American Airlines is prepared to match the pay rates and profit-sharing formula that rival Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) has provided in its new pilot contract, CE Robert Isom said on Tuesday. Isom told American pilots that matching Delta's deal will result in a contract worth more than $7b for them. "A deal like this would be a game changer for our pilots," he said. Delta's pilots last week ratified a new contract that is widely expected to be a benchmark for contract negotiations at rival carriers. The Atlanta-based carrier's new contract provides a 34% cumulative pay increase, a lump-sum one-time payment, reduced health insurance premiums and improvements in holiday pay, vacation, company contributions to 401(k) and work rules. To match Delta's deal, Isom said American pilots would receive on average pay increases of 21% in the first year of contract. Total pay increases in the fourth year of the contract deal would be 40%, he said.<br/>
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Qatar Airways announced plans for rapid growth on Tuesday, as the travel industry recovers from the pandemic. Announcing objectives at the ITB tourism fair in Berlin, the Gulf carrier said it would add seven destinations, restore 11 others and boost the frequency of flights to 35 markets - marking a 21% rise in flights by July 2023, compared with the same month last year. CE Akbar Al Baker, speaking in his first appearance since settling a major legal dispute with Airbus, said the airline was being conservative because of its dependence on deliveries from Airbus or Boeing amid supply woes. "Unfortunately it is not in their hands; I think supply chain problems will last a bit longer," Al Baker told a news conference during the world's largest tourism expo. Newly planned airline destinations include five in Europe, including three in France, and two in Africa. "The aviation industry is slowly rebounding ... (from) unprecedented pressures," Al Baker said. Al Baker noted upward inflationary pressure on ticket prices but said the airline was not passing on all fuel increases. Al Baker, whose roles include tourism minister of Qatar, also announced a campaign to increase visitors to the Gulf state, building on attention from hosting the 2022 soccer World Cup to boost its domestic tourism industry. He said Qatar aimed to increase the number of annual visitors threefold compared to 2019 levels to six to seven million, with a target of contributing to 10% of its economy. Gulf analysts say the small peninsula state faces stiff competition from neighbouring Dubai, an international tourist destination, as well as from Saudi Arabia as the kingdom opens up and invests heavily in tourism and entertainment.<br/>
European planemaker Airbus narrowed a jetliner delivery gap compared with last year after a sharp increase in February and turned the page on a major legal dispute with Qatar Airways by reinstating billions of dollars of plane orders. The world’s largest planemaker said on Tuesday it had handed 46 jets to customers in February, more than twice the 20 jets which had marked a disappointing start to the year in January. Deliveries for the first two months reached 66 jets, down 13 from a year earlier. The partial rebound came as industry sources said Airbus had embarked on a third wave of delivery delay notices to some airlines and lessors as the industry worldwide wrestles with supplier problems. Airbus declined to comment on customer talks. Bloomberg News reported last week that Airbus had also warned customers of delays to its future A321XLR long-range single-aisle jet. Reuters reported last month that CE Guillaume Faury had told executives that weak deliveries in January were a “wake-up call”. Airbus has blamed mounting delays on suppliers led by engine makers, but industry sources have said internal operational performance and controls are also under scrutiny. Fragile points include cabins, A220 cockpits, some A320 fuselage shells and worries over steel capacity, they said. Problems in recruiting workers in North America have also hit the A220, one industry executive told Reuters. Airbus delivered seven small A220 single-aisle jets in January and February, compared with what suppliers describe as a production rate of seven a month, rising to 14 in late 2025. “This remains a relatively soft start for the year in terms of (overall) deliveries, highlighting the tough comparison base Airbus will face in the first quarter,” Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie said in a note. Industry sources have previously said Airbus is informally targeting deliveries close to 140 in the first quarter, compared with 142 physical deliveries in Q1 of last year, or 140 after a Russia sanctions-related adjustment.<br/>