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The US Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to halt JetBlue Airways Corp's planned $3.8b acquisition of ultra-low cost carrier Spirit Airlines was reassigned on Wednesday to a judge known for trying to speed cases along to trial. US District Judge William Young in Boston was randomly assigned the case despite the Justice Department's contention that the lawsuit should be heard by another judge who is overseeing a separate antitrust case involving JetBlue. That case brought by the Justice Department seeks to force American Airlines and JetBlue to scrap their US Northeast partnership because it would mean higher prices for consumers. US District Judge Leo Sorokin presided over a trial last year in that case but has not yet issued a ruling. The Justice Department on Tuesday argued that Sorokin should hear the Spirit case as well because both involved "an assessment of JetBlue's network plans, aircraft orders and configurations, and pricing strategy."<br/>Sorokin, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, on Wednesday in a brief order said the Spirit case was wrongly assigned to him because it was "incorrectly marked as related and thus not randomly assigned." It was then assigned to Young, a veteran jurist known for setting quick schedules to get cases to trial. Young, appointed by Republican former President Ronald Reagan, has served on the bench since 1985.<br/>

Southwest Airlines CE Bob Jordan said Wednesday the carrier is not counting on deploying the Boeing MAX 7 plane this year, which is still awaiting certification from the FAA. "We're dependent on Boeing. And there's progress. It's about six months between when it's certified and we can put it into service," Jordan told reporters at an Aero Club event in Washington. "We're not counting on it to be in service here in 2023." Jordan said his "best guess" is it will be in service by Southwest in early 2024. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen earlier on Wednesday declined to comment on the timeline of when the agency might approve the MAX 7. Boeing said it continues to work with the FAA to meet the requirements for MAX 7 and MAX 10 certification. "As always, we will follow global regulators' lead in the steps ahead on all certification matters," a company spokesman said. Boeing, which has faced supply chain issues, delivered 69 planes to Southwest in 2022, down 45 jets from the 114 the company planned to deliver, Jordan said, adding Boeing has agreed to boost deliveries this year. Boeing has unfilled orders of 388 737 MAXs for Southwest and 271 of those are for MAX 7s. "Boeing is committed to 100 this year, so that's going to push aircraft into '24. The good thing is, it's really not having an impact on our capacity because right now the constraint is pilots," Jordan said. "The constraint is not aircraft. So until you get to early '24, it really doesn't change our capacity plan."<br/>

JetSMART Airlines has obtained a green light from Colombia’s civil aviation regulator to start a process that would allow it to operate as a domestic carrier in the South American country, the Civil Aviation Authority said. The approval comes as Chile-based JetSMART looks to buy Colombian low-cost carrier Viva Air, a move that could scupper Viva’s plans to merge with Colombian flag carrier Avianca - a deal previously rejected by the regulator. According to an agency statement released late on Tuesday, Indigo Partners-backed JetSMART would have Bogota as its main base and use Airbus A320-271 Neo aircraft to cover 27 routes linking cities such as Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, Cali, Barranquilla and San Andres. JetSMART had announced late in February its intention to acquire Viva, which halted operations a week ago amid a financial crisis. “Taking into account the proposed frequencies for 27 requested routes, the company must now submit a compliance plan based on the number of aircraft and the number of routes that will operate,” the regulator said in a statement late on Tuesday. In a separate statement, JetSMART said it would immediately start the process to meet all the Colombian requirements in the shortest possible time so it can obtain the license, something that must happen within two years. JetSMART, which currently serves more than 79 routes in South America, is part of private investor Indigo Partners’ portfolio of budget airlines alongside U.S.-based Frontier Airlines, Europe’s Wizz Air, Canada’s Lynx, Asia’s CebuPacific and Mexico’s Volaris.<br/>

Colombia’s transportation superintendent, the oversight authority for the sector, has taken control of troubled budget airline Viva Air and is seeking to submit the carrier to a business recovery process. The superintendent states that the control decision sets out tasks including drawing up, within two days, an immediate improvement scheme which involves taking measures to overcome the critical situation at the airline. It will also gather information to understand Viva Air’s decision to suspend operations on 27 February. The authority will also request from the government’s corporate superintendent – which undertakes inspection and surveillance of companies – the admission of Viva Air to a formal business re-organisation procedure. Viva Air will be ordered to restore administrative services and provide information including the status of passenger reservations. The airline has been told that it must not take certain actions without the specific approval of the superintendent, and that the control measure will remain in place until the situation is resolved. Viva Air had been trying to obtain clearance for a tie-up with Avianca, which had resulted in regulatory scrutiny – the duration of which Viva had blamed for its decision to stop flying. The transport superintendent, in the wake of the cessation, had found grounds to open an inquiry into whether Viva Air had provided accurate and timely information to passengers. It says nearly 467,000 passengers had confirmed reservations with the carrier on the day it stopped services, and alleges that tickets were continuing to be sold. Viva Air has published information detailing the rights of passengers following its stoppage.<br/>

Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes Wednesday reported an unexpected fourth quarter net profit, reversing a multi-billion-real loss seen a year earlier on the back of higher yields and positive tourism demand. The surprisingly strong figures sent shares in the company soaring more than 12% in Sao Paulo morning trading, with analysts highlighting improving operating figures and strong revenue trends. The firm's shares had already jumped roughly 30% in the previous two sessions after rival carrier Azul SA predicted bluer skies ahead, driving travel-related stocks in Brazil up. Gol, which said the results were preliminary as some auditing work was still left to be done, posted a net income of 230.9m reais ($44.48m) in the period, up from a 2.8b-real loss in the previous year. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecast a net loss of 484.75m reais. "Despite fuel costs still being one of the main factors affecting revenues in the sector, Gol showed a strong operational improvement even against a complex macroeconomic backdrop," Guide Investimentos analyst Mateus Haag said. Gol said the results reflected a strong recovery in demand for air travel in "all segments," leading it to the highest net operating revenue ever as well as the highest operating margin since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.<br/>

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined Eurowings $225,000 for keeping passengers on an aircraft for more than 5h after landing in Fort Lauderdale. Some of the 268 passengers on flight EW1182 from Germany on 23 July 2019 became “restless” due to the lengthy delay, and called the police, who then freed them, DOT writes in its order dated 8 March. The flight, which was scheduled to travel from Dusseldorf to Miami, had been diverted to nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport (FLL) as a result of a weather-related closure in Miami, DOT says. “EW1182 arrived at FLL at 5:14pm [local time] and parked at a remote stand. The flight crew requested to deplane passengers and transport them to the terminal via buses, but US Customs and Border Patrol would only permit passengers… to deplane if their checked luggage could also be offloaded,” DOT writes in its order. Ground handlers were not available to offload the luggage until 2h later. Eurowings was advised around 19:15 that the crew could start deplaning passengers. But the airline declined that offer, instead deciding to continue to Miami after all. “For the next three and half hours, the aircraft remained on the tarmac at FLL,” DOT says. At 22:00, with the aircraft still on the tarmac in Fort Lauderdale, Eurowings was advised that the Miami airport was once again closed because of weather conditions. “At the same time, multiple passengers onboard the aircraft became restless and called the police, who ultimately facilitated deplaning of the aircraft,” DOT says. The passengers finally were permitted to leave the aircraft at 22:50. DOT says Eurowings violated several US regulations, and did not adhere to contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays. In response, Eurowings contends it tried to deplane passengers but was “frustrated by CBP restrictions that required all checked baggage to be offloaded”. “While attempting to deplane passengers at FLL, [Eurowings] also prepared to continue onto MIA as an alternative, but a relief crew could not reach FLL for more than 90 minutes due to heavy traffic and severe weather,“ DOT adds. “Eurowings states that it firmly believes that the tarmac delay was caused by forces beyond its control, and although it believes that no civil penalties should apply, it is entering into this consent order to avoid the suggested possibility of escalated civil penalties,” the DOT order reads. Of the $225,000 fine, half is due within 30 days and the other half is suspended but will become due should Eurowings again violate US rules, or payment terms.<br/>

Mango Airlines’ administrator is seeking to overturn a decision to cancel the grounded South African budget carrier’s operating licence. In a recent progress report, Mango’s business rescue practitioner (BRP), Sipho Sono, reveals that he will lodge an appeal against the International Air Services Council’s (IASC) decision to cancel the airline’s licence. Sono wrote to the IASC on 9 February seeking an explanation for its decision to cancel Mango’s licence, but says he has yet to receive a response. “The BRP has therefore taken a decision to lodge an appeal against the decision of the IASC, and instructed his attorneys to commence those proceedings,” says Sono. Mango’s operating licence is currently suspended because the carrier, which was placed into formal financial restructuring in the summer of 2021, has not flown for over a year. Last month, Mango’s BRP launched a legal bid to secure a decision from the South African public enterprises minister to unblock a potential rescue deal for the airline. The administrator expressed frustration that the government had not reached a decision on South African Airways’ decision to sell its shares in Mango – a key part of the process for a prospective bidder to potentially rescue the carrier. In its latest progress report, the BRP says the minister of public enterprises, the national treasury and the minister of finance filed notices opposing the High Court application, which had been due to be heard on 28 February. “Due to the very late filing of the state respondents’ answering papers (on 27 and 28 February, respectively), as well as an intervening application brought by NUMSA [union] to join the BRP and Mango as a co-applicant, the parties requested the urgent court judge to stand the matter down in order to consult with the deputy judge president to agree on the further conduct of the matter,” says the administrator. <br/>