Ultra low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines posted better-than-expected quarterly results on Monday, fueled by strong demand for air travel despite ongoing economic concerns. Shares of Spirit rose over 7% to $21 in aftermarket trade. US airlines have been trying to cash in on strong demand for air travel, undeterred by rising interest rates and a looming recession, as pandemic restrictions ease. "Leisure demand has remained strong," said Spirit's CE Ted Christie. However, adverse weather, worker shortages and technical glitches have snarled operations over the past year. The Miramar, Florida-based airline's total operating revenue in the quarter rose nearly 41% to $1.39b, compared with analysts' estimates of $1.38b.<br/>
unaligned
A fight erupted near the jet bridge at the Philadelphia International Airport between a mother and daughter and Spirit Airlines staff after they were told their carry-on luggage was too large to bring on the plane. Parts of the encounter were captured on video. The footage begins with a pair of travelers, a mother and daughter, swiping at Spirit Airlines gate agents near the entrance to the terminal’s jet bridge, which connects the airport to the waiting airplanes. The pair was leaving Philadelphia for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when the scuffle broke out. The younger traveler grabbed the dreadlocks of one of the Spirit Airlines staffers, prompting another staff to slap her on the back of the head yell for her to "get off." She eventually let go, after which the Spirit Airlines staffer punched her several times in the face, even as the girl was being restrained by others. The woman’s mother, who somehow lost her shirt and shoes in the fight, continued to battle with the gate staff. A bystander could be heard in the background of the video asking "where the f*** is security?" A little boy — who may be a part of the same family fighting with airline employees — then began hitting a Spirit Airlines employee before running off in tears and collapsing to the floor. The fight appeared to be calming before the mother rushed to the gate kiosk and grabbed a keyboard. She was retrained and punched by another staffer. Police said they’ve spoken to all involved but have not made any arrests resulting from the fight.<br/>
The chair of the US NTSB said a FedEx Boeing 767 cargo plane and a Southwest Airlines 737-700 that nearly collided were "probably under 100 feet vertically from each other," according to preliminary information on Monday from the investigation. The FAA and NTSB are investigating an aborted landing of a FedEx cargo plane on Saturday in Austin, Texas, that had been set to land on a runway on which a Southwest Airlines jet was also cleared to depart. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told Reuters the "near miss" incident could have resulted in "terrible tragedy." The two planes came close to colliding when the FedEx aircraft was forced to overfly the Southwest jet to avoid a crash in poor visibility conditions around 6:40 a.m. "Shortly before the FedEx aircraft was due to land, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway," the FAA said on Saturday. Homendy said it appears likely the FedEx plane overflew the Southwest plane during their takeoff role momentarily and then Southwest passed beneath the FedEx plane again as its speed increased on takeoff. "At some point this FedEx plane and the Southwest plane are moving together - one on the runway, one right over the Southwest plane - so this is serious," Homendy said in an interview, describing the chain of events in the two minutes leading up to the near miss. The FAA issued a takeoff clearance to Southwest when FedEx was about 3.32 nautical miles from the end of the runway. The FedEx pilot got confirmation of clearance to land when it was 2.19 miles away, Homendy said.<br/>
Southwest Airlines will reduce by half the amount of experience prospective pilots must have flying jet or turboprop aircraft as it accelerates hiring this year. Applicants will need to have 500 hours of “turbine time” starting Feb. 7, down from the 1,000 hours previously required, the airline confirmed Saturday. The change, outlined in a Feb. 2 memo to pilots, “will allow more highly-skilled aviators the opportunity to pursue a career at Southwest Airlines,” a spokeswoman said Saturday. The US airline industry has been hobbled by a pilot shortage that intensified during and coming out of the pandemic. Most major carriers continue to hire aviators even after securing enough to fly current schedules, leaving a shortfall at regional airlines that has kept some aircraft grounded. Southwest is adding a net 1,700 pilots this year, after hiring about 1,000 in 2022. The change “will ensure we can continue to be selective in hiring pilots who demonstrate Southwest’s values and have relevant experience across the board,” said the memo from three Southwest executives.<br/>
Scandinavian operator Norwegian has provisionally agreed to lease another six Boeing 737 Max 8 twinjets, sourcing them from US firm Air Lease. These will be additional to the three 737 Max aircraft – one of which has been delivered – that the carrier has already agreed to take from the lessor. Norwegian says the aircraft will be delivered “shortly”, and “well before” the summer season. The airline had recently expressed concern that aircraft due to arrive from Boeing will be delayed. The carriers is aiming to serve 114 destinations in its summer 2023 programme. CE Geir Karlsen says the 737 Max lease will “compensate” for the Boeing delivery delays this spring. He says the Max “fits well” into the airline’s fleet strategy. Norwegian states that finalising the Air Lease agreement is subject to meeting certain undisclosed conditions.<br/>
An aircraft that crashed in Nepal last month, killing 71 people on board, had no thrust motion in its engines in the final leg of its descent, a government-appointed panel investigating the accident said on Monday. The plane crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhra on Jan. 15, in one of Nepal’s worst airplane accidents in 30 years. There were 72 passengers on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals. Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted person presumed to be dead. Analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder showed the propellers of both engines went into “feather in the base leg of descending,” the panel said. Aviation expert K.B. Limbu said propellers going into feather meant there was “no thrust” in the engine, or that it did not produce any power. <br/>
Thai AirAsia fplans to resume operations of eight aircraft that were idled during the pandemic and is considering shifting planes from other parts of the group to cater for the growing number of visitors from China. Asia Aviation Pcl, the operator of Thailand’s biggest low-cost airline, also expects improved earnings growth with the resumption of more flights to Chinese cities, CEO Santisuk Klongchaiya said Thursday. “Our advance bookings have demonstrated strong earnings momentum,” Santisuk said. “We may find a big challenge to expand seat capacity with demand from Chinese travelers. But seat shortages are a problem we’re happy to deal with.” Thai AirAsia currently has 53 jets in its fleet, he said. The carrier joins peers including Thai Airways International Pcl in scrambling to right-size their fleets to cater for a jump in tourists from China, which now allows people to come and go freely without quarantine. Thailand welcomed 11.2m foreign tourists in 2022, the highest number since Covid emerged in early 2020, and expects seven to 10m Chinese travelers to arrive by air this year, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said last month.<br/>