unaligned

JetBlue officials are answering questions and giving depositions as the Justice Department presses on with its antitrust review of the company's plan to buy Spirit, a small low cost rival, with a decision expected within weeks. "We want to be bigger. This is about jobs. This is about growth," said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer, pledging that a bigger JetBlue would put make it harder for the four airlines with 80% of the US market to raise prices. "We hope that the Justice Department recognizes that a bigger JetBlue is a great thing for consumers." In July, JetBlue Airways Corp prevailed over Frontier in a months-long bidding war for Spirit in a $3.8b deal. Geraghty declined to detail the company's interactions with the Justice Department, which is reviewing the deal to ensure it complies with antitrust law. She said JetBlue was not in negotiations with the government, but said the department was taking depositions. That step generally means that the government is at least considering a lawsuit aimed at blocking the deal.<br/>"I would describe the talks as we are working through the regulatory process" she said. "It is strictly a legal process." "We hope we don't get to the point of litigation," she said. JetBlue is also awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department which asks the court to force JetBlue and American to scrap its Northeast Alliance. A trial in the case was held last year.<br/>

Southwest COO Andrew Watterson will apologize on Thursday before a US Senate committee over the holiday meltdown that led to the cancellation of 16,700 flights and pledge changes to ensure that there will be no repeats. "Let me be clear: we messed up. In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resilience," Watterson's written testimony for a US Senate Commerce Committee hearing seen by Reuters says. In other written testimony seen by Reuters, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) President Casey Murray will tell the committee that the low-cost carrier's "overconfidence" in planning and a "systemic failure to provide modern tools" were responsible for the December meltdown that the union said stranded 2m passengers and is estimated to have cost it more than $1b. Murray will tell the committee that pilots "have been sounding the alarm about (Southwest's) inadequate crew scheduling technology and outdated operational processes for years. Unfortunately, those warnings were summarily ignored." Watterson reiterates the company's view that its crew scheduling software didn’t stop working but that it was overwhelmed. "We are doing a system-wide review of our preparedness for winter operations and will implement any measures necessary to mitigate the risk of an event like this occurring in the future," his testimony says. Watterson's written testimony offers a new apology: "It caused a tremendous amount of anguish, inconvenience, and missed opportunities for our customers and employees."<br/>

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) will tell a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday the low-cost carrier’s “overconfidence” in planning and a “systemic failure to provide modern tools” are responsible for a December meltdown. SWAPA President Casey Murray will tell the Senate Commerce Committee that pilots “have been sounding the alarm about (Southwest’s) inadequate crew scheduling technology and outdated operational processes for years. Unfortunately, those warnings were summarily ignored,” he said. The Senate hearing is reviewing causes of recent air travel disruptions, especially the Southwest holiday operational woes that resulted in more than 16,000 flight cancellations. <br/>

Bob Jordan, Southwest's CEO, faces the biggest challenge yet in his 35-year career at the airline that has built a customer-friendly reputation. After a high-profile systems meltdown in late December that left thousands of US passengers stranded and fuming, Jordan must guide the airline's recovery from the snowstorm and related technology breakdowns that forced the cancellation of almost 17,000 flights and is estimated to have cost it more than $1b. Jordan, 62, took the helm as CEO just last February. He has apologized and taken responsibility for the troubles, but the company has sent mixed messages, saying its technology worked just fine and it was the weather's fault despite no other airline suffering such a breakdown in service. Southwest's struggles reached a notable low on Jan. 28 when comedy sketch TV show "Saturday Night Live" lampooned the Dallas-based airline's technology and service. The carrier will now answer to US Congress on Thursday when Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson testifies before the Senate Commerce Committee. The move has caused some industry-watchers to wonder why Jordan failed to accept the invitation despite his plans to attend an employee rally in nearby Baltimore on Wednesday. Southwest said the hearing conflicted with other commitments. "I don't think they're being consistent enough about what message they're putting out," said Evan Nierman, CEO of global crisis management firm Red Banyan. "The public is more concerned about the computer system, not the weather system." "It is hard to imagine he has anything more pressing on his schedule than being present in Washington to testify before the lawmakers," Nierman added about Jordan. How Jordan navigates these turbulent times could determine the success of his tenure. <br/>

Southwest suffered more than a dozen technology glitches, outages and meltdowns, even before the 2022 holiday season when it canceled 16,700 flights over 10 days. Time and time again over the last decade, leaders at the Dallas-based carrier apologized to customers and said the company hadn’t lived up to its reputation built over 50 years, according to a Dallas Morning News examination of Southwest Airlines’ operational and technology problems. What led to the company’s epic December failure will be in the spotlight Thursday when the company’s chief operating officer Andrew Watterson faces questions at a U.S. Senate committee hearing. He’ll testify along with pilots union president Casey Murray, a critic of Southwest’s attention to previous technology problems. Over the last decade when issues arose, company leaders, including former CEO Gary Kelly and current CEO Bob Jordan, pledged technology upgrades and promised that new, better systems were on the way. Few are as familiar with those problems as Jordan, who joined Southwest’s fledgling computer programming team in 1988 from Hewlett-Packard and has been closely tied to technology as he climbed the corporate ladder to CE in the summer of 2021. Jordan spent six years heading the company’s technology teams and hired the company’s first chief technology officer in 2008 before leading the physical and digital integration of one of the company’s biggest acquisitions in its history, the $1.4b deal to buy AirTran in 2011. Story has more.<br/>

Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines reports a $40m profit in Q4 2022 as it continues to see strong demand for leisure travel. For comparison, the Denver-based discount carrier lost $53m during the last three months of 2021. Frontier posted $906m in revenue during Q4 2022, it disclosed on 8 February. The business generated $609m during the same three months of 2021. CE Barry Biffle repeated his refrain that the airline maintains a cost advantage over its competitors during Frontier’s Q4 earnings call. “We expect to maintain this advantage for years to come,” he says. “Put simply, our strong ancillary performance and industry-leading unit costs are the variables that make it possible for us to capitalise on the strong leisure market and stimulate profitable growth for the rest of the decade.” The carrier’s expenses totalled $861m during the final quarter of 2022, up from $695m the previous year. The airline says its bottom line was boosted by ancillary revenue, or non-ticket sales. Frontier’s total ancillary revenue per passenger was $82 in Q4, up from $63 during the same quarter in 2021. For the full year, Frontier’s 2022 loss narrowed to $37m, compared with a $102m loss in 2021. Additionally, the carrier generated $3.3b in yearly revenue, up from $2b in 2021. In September 2022, Biffle told FlightGlobal that a pending tie-up between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines would give his company a major cost advantage over its competitors. “We’re in a situation where… 95% of the capacity in the United States is going to have [a cost that is] a third or higher than ours,” Biffle said. The airline is also undertaking a major fleet renewal. At the end of 2022, Frontier had a fleet of 120 single-aisle Airbus A320s and A321s financed on operating leases that expire this year and the next that must be replaced. Frontier has commitments for 231 aircraft deliveries through 2029, including purchase commitments for 67 A320neos and 154 A321neos and direct leases for another 10 A321neos. “Our first A321neo arrived about a month ago,” Biffle says. <br/>

Indigo Partners-backed budget carrier JetSMART Airlines said on Tuesday that it wanted to buy Colombian low-cost carrier Viva Air, in a move that if successful would scupper Viva's plans to merge with Colombian flag carrier Avianca. Chile-based JetSMART Airlines said in a statement that it planned to open talks to buy the Colombian airline but it did not disclose how much it might pay to acquire Viva, nor its funding plans. JetSMART is part of private investor Indigo Partners' portfolio of budget airlines alongside US-based Frontier Airlines, Europe's Wizz Air and Mexico's Volaris. The Chilean carrier currently operates 79 routes across South America, including flights to Colombian capital Bogota as well as Medellin and Cali. "We believe that a merger between JetSMART and Viva Air will allow us to maintain the ultra-low-cost model in Colombia, helping to continue offering more routes at lower prices," JetSMART CE Estuardo Ortiz said. Colombia's civil aviation regulator initially rejected a proposed merger between Avianca and Viva in November on the grounds that it posed risks to competition in the sector and the welfare of consumers.<br/>

Administrators for UK regional carrier Flybe are seeking a temporary operating licence for the company, to provide a window for potential rescue. Flybe filed for administration on 27 January and the administrators have undertaken not to take bookings or conduct any aircraft operation that requires a valid licence and air operator’s certificate. But they applied for a temporary operating licence on 28 January, under retained European Union law, according the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Following their appointment the administrators disclosed that they would preserve scaled-back elements of the Flybe operation, at least for a short period. FlightGlobal understands that this is part of a strategy intended to facilitate a rescue transaction should this emerge as a possibility, and interest has been expressed in the businesses from international carriers. Flybe had been operating a fleet of De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s, primarily on UK domestic routes, before its collapse some nine months after starting services. There is no immediate indication whether external interest in Flybe centres on the airline operation or the slots it held at London Heathrow. FlightGlobal understands that the slots are considered among the company’s assets and will be sold only as part of the business, and not be made available for a separate purchase.<br/>

Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles is calling on the UK government to ringfence prized Heathrow slots held by collapsed regional airline Flybe for domestic connections. The Scottish regional carrier, which has itself just begun Heathrow flights, wants to take over seven positions that were secured by its former rival under a “use it or lose it” rule after other carriers pulled out of the London hub during the pandemic. Hinkles says that allowing foreign airlines to take the slots under a highest bidder principle would go against the government’s “levelling up” pledge for disadvantaged UK regions, and make it hard for communities in the likes of Derry or Dundee – both served by Loganair – to access global air networks. “It’s unacceptable that these slots are being auctioned off,” he says. “Access to our national hub for regional services is critical.” Hinkles said he had raised the matter with government departments, but had no idea at this stage whether ministers would put conditions on the transfer of the slots. Flybe grounded operations for the second time in three years after calling in administrators late last month. New owners had resurrected the airline in 2022 after it previously ceased operating at the start of the pandemic, but had failed to make a profit. Glasgow-based Loganair, which previously operated largely within Scotland, became the UK’s largest regional airline during the Covid-19 crisis after taking over around 18 former Flybe routes, including from Belfast City, Birmingham, Manchester and Southampton. It secured a single slot at Heathrow in late 2021, with a service to the Isle of Man – making it the first new UK airline to secure a slot at the airport in over 20 years. Hinkles expects Loganair to carry 1.6m passengers in 2023, up from a “historic” pre-pandemic figure of around 900,000. <br/>

Air Busan, a budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines, said Thursday it will resume the Busan-Kaohsiung route next month as travel demand recovers amid eased virus curbs. Air Busan plans to provide four flights a week on the Taiwan route from March 29 following three years of suspension due to the pandemic, the company said. The low-cost carrier also plans to offer flights on the Busan-Nah Trang route from March 26 and on the Busan-Taipei route starting April 20, the statement said. The carrier operated 25 international routes with 25 A321 chartered planes before the pandemic hit the airline industry in early 2020. It currently serves flights on 21 international routes ― 14 from the Gimhae International Airport in Busan and seven from Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.<br/>

Boeing is set to score a 15-strong order for 737 Max jets from Greater Bay Airlines Co., a person familiar with the matter said, a win for the US company over rival Airbus SE, which had also been vying to supply planes that will be the backbone of the Hong Kong carrier’s operations. Greater Bay Air has settled for 737-9 aircraft that will seat 200 passengers, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing information that isn’t public. It should start to take delivery of some of the jets, which are 20% more fuel efficient than their predecessor, from mid 2024, the person said. A representative for Greater Bay Air declined to comment. Boeing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Greater Bay Air, which started flying in July last year, has three current-generation 737 jets operating between Hong Kong and four Asian cities including Tokyo and Bangkok. It plans to launch mainland Chinese flights to Beijing and Shanghai and to Osaka in central Japan, according to the company’s website. Each 737-9 Max jet is valued at $52.3m based on 2022 prices, according to figures from aircraft appraiser Avitas Inc., meaning the transaction would be worth around $785m, although airlines typically negotiate steep discounts on large orders. Greater Bay Air’s founder, property magnate Bill Wong, also set up Donghai Airlines Co., which is based in Shenzhen and operates a fleet of 23 Boeing 737 jets.<br/>

AirAsia Aviation has applied to operate up to 10 aircraft at Kuala Lumpur Subang airport, marking an “emotional” return to where it first launched operations, amid government plans to redevelop the airport for jet operations. In his first public comments since Malaysian lawmakers greenlit the proposal, Capital A chief Tony Fernandes says the expansion plan – known as the Subang Airport Regeneration Plan – is “very bold and brave, and a step in the right direction for the aviation industry in Malaysia”. Capital A is the parent company of AirAsia Aviation. On 6 February, Malaysia approved the redevelopment proposal, which envisages the reintroduction of narrowbody aircraft operations from Subang airport, with flights of up to five hours. Other areas of focus include a “complete aerospace ecosystem”, as well as general and business aviation operations. Fernandes, who was speaking at a Capital A event in Kuala Lumpur on 8 February, says: “A big city like Kuala Lumpur should have two airports, and they should be priced differently.” AirAsia began operations in 2001 out of Subang, but later moved to Kuala Lumpur international airport (KLIA). Fernandes told reporters it would be an “emotional” return to Subang airport for the airline group, if redevelopment plans go through. “It would be very emotional for me if I see an AirAsia plane at Subang [airport] carrying passengers. I would imagine it would be more expensive than from KLIA, but I think it is the right decision,” Fernandes says. <br/>