Minnesota-based ultra-low-cost carrier Sun Country Airlines reports that its aircraft utilisation been held back in recent months by a lack of pilot instructors and first officers willing to upgrade to captain. CFO Dave Davis said during Bank of America’s 18 May transportation conference that “looking forward, we are not seeing any weakness” in the demand environment. ”If anything, the issue for us is just that we are smaller than we should be.” Davis says that the company’s top passenger capacity restraint for the past several months has been ”pilot production”. “I want to differentiate between pilot production and pilot availability because we signed a brand-new pilot deal at the end of the fourth quarter in 2021,” he says. ”Since then, our attrition is down massively. We are able to hire all of the pilots we need.” The pinch points have now become “instructor availability” and a lack of first officers pursuing upgrades to captain – an issue affecting many regional airlines and ultra-low cost carriers. During its fiscal Q2 earnings call on 9 May, US regional carrier Mesa Airlines reported that “the current industry bottleneck is now ensuring an adequate number of qualified first officers to upgrade to captain”. At one point last year, Sun Country had only five line check airmen available to train its pilots. That number has since grown to 19 “and we are trying to drive it into the high 30s”, Davis says. The carrier is making progress on boosting its flight crews, Davis says, producing ”35% more pilots in the first quarter of this year than we did in the first quarter of last year”. Based on its current pilot-production levels, the ULCC anticipates “getting our utilisation to where we need to be probably mid-2024”, Davis says. “We actually have a lot of the pilot bodies in place,” he adds. “We just have to get them through training.” Based at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International airport, Sun Country operates three lines of business – scheduled passenger, charter and cargo flights. Sun Country’s charter business mostly caters to professional sports teams, casinos and the US military, while it operates 12 Boeing 737NGs to haul freight on behalf of Amazon Prime.<br/>
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US start-up carrier Northern Pacific Airways has delayed its launch by three weeks. The carrier was due to begin operations with a short once-weekly flight in each direction between Ontario International airport in the Los Angeles basin and Las Vegas on 2 June. Now, on the airline’s website, the earliest date it is possible to book a ticket is 23 June. The carrier did not respond to a request for comment. The flight is scheduled to leave Ontario on Fridays at 14:00 local time, arriving in 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. The flight times would seem to cater to customers from the Los Angeles metropolitan area 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, with traffic, that one-way journey can take 4-5h. According to Cirium fleets data, Northern Pacific has four Boeing 757-200s, all in storage. It took delivery of the first aircraft 16 months ago. Northern Pacific had initially intended to launch operations in the Q3 2022, but last October said it expected to begin flying passengers in “spring 2023”. The airline is wholly owned by Float Alaska, which acquired fellow regional carrier Ravn Alaska’s operations out of bankruptcy in 2021. The fledgling long-haul airline’s business model seeks to replicate across the Pacific Ocean what Reykjavik-headquartered Icelandair does over the Atlantic. For years, the Icelandic carrier used its island base about midway between North America and Europe to offer low-fare flights between the continents, with the option for stopovers. Northern Pacific has said it intends to fly from Anchorage to South Korea, Japan and elsewhere in the USA.<br/>
WestJet cancelled more than 100 flights on Thursday after talks with the pilots' union hit a "critical impasse," throwing travel plans into turmoil for thousands of passengers ahead of the May long weekend. Some 1,800 pilots at the carrier and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to walk off the job as of 3 a.m. MT after the Air Line Pilots Association served a strike notice Monday. CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said late afternoon Thursday that the two sides are "still significantly apart," but noted both remained at the negotiating table despite the "stalemate" -- until past 3 a.m. Thursday morning. "We basically announced to them that we will lock out all pilots as of tomorrow morning at 3 a.m." -- if a tentative deal is not reached -- he said in a phone interview from a hotel near Toronto's Pearson airport. "Everyone knows that things have to come to a head now. And I truly hope that we can come come up with something that works," he said, from outside the windowless bargaining room. WestJet began to park the bulk of its fleet Thursday morning using a "measured, phased and safe approach," the Calgary-based company said. As of early Thursday evening, the carrier had cancelled 111 flights or 31% of those scheduled for the day, according to tracking service FlightAware. The vast majority were out of Calgary or Toronto, with affected routes ranging from London to Las Vegas, Barcelona and Saskatoon. Would-be travellers voiced their frustration on social media, with some saying they'd been stuck on the customer service line for hours and others posting screenshots of problems with refund processing. Passengers say they received emails stating a work stoppage might prompt a change in itinerary that "may" entitle them to compensation. "If required, you will be provided with alternate travel arrangements," although none were proactively offered, Somani said.<br/>
