United Airlines plans to beef up its schedule and add new lounges at Denver International Airport, the carrier’s bet that demand for flights at its fastest-growing hub will keep rising. United said Tuesday that it will add 35 flights at the Colorado airport this year. New nonstop routes include service to Greensboro, North Carolina; Dayton, Ohio; Lexington, Kentucky; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The airline’s Denver service this summer will average 450 daily departures, a spokeswoman said. United was the airport’s largest carrier last year with 46% market share, compared with Southwest Airlines’ 31% share, Frontier Airlines with 10%, Delta with 5% and American Airlines with 4%, according to airport data. But its new service comes as shifting travel patterns during the pandemic are forcing airlines to rethink their networks and where to best deploy planes, which are in short supply. Airport passenger traffic expanded rapidly during the pandemic as the city grew and travelers sought outdoor destinations amid restrictions aimed at stopping Covid-19 from spreading. Last year, the Denver airport handled a record of more than 69m passengers, making it the world’s third busiest, up from 16th in 2019, according to Airports Council International. In comparison, San Francisco, another United hub, which enjoyed a corporate travel business before the pandemic, served 57.5m passengers in 2019 and just 42.3m last year. United is also slated to open a new lounge and reopen one of two large remodeled clubs the latest sign of airlines scrambling to make room for scores of high-spending travelers.<br/>
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United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is putting a lot of capital to work for shareholders in new Boeing 737 Max airplanes, upgraded airport experiences, and added first-class seating. The last thing Kirby wants to see is America default on its debt in June after another contentious debt ceiling debate. That dire outcome would potentially lead to a US recession that harms returns on these key investments by United Airlines. "The economy is balanced on a knife's edge," Kirby said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "When the Silicon Valley banking scare started, we saw a 15% overnight drop in business bookings, and that tells you the economy is very fragile." "That's what I am worried about with the debt ceiling," he added. "We don't need an unforced error in the economy — and this would just be an unforced error." Kirby says demand continues to be strong ahead of the busy Memorial Day travel weekend. But maintaining that momentum will be tough if the US is thrust into a self-created debt ceiling recession. "If the debt ceiling crisis turns into a bigger crisis is where we are really impacted," Kirby added. "We just shouldn't take the risk — it's a silly, silly risk to think about letting that first domino fall." Kirby is hopeful politicians will come to a resolution in a timely manner. However, the contentious situation in D.C. isn't stopping United Airