American Airlines said Thursday that Doug Parker, who served as CEO for more than eight years before stepping down last year, will retire as chairman on April 30. The new chairman will be Greg Smith, who spent more than 30 years at Boeing including the last 10 as chief financial officer. Smith’s duties broadened during his tenure at Boeing, including working on the company’s effort to return the 737 Max jetliner to service after it was grounded worldwide following two deadly crashes. He briefly served as interim CEO after Dennis Muilenburg was ousted in late 2019. Smith, 56, retired from Boeing in a surprise move in early 2021, then joined American’s board in January 2022. Parker, 61, was CEO of US Airways when he engineered a 2013 merger that put him and his executive team in charge of American Airlines, which was just emerging from bankruptcy protection. Parker’s tenure as CEO was mostly a highly profitable period for American, but the airline struggled with more debt than its rivals, even before the pandemic that devastated the U.S. travel industry in early 2020. <br/>
oneworld
Iberia-owner International Airlines has agreed to pay E400m to Spain's Globalia for the remaining 80% of airline Air Europa it did not already own, the company said Thursday. IAG, which also owns British Airways, said the deal will allow it to improve its position in the Latin American market and expand into Asia, while allowing its Madrid hub to compete with other major airports in Europe. Air Europa, which will maintain its brand but will be managed by Iberia, owns 50 planes and has a further 15 on order, the company said. Its fleet consists of Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Boeing 737s, Globalia said in a separate statement. IAG said the acquisition will allow it to achieve significant cost cuts that it expects to bear fruit between 2026 and 2028 if the deal is finalised in the next 18 months. It said the first E200m will be paid once the deal gets the go-ahead from antitrust authorities. Another E100m will be paid in IAG shares while the final E100m will be paid in cash. Many of Europe´s legacy airlines, hampered by weak balance sheets, are struggling to compete with budget airlines. That will inevitably lead to a period of consolidation, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told Reuters earlier this month.<br/>
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says he expects the airline to see a full return to pre-Covid capacity in 2024. “We’re confident that we’ll get back ... 100% of our pre-Covid international capacity, and well over 100% for our domestic capacity,” Joyce projected for financial year 2024. ″[There is] really strong demand in leisure, in business ... in corporate,” he said, adding that the pent-up demand will continue for some time. Qantas reported record half-year profits in the six months ended December 2022, but shares still closed 6.8% lower on Thursday. The flagship carrier recorded underlying profit before tax of $1.43b Australian dollars ($975.2m) in half-year ended Dec. 31. It marks a reversal from A$1.27b loss in the same period a year before. In its earnings release, the airline reported that the key drivers for the results were consistently robust travel demand, higher yields and cost improvements from the Group’s A$1b recovery program which is nearing completion. The road to 100% pre-Covid capacity will not be without turbulence, the CEO said. The biggest roadblock for Qantas is the supply chain associated with aircraft, Joyce said. “We’re getting three new 787s that come in the next few months, they are two years late,” he said. This is in addition to the time taken to reactivate their A380 fleet, which he said a lot of maintenance is needed. Every maintenance facility around the world is very full because every airline is trying to get their aircraft back up and running.”<br/>