Aer Lingus Regional pilots have voted to strike in a dispute over pay, conditions and union recognition. Members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) in Emerald Airlines have been voting over the past week on whether to take industrial action, including a strike, at the airline that flies the Aer Lingus Regional network. The organisation, affiliated to trade union Fórsa, confirmed on Thursday that 82% of those polled voted in favour of industrial action. IALPA has 52 members in Emerald from a total of 140 pilots. According to the union, 94% of them voted. The union is now likely to consider its next steps, said a spokesman. Industrial relations law obliges unions to give employers at least one week’s notice of strike. IALPA sought a meeting with management several weeks ago to discuss pay, conditions and collective bargaining at the airline. While the company responded, it did not agree to meet.<br/>
Developers of a major transport hub for central Poland, centred on an international airport, are seeking bids for the air traffic control tower. The tower – depending on the selection – will be up to 105m in height, with the final figure determined by visibility analysis. But it is set to become the tallest such tower in the country, far exceeding the 46m structure at Katowice airport. “Along with the terminal, this could be one of the most iconic buildings of the new airport,” says project management company Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, adding that preliminary visualisations are expected by Q1 next year. Nine companies and four consortia have been invited to participate in the tender procedure. The contract will include the airport operations centre, rescue and firefighting buildings, and other structures. Preparatory construction work on the airport site is scheduled to commence this year, and initial works projects – focused on terminal foundations and tunnels for the rail link – have recently been allocated. CPK says the airport will integrate air, rail and road transport at the site located between Warsaw and Lodz. The airport, in its initial phase, will be able to handle 40m annual passengers.<br/>
Norwegian is considering shifting its flight operations away from Copenhagen Kastrup Airport to a nearby alternative as staff shortages continue to cause delays at the Danish hub. A dispute between air traffic controllers, represented by their union, and the state-owned air traffic service Naviair, their employer, has exacerbated a growing shortage of the specialists, resulting in delays for hundreds of thousands of passengers in recent weeks. The low-cost carrier has reportedly expressed its frustration over the matter to the Danish government and has also discussed the matter with Nordic rival SAS Scandinavian Airlines, according to the news agency Ritzau. “We have to look at alternative airports that are close to Copenhagen Airport,” Norwegian CEO Geir Karlsen told the newswire. “I don’t know whether that will be possible at such short notice, but this conflict is cause for increasing concern and that concern will grow as capacity increases during the summer.” Norwegian Air Sweden and Norwegian Air Shuttle currently account for around 17% of the total 357,630 weekly seats on offer at Kastrup via 330+ weekly flights. It is second to SAS which runs 830 flights for a total of 119,268 seats/week (33.35%). Naviair shed 46 air traffic controllers in voluntary layoffs during the pandemic. It recently said it had increased its numbers of trainees, but until they are ready it wants existing staff to work additional shifts. Employees have protested that the overtime is not at a manageable level, adding that they have already taken on 1,500 extra shifts this year.<br/>
