Shifting travel patterns by consumers in a post-pandemic world are forcing airlines to guess at what is the "new normal" as they seek to adjust by cutting flights, revamping networks and packing even more passengers into planes. Even as the thirst for travel remains strong, the changing trends are driving up airlines' operating costs and hurting revenue. They are also fueling worries about the strength of travel spending amid growing economic uncertainty, leading to a 6% drop in airline shares from their highs in January. "Today's flexible work conditions are helping to drive changes in ticket-purchasing patterns." Citi analyst Stephen Trent said. "Let's get used to it." No-show rates have gone up as customers are changing their travel plans more frequently than before. Travel demand has also softened on days in the middle of the week, but has strengthened on peak days. A Reuters analysis of US TSA data shows passenger traffic this year on average has fallen 14% on Tuesdays and Wednesdays compared with Mondays, and then it rebounds on Thursdays. Similarly, customers are booking trips well in advance compared with last year, leading to a moderation in ticket sales close to the date of travel. Citi's data shows that these so-called close-in ticket sales have moderated for a third straight week, but those for trips in June and July have improved. Those evolving patterns have forced companies to adjust. Frontier Airlines decided to slash flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by about 20%, citing weak demand. It marks a shift from last year when some airlines said midweek was less of a trough. The Denver-based carrier attributed the change to flexible work arrangements, where more people are spending two to three days a week working in the office.<br/>
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American travelers have had more than their fair share of ongoing pain points with US airlines this past year, from soaring airfares and missing luggage to staff shortages and flight cancellation chaos. Now, new data confirm there is increased overall consumer disappointment with American carriers compared with a year earlier, save for those in the very front of the plane. On a 1,000-point scale, passengers rated their satisfaction at 791 points—a C+, in letter grades—according to the 2023 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, released on Wednesday, from consumer research firm J.D. Power. The number reflects an overall decline of seven points since 2022, making it the second consecutive year that sentiment toward US airlines has soured. The exception: First- and business-class passengers, who say they feel service has improved in the last 12 months. The study reflects the opinions of 7,774 passengers who took to the skies from March 2022 to March 2023. Their satisfaction was measured across eight factors, including check-in, baggage retrieval, costs and fees, boarding and in-flight services. Top grades went to JetBlue Airways Corp., which for the second year in a row surpassed Delta as the best overall airline for passenger satisfaction in the first- and business-class segment. Southwest Airlines Co. took the top spot among consumers as the best carrier for economy travel, in spite of its multiple recent failures. American Airlines Group struggled across the board, ranking among the three worst airlines for every type of cabin class available. Unsurprisingly, it’s the travelers in the back of the plane who have the loudest complaints; satisfaction with flying economy has dropped 19 points as price-conscious customers find costs and fees to be their greatest pain point. But like their fellow passengers in business and first, even economy travelers conceded one silver lining: Food and beverage service is getting better across the board. If you’re flying in JetBlue’s Mint business class, for instance, you’ll get meals straight out of New York City restaurants Charlie Bird and Pasquale Jones, thanks to a recent partnership with Delicious Hospitality Group.<br/>
Mexico could recover a much-needed aviation safety rating by mid-June, following an upcoming audit from the US FAA, the country’s transportation minister said in an interview published Wednesday. “We asked for it to be as soon as possible, we proposed within a month and they said it was feasible,” Transportation Minister Jorge Nuno said in an interview with Mexican newspaper Reforma. The FAA downgraded Mexico to the Category 2 safety rating in May 2021, saying country’s aviation authority lacked regulations in compliance with international standards. The downgrade has prohibited Mexican airlines’ ability to open new international routes to the US and limited their ability to carry out marketing agreements. The damage done to Mexican airlines as a result has been “significant,” Aeromexico CEO Andres Conesa said last year. Mexico is on track to recover the rating two years after the downgrade, following a recently passed aviation reform which resolved the last of issues raised by the FAA, officials have said. The aviation reform, which took effect this month, overhauls safety requirements for the country’s regulator on a number of matters such as personnel licensing, aircraft operation and airworthiness of craft. It also included a stipulation backed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador allowing a military-run company to operate both a network of airports and a commercial airline. The government inked a deal this year to buy the brand of defunct airline Mexicana, which it plans to revive as the military-run line. It is set to take flight by the end of this year, officials have said. <br/>
