JetBlue Airways said Monday that it saw a “high likelihood” that the Justice Department would sue the company this week over its planned acquisition of Spirit Airlines. The $3.8b deal could create a new challenger to the nation’s four dominant carriers, but would add to industry consolidation. JetBlue said that it had long prepared for such a lawsuit and that its timeline for closing the deal was unchanged, provided it overcomes the expected challenge in court. “We believe there is a high likelihood of a complaint from DOJ this week, and we have always accounted for that in our timeline to close the transaction in the first half of 2024,” the company said. The Justice Department and Spirit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Buying Spirit would allow JetBlue to accelerate its plans for growth. Today, JetBlue controls more than 5% of the US airline market. After the acquisition, it would have a 10% share, making it the fifth-largest airline in the country. United Airlines, the fourth-largest carrier, has a 15% market share. Southwest, Delta and American Airlines each have a more than 17% share. “JetBlue’s combination with Spirit allows it to create a compelling national challenger to these dominant airlines,” JetBlue said in a news release on Monday describing some of its arguments in favor of the deal. The acquisition would benefit consumers and disrupt the industry, it said, allowing JetBlue to bring low fares to new markets and forcing those large airlines to match its lower prices. JetBlue also said it had committed to giving up some of Spirit’s holdings in markets such as Boston, New York and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where the combined airline would have an outsize presence. In addition to the Justice Department, the Transportation Department could also stand in the way of the deal by blocking the transfer of operating certificates, opponents of the sale have argued.<br/>
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JetBlue Airways Corp and its low-cost rival Spirit Airlines agreed on Monday to significantly boost seat capacity at Florida airports and add 1,000 jobs in the state to resolve state antitrust concerns about a $3.8b merger deal. If completed, the merged airline must increase seat capacity by at least 50% in both Fort Lauderdale and Orlando airports and must increase aggregate seat capacity at all other Florida airports in which either currently operate by at least 50%, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said, adding the “commitments will bring hundreds of new daily flights to Florida.” <br/>
A Southwest flight was diverted after turbulence that was so bad it caused passengers to vomit and the plane to “shake like crazy.” Southwest flight 3094 had its landing at Raleigh in North Carolina aborted at the last moment at a height of around 1,350ft and was diverted to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina because of the bad weather. The conditions were so poor on the Friday evening flight that one passenger even reportedly passed out as the plane came in for a landing at around 9pm. And once diverted to Myrtle Beach, the passengers, who had got on the plane in Baltimore, Maryland, say they were stranded for hours overnight in a closed airport until a replacement plane and crew could be sent for them. “It was quite a horrifying experience. We go to land in Raleigh and the plane starts shaking like crazy. Then they decide to tell us 15 minutes later we are going to Myrtle Beach,” Nicholas Reed told WNCN. Once the full Boeing 737 arrived safely in Myrtle Beach the passengers were held onboard for two hours before being allowed off to sit in a deserted terminal for a further four hours. “We couldn’t go anywhere because they wouldn’t give us our luggage,” Mr Reed said. “One group of guys found a bar and went behind it and just started pouring themselves drinks — because there was no security.” And he added: “Coming into Raleigh they started landing like normal. We had the window open in our seat so we could actually see the ground. Two people were vomiting pretty close to us. But everyone was pretty silent. I guess they were just in suspense like ‘this could be it’,” Reed said.<br/>
US start-up carrier Northern Pacific Airways appears set to launch its first route between Ontario International airport in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and Las Vegas. According to Cirium networks data, the currently-scheduled once-weekly flight in each direction will begin operating on 2 June, and is scheduled to run through the end of July. The flight is scheduled to leave Ontario on Fridays at 14:00 local time, arriving into Las Vegas an hour later. A return flight is scheduled to leave Las Vegas at 14:00 on Sundays, beginning on 4 June, arriving into Ontario at 15:00 local time. For the months of June and July, a total of 18 flights - nine in each direction - are currently scheduled to operate, the data show. The flight times would seem to cater to customers from the Los Angeles basin looking to spend a weekend in Las Vegas - a common and popular trip. The distance between the two airports is listed as 197nm (365km). By car, and calculating for traffic, that one-way journey can take between four and five hours. According to Cirium fleets data, Northern Pacific currently has four Boeing 757-200s in its fleet. Cirium notes that all four airframes are in storage. The Anchorage-based carrier did not respond to multiple requests for further information on the flights or plans for future routes. The carrier’s website also does not yet allow reservations, but the Ontario-Las Vegas flights are bookable on independent travel websites such as Expedia.com. Northern Pacific had intended to launch operations in the third quarter of 2022, but last October said it expects to begin flying passengers in “spring 2023”.<br/>