EasyJet on Thursday said it expected to return to operating at pre-pandemic capacity for the peak European summer season. Revenues surged 80% in the first half while strong passenger growth sharply reduced losses in the traditionally quieter winter months, it said. The outlook from the UK-based low-cost airline confirms the picture painted by other European carriers of a strong post-pandemic resurgence in demand for flights and travellers’ willingness to pay far higher fares. CE Johan Lundgren said there had been strong “booking momentum” since the start of 2023. “What we can confirm today is that the strong demand that’s reflected in the booking trend is continuing really across the whole network,” Lundgren added. Pre-tax losses for the six months to March 31 were GBP415m, down 25% compared with the same period last year, while passenger numbers were up 41%. Load factor — the proportion of available seats sold — improved by 10 percentage points to 87.5%. First-half revenue rose to GBP2.7b. EasyJet’s improved outlook follows a revamp of parts of its network, including a cutting of capacity for flights from Berlin that generated a first-half exceptional loss of GBP4m to reflect the cost of surrendering slots at the city’s Brandenburg airport. Lundgren said capacity in most of the company’s markets in the July to September quarter would be greater than in summer 2019, the last before the coronavirus pandemic. “Overall, if we take the whole of the network we’re back to pre-pandemic levels because we see that the European consumer sentiment continues to be very strong and robust,” he said. “There’s a very strong demand for flights and travel.”<br/>
The CE of easyJet is happy with the airline’s current fleet plans, and said there is no risk it won’t have sufficient planes to meet its growth targets. Demand for new Airbus and Boeing planes is booming as travel rebounds after the pandemic, with airlines placing orders now to secure narrow-bodies for later in the decade amid worries that the planemakers are nearly sold out. Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, sealed a multibillion-dollar deal for as many as 300 Boeing jets earlier this month, helping to underpin its plan to almost double annual traffic to 300m passengers by March 2034. EasyJet is due to receive 163 new Airbus aircraft over the next five years which CEO Johan Lundgren said was enough. “We don’t see that we’re going to run out of, you know, metals and aircraft in order to satisfy the ambitions we have on growth,” he told reporters on Thursday. “We think we’re in a strong position with the order book that we have.” Of the 163 planes on order, a mix of A320neos and A321neos, some will replace older models, while some will be used to add new flights, Lundgren said, highlighting that 18 will arrive next year boosting capacity by 10%. Supply chain issues mean both plane manufacturers are struggling to deliver new jets on time, but the CEO said that as one of the world’s largest A320 family customers, easyJet was well-placed.<br/>
One of Russia’s largest airlines, with an extensive network throughout Siberia, may have to take a third of its helicopter fleet out of service because of trouble getting parts, the airline’s head said Thursday. The statement by Utair CEO Andrei Martirosov at an aviation trade show indicates that sanctions imposed by the West after Russia sent troops into Ukraine are making a dent in Russia’s economy. Russian officials have claimed that the country can find substitutes for foreign parts and other other items. “Of the helicopters in circulation, the fleet may be reduced by 30%. This is mainly due, of course, to engines for both foreign-made helicopters and domestic helicopters, in which the engines are not of domestic production,” Martirosov was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. Utair is Russia’s fourth-largest airline, with both fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter fleet of more than 200 that provides both scheduled service and charter flights, focusing on the extensive oil fields and mining areas of Siberia.<br/>
Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has announced the commencement of its codeshare agreement with the world’s largest international airline, Emirates, as part of a strategic partnership between the two carriers. In the initial phase Gulf Air will apply its code to a number of Emirates destinations in Europe and the Far East, thereby increasing the number of destinations for Gulf Air customers travelling from its network. Destinations include, Denpasar Bali, Indonesia; Brazil; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Czech Republic. Customers can combine ticketing, check-in and baggage transfers, and benefit from competitive fares, while premium passengers will also gain access to Emirates lounges in Dubai. Gulf Air CEO, Captain Waleed Al Alawi welcomed the strategic partnership, noting that it is a major value add to passengers, given the UAE's prestigious position in the global commercial aviation sector. He said: "Signed during the Bahrain International Airshow in November 2022, the first phase of the codeshare agreement includes destinations in line with Gulf Air's growth strategy. Providing additional travel options to passengers demonstrates our commitment to enriching the travel experience for millions of our passengers. Entering into this partnership with another highly reputed airline allows us to virtually expand our network, enhance our offerings and provide a more seamless travel experience. With the launch of the new partnership with Emirates, Gulf Air now has codeshare agreements with 17 airline partners.” <br/>