German travel firm TUI said it expects strong revenue and higher profit in 2023 on the back of a jump in summer bookings, despite the risk of travel disruption triggered by strikes. Airlines such as Lufthansa, easyJet and Ryanair have all pointed to robust summer bookings, showing consumers prioritising travel spend despite high inflation and an uncertain economic outlook. Bookings for the summer have jumped 13% compared with the same period last year and reached 96% of bookings in the summer of 2019, the last summer before COVID-19 restrictions hit. Average prices for summer trips are up 5% over last year. “It will be a strong summer and a good financial year 2023 with a significantly higher operating result,” CEO Sebastian Ebel said in a statement. Many European carriers are wary of potential strikes, particularly by air traffic controllers in France, as they fear further delays akin to last summer, where much of the continent was impacted by travel disruptions.<br/>
Russia restored visa-free travel for citizens of Georgia on Wednesday and lifted a ban on direct flights between the two countries imposed in 2019, according to an official government decree. In a statement, Russia's Transport Ministry said Russian airlines would operate seven flights weekly between Moscow and Tbilisi. It said Russia wanted "to facilitate the conditions for communication and contacts". The move represents a sharp warming in relations between Moscow and Tbilisi, which have been among the most strained in the former Soviet Union, but which have improved in recent years as Georgia's ruling party avoided offending Moscow. Moscow and Tbilisi have had no formal diplomatic relations since 2008, when they fought a brief war over South Ossetia, a Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia. The Georgian government welcomed the move. Deputy economy minister Mariam Kvrivishvili told reporters the announcement would significantly improve travel options for the million Georgians living in Russia. Russia allows citizens of most former Soviet republics visa-free access but imposed a visa regime on Georgians in 2000, citing the risk of terrorism. Moscow banned direct flights to Georgia in 2019, after anti-Russian protests. Georgia allows Russians visa-free access and full work rights for up to a year, which has made the country one of the main destinations for Russians who have left their country since the Ukraine war started. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, whose position is largely ceremonial and who has repeatedly accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of having ties to Moscow since being elected with its backing in 2018, wrote on Twitter that Russia's move was "a provocation".<br/>
Honeywell International Inc (HON.O) announced on Wednesday a new technology to produce lower-carbon aviation fuel from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide captured from industry, which can help cut greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, one of the hardest sectors to electrify and decarbonize. Sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, is typically made using biomass-based feedstocks such as soybean oil and used cooking oil. Honeywell's new technology would combine green hydrogen - produced in electrolyzers from renewable energy and water - and carbon dioxide siphoned off industrial smokestacks to create lower-carbon methanol, which is then turned into fuels including SAF. Honeywell said its process can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 88% compared with traditional petroleum-based jet fuel. President Joe Biden's administration has targeted 3b gallons (11.4b liters) of SAF production per year in the US by 2030 as part of its efforts to fight climate change. "It's exciting because CO2 is available everywhere so you have a universally available feedstock," Lucian Boldea, Honeywell's president of performance materials and technologies, told Reuters in an interview. SAF is typically two to four times costlier than petroleum-based jet fuel. "Today (SAF) requires incentives and the regulations to drive it, and then it will require at some point passengers' willingness to pay some," Boldea said. Honeywell is one of the world's biggest suppliers of aircraft avionics and also supplies small jet engines known as Auxiliary Power Units, used to run electrical and other systems. Its fuel technology announcement adds to a growing number of projects focused around expanding feedstocks for SAF.<br/>