Brazilian airline Azul SA on Monday reported a Q4 adjusted net loss of 610.5m reais ($117.32m), versus a 436m-real loss a year earlier. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecast a net loss of 562.81m reais in the period.<br/>
Canadian airline WestJet continues plotting an “ambitious growth strategy” with an expanded summer schedule that includes greater flight frequencies to popular destinations in its network. The Calgary-based carrier said on 6 March that it anticipates nearly 600 daily departures across its network during the upcoming peak of summer travel in the northern hemisphere, thanks to a 64% increase in seat capacity to and from Regina and seat capacity increases of more than 40% to and from Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. “Providing our guests with even more opportunity to travel across our network this summer comes as a result of a thoughtfully designed schedule that balances the high demand for travel alongside a reliable and resilient operation,” says John Weatherill, WestJet Group’s CCO. “With more seats available for booking and added capacity on popular routes, our summer schedule reflects a strengthened commitment to providing seamless domestic and transborder connectivity for our guests.” WestJet will operate 11 weekly flights between Edmonton and Las Vegas during the peak of summer air travel, compared with four weekly flights last summer. The Calgary-based carrier will also increase the number of flights between Edmonton and Los Angeles, and between Calgary and Denver, Houston and New York. The airline is also boosting the number of domestic fligths from Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The carrier will operate 20 weekly flights between Edmonton and Winnipeg, compared with six weekly flights in summer 2022. <br/>
RwandAir Plans to develop its regional route network by making Kigali International Airport a central hub, given its geographical position right at the heart of Africa. RwandAir CEO Yvonne Manzi Makolo spoke about increasing the airline's operations with new aircraft, new regional routes, and a new focus on cargo operations. With Rwanda located at the heart of Africa, Kigali Airport can be developed into a central hub for African destinations and as an alternative to East-African airports like Entebbe and Jomo Kenyatta. Although RwandAir has a growing international route network serving London, Brussels, Doha, Dubai, and Mumbai, regional routes have proved to be the most profitable for the carrier. The airline has proliferated since it began operations 20 years ago, and the CEO is very excited about it. She said in the interview; "Rwanda is lucky to be strategically placed right in the heart of Africa, and given the opportunities within the African continent, it's still a completely underserved area, we believe there's a lot of opportunity to really connect African countries with each other. We have a lot of fifth-freedom flights as well, and as we develop them, we move them to point-to-point flights. So as I said, it's worked well. And we continue operating in that way, starting with return flights and then building them out to direct flights.”<br/>
Israeli flag-carrier El Al is considering options to increase its fleet by up to 13 aircraft to keep up with its targets for passenger traffic and market share over the next five years. It is aiming to align the expansion with plans to replace its older Boeing 737 jets from 2025. El Al currently has 45 aircraft, comprising 24 737-800s and -900s plus 15 Boeing 787-8s and -9s and six 777-200ERs. It indicates that it will look to increase its single-aisle fleet by four to seven aircraft, giving it 28-31 jets, when it implements the 737 replacement. The replacement programme will be “subject to availability” from aircraft manufacturers, the carrier says. It has been extending the leases on a number of 737s as part of its capacity plans, and has also agreed this year to wet-lease an Airbus A320 over the course of March-December. For its long-haul network El Al is already intending to take the 787 fleet to 17, through the completion of its original order for 16 plus the introduction of one additional aircraft. But it has outlined plans to acquire another five long-haul aircraft by 2028. “Expansion and renewal of the fleet will reduce air pollution through the adoption of more efficient aircraft,” the carrier says, adding that it will also lower fleet age. El Al says that both dry- and wet-lease capacity could be used to expand the single-aisle and long-haul fleets. It is modernising its 777s by updating the interior configuration of four aircraft to match that of the 787s. El Al is also progressing with plans to bring in a dedicated freighter. It says it signed an agreement with a foreign company in February for dry-lease of a 737-800 cargo aircraft, over a six-year term. The carrier expects the freighter to arrive in April this year.<br/>
Bamboo Airways parent company FLC Group plans to sell its remaining stake in the carrier as part of its restructuring plan, the property and leisure conglomerate announced at its extraordinary general meeting on March 4 and in an accompanying statement. FLC Chairman Lê Bá Nguyên said that in 2023 the group plans to reshape around its core business areas with three main pillars - real estate, resorts, and merger and acquisition projects - while at the same time restructuring its debts in order “to keep the company running.” This means that “in the coming period, FLC will review and reevaluate all investments in subsidiaries and associated companies” and “is working with leading financial consultants to ensure maximum efficiency and benefits for the group as well as for shareholders,” he explained. “Particularly for the shares in Bamboo Airways Joint Stock Company, FLC plans to consider transferring this shareholding,” he added. For this to happen, “we need to develop a specific assessment plan with financial experts, then we can come up with a specific plan. Once there is a specific plan, we will issue an information disclosure for shareholders to know.”<br/>