The Indian government wants Go Airlines (India) Ltd flights to resume as soon as possible, the civil aviation minister said on Thursday, a week after the troubled low-cost carrier was granted bankruptcy protection. Recently rebranded as Go First, India's sixth largest airline filed for bankruptcy protection earlier in May blaming its financial woes on "faulty" Pratt & Whitney engines that grounded about half of its 54 Airbus A320neos. The U.S. engine maker, part of Raytheon Technologies, has said the claim was without merit. "It's certainly something that is not a great thing for civil aviation. However, each company has to manage its own issues," Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters, according to a video clip published by news agency ANI. "We would want a resumption of flights as soon as possible. They have to submit their plan to (the aviation regulator) which will cover the number of planes and routes," he added. The airline has cancelled all flights until May 26, while some of its lessors have terminated leases and placed requests with the aviation regulator to repossess more than 40 planes.<br/>
Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo continued on a “path of profitability” in its fiscal Q4, as it achieved a record net profit for the period of Rs9.19b ($111m). Its January-March 2023 performance reflects its moves to expand significantly beyond its pre-Covid capacity and traffic, with those metrics both more than a third higher than in the same three months of 2019, it revealed on 18 May. Revenue in Q4 of Rs146b was up 78% year on year and by roughly the same amount versus its 2019 result, and its quarterly net profit represented a swing from a loss of Rs16.8b in the same period of 2022. “With a combination of robust market demand and focused execution of our strategy, this was the second consecutive quarter wherein we produced strong operational and financial results,” says IndiGo CE Pieter Elbers. While the profit for the January-March 2023 period included a gain of Rs2.53b from currency exchange, however, the airline’s full-year result was tipped into negative territory by the same factor. For the year ended March 2023, it made a net loss of Rs3.06b, as foreign exchange wiped out what would have been a profit of Rs26.5b. The carrier notes that its profits in the fiscal third and fourth quarters “largely compensated” for losses incurred in the first half of the year, which were driven by high fuel prices and foreign exchange losses – factors that moderated in the second half of the year. IndiGo had 304 aircraft in its fleet on 31 March 2023 – versus 275 a year ago and 217 in March 2019. It reports a total cash balance of Rs234b on 31 March, up from Rs219b at the end of December 2022.<br/>
IndiGo, India's biggest airline, aims to double its capacity by the end of the decade by expanding its network in the country and flying to new international destinations, its CEO told analysts on Thursday. Air travel has recovered strongly from the impact of COVID-19, although global supply chain disruptions continue to delay the delivery of aircraft and components, and the financial problems of some airlines have raised concerns of possible cost increases. IndiGo's next phase of growth will involve "combining our very strong Indian foundations with our international aspirations," Pieter Elbers told analysts in a call after the airline reported its second consecutive quarterly profit. The budget carrier has over 300 aircraft, mainly the Airbus' A320 family of planes, which it uses to serve 78 domestic and 26 international destinations. It has another 500 planes on order that have yet to be delivered, Elbers said. It is also in talks on a new order of over 500 planes, Reuters has reported. IndiGo's expansion comes as smaller rival Go First files for bankruptcy this month and budget carrier SpiceJet is under pressure from lessors over non-payment of dues. SpiceJet has said it has no plans to file for insolvency and was grateful for the support it had had from its lessors. Go First's bankruptcy has caused nervousness among the international lessor community, with some saying that the increase in risk will raise leasing costs for all Indian airlines.<br/>
Established Western Australia-based operator Aviair will launch Nexus Airlines in July, offering scheduled passenger flights using DHC-8-Q400s between Perth International and Geraldton, WA, and soon after between northwest airports and Darwin. The launch is supported by subsidies of approximately A$8m (US$5.33m) from state and local governments. In March, ch-aviation reported that Aviair had registered the Nexus Airlines brand name and was acquiring DHC-8-Q400s. The Western Australia government's Inter-Regional Flight Network (IRFN) subsidy scheme is contributing A$4m launching the intrastate passenger flights to improve connectivity in the sparsely populated 2.646m km² state. The City of Greater Geraldton, City of Karratha, Town of Port Hedland, and Shire of Broome local governments, along with Broome and Port Hedland Airports are providing another A$4m. In return, Nexus will put a cap on ticket prices for residents of these local government areas.<br/>