called for justice and accountability from the Iranian regime Sunday as Canadians from coast to coast marked three years since the country's military shot the plane down. At a highly-emotional and politically-charged ceremony in North Toronto, The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims remembered those lost in the crash while loudly condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran's human rights violations. "We expect the governments of the affected countries to continue to stand with us and show to the world that justice will only be achieved with the truth," association head Hamed Esmaeilion said during the ceremony. Family members who lost loved ones in the crash sobbed, called for justice and fiercely criticized the Iranian regime throughout the nearly three-hour event, where chants of "Justice for Iran" and "Woman, Life, Freedom" resounded constantly through the auditorium. PM Justin Trudeau, one of several dignitaries who addressed the crowd, touched on similar themes. "This tragedy happened because of the Iranian regime's heinous disregard for human life," Trudeau said in remarks directed at grieving relatives. "Your grief has been compounded by their refusal to be held accountable." Families took part in 12 rallies from Vancouver to Toronto and St. John's, N.L., to mark the anniversary of the crash, which killed 176 people including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents. The Ukraine International Airlines jetliner was bound for Canada via Ukraine and shot down shortly after its takeoff from Tehran in January 2020.<br/>

A Russian-operated Boeing 737 airliner that declared an in-flight emergency during a domestic flight on Saturday landed safely at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, Tass news agency cited a civil aviation source as saying. The plane, flying at an altitude of more than 10,000 metres, sent the alert while en route from the Arctic port of Murmansk to Moscow, 1,500 km to the south. The Tass report did not give any more details or identify the airline. S7, Russia's biggest private airline and the country's second largest carrier overall, offers flights between the two cities.<br/>

Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has returned to service the first Airbus A380 to undergo an extensive interior retrofit, which will be applied to 67 of the type. The initial airframe has been re-introduced to the route from Dubai to London Heathrow. Emirates says the aircraft has been “completely refurbished” and reconfigured to provide additional premium-economy capacity – a total of 56 seats on the main deck. “Customers will notice the difference the moment they step on board,” says Emirates president Tim Clark, stating that the aircraft will feature new colour schemes in the walls and carpeting. “With our latest interiors and products, this newly-refurbished aircraft elevates our in-flight experience in all classes of travel.” The next A380 being updated is A6-EUW, work on which will be completed by the end of January. Teams of engineers and technicians have worked round the clock, taking apart the entire interior of the A380 and refitting the parts again in a carefully planned and tested sequence,” says the carrier. Emirates adds that the programme will move to modifying two aircraft simultaneously as it progresses. Once all the A380s scheduled for the upgrade have been returned to service, by 2024, the airline will move to carry out similar work on 53 Boeing 777-300ERs – with the aim of finishing the overall 120-jet refit in 2025.<br/>

A domestic flight operated by budget carrier Jetstar Japan made an emergency landing on Saturday morning at an international airport in central Japan following a bomb threat, according to the transport ministry, but no explosive device has been found by police. Five passengers sustained minor injuries while evacuating via the airplane's inflatable slide following its arrival in Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture at around 7:40 a.m. No one was hospitalized, according to the airline operator. The threat was made at about 6:20 a.m. when the information center at Narita airport received a phone call from someone who said they had planted a bomb on the Jetstar plane, naming the specific flight, according to local police in Chiba Prefecture, where Narita airport is located. The bomb threat was made in an international phone call from Germany, with the caller demanding to speak with the "manager," according to sources familiar with the matter. It was unclear who the caller was referring to. The plane, bound for Fukuoka from Narita airport near Tokyo, had 136 passengers and six crew members. The runway was temporarily closed off. The flight had started taxiing at Narita airport at 6:21 a.m., Jetstar said. According to a passenger, less than an hour after takeoff, there was an in-flight announcement that the plane would make an emergency landing. Upon touchdown, another announcement was made to say a bomb may have been planted inside the plane. A number of flights due to depart from Chubu airport were delayed or canceled following the incident, which took place at the start of a three-day long weekend in Japan.<br/>

Bonza, the soon-to-launch airline branding itself as a “bogan” carrier offering ultra-low-cost air fares and purple budgie smugglers, will be seriously tested by the soaring cost of jet fuel, experts say, as the carrier enters the final stage of regulatory approval. Almost a year after it hoped to be in the skies, Bonza has begun conducting proving flights from Sunshine Coast airport to demonstrate to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) that its systems and processes are ready to enter the market, after it submitted key components of its application to the regulator in the days before Christmas, Guardian Australia understands. Casa says it will make a decision after the proving flights are completed in early January. Bonza generated headlines in October 2021 when it announced its intention to become Australia’s first ultra-low-cost carrier, with hopes to begin flying by early 2022. Its CE, Tim Jordan, said Bonza would focus mostly on leisure destinations and routes without an existing non-stop service, and would avoid flights between capital cities. After issuing a call out to regional councils to gauge their interest in attracting the airline’s services, it has set up its base on the Sunshine Coast. It initially plans to offer services to 17 airports, including Cairns, the Whitsunday Coast, Melbourne, Port Macquarie, Newcastle and Mildura – but not Sydney. Bonza is backed by the US private investment firm 777 Partners, which funds several budget carriers around the world. The firm plans to lease to Bonza eight Boeing 737-8 Max planes – it has already received three, which it named Sheila, Shazza and Bazza.<br/>