Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan’s compensation nearly doubled last year to $5.3m after being promoted to the top job during a year that ended with massive flight cancellations that will cost Southwest more than $1b. Southwest disclosed in a proxy filed Thursday that the estimated value of Jordan’s compensation rose from $3m in 2021, when he was executive vice president. In 2022, Jordan received stock awards valued at $3.6m, $676,875 in salary, a $195,720 cash bonus and $782,880 in incentive compensation, plus retirement-plan benefits. The eventual value of the stock awards will depend on the company’s financial performance from 2022 through 2024. A Southwest spokesman said Jordan’s cash bonus would have been larger without the December disruptions because of lower scores for financial performance and customer-satisfaction, but the cancellations did not affect his other compensation.<br/>
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The Aer Lingus website, app and self check-in kiosks are back up and running after technical difficulties ahead of what is likely to be the busiest weekend of travel of the year so far. The airline’s online systems were down for several hours on Thursday morning but the issues were resolved at around midday. “All Aer Lingus flights are operating as normal today. The Aer Lingus website, mobile app and self-service kiosks are now fully available for customers to check-in and manage their bookings, following a temporary issue earlier today,” a spokeswoman said. Over the course of the morning and in spite of the technical issues, flights operated as normal although passengers were advised to allow extra time for check-in. The airline did not give any indication as to the cause of the IT outage. Last September its systems suffered a major breakdown which resulted in dozens of flights being cancelled and massive delays at airports with the travel plans of thousands of people thrown into disarray. Aer Lingus blamed a “major break in connectivity” at its UK-based network provider for downing its cloud-based IT system.<br/>
The flybe. trade name is back on the market, with expressions of interest being invited by April 11, 2023, from prospective buyers keen to acquire the brand and supporting assets of the defunct regional airline. This is according to an announcement by Hilco Streambank, a New York-based advisory firm specialising in intellectual property disposition, acting on behalf of flybe.'s joint administrators, David John Pike and Michael Robert Pink of Interpath Advisory. "This opportunity offers a prospective buyer the chance to acquire the brand and supporting assets behind a much-loved and respected player in the travel industry in the UK and beyond and reignite the brand in the market," Hilco declared in a statement. Up for grabs are flybe.'s title and interest in the assets, which include the brand and a portfolio of domain names, including the website flybe.com. The company also owns the copyright of the website content hosted on various domains. Rights in the flybe.-branded social media accounts are also available to acquire across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, with almost 312,000 followers across the various platform. UK and international trademarks protect the flybe. brand.<br/>
Azerbaijan Airlines is ordering a dozen Airbus single-aisle jets, comprising A321neo and A320neo variants. The airline signed a formal agreement for the aircraft on 6 April in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. Azerbaijan Airlines says it will select an engine model “at a later stage”. “The signed contract will provide our passengers with the most modern and comfortable narrowbody aircraft,” says first vice-president Samir Rzayev. Azerbaijan Airlines had indicated earlier this year that it was looking to modernise its fleet with additional Airbus A320neo-family and Boeing 787 aircraft. “The new aircraft allow to increase the airline’s efficiency and competitiveness and ensure a high level of passenger comfort,” the carrier states. Airbus CCO Christian Scherer says the agreement is “testament” to customer confidence in the A320neo. The carrier already has three A320neos, and says it plans to use the extra aircraft to develop its domestic and international networks.<br/>
Kazakhstan’s competition watchdog has initiated court proceedings that could enforce fines totalling KZT6.7b tenge (US$15m) on Air Astana, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in the market to charge unreasonably high prices for air tickets. The proceedings are a result of a joint audit of the airline’s activities by the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition conducted last year. The outcomes were presented by the head of the competition watchdog's transport and communications department, Nurgul Zhamanova, during a Senate hearing. "On December 12, 2022, an administrative protocol was drawn up in relation to Air Astana. The amount of the fine for 2021 is KZT4.8b [US$10.7m], for 2022 KZT1.9b [US$4.3m]. Court proceedings are now underway," Zhamanova said. Zhamanova stressed that on top of the proposed fine, the audit's results also included two proposed legislative changes. “First we need to ensure the development of legal acts regulating the use of dynamic pricing in the field of air transportation. Second is to amend the law on the use of airspace in terms of the application of the fuel surcharge,” Zhamanova explained.<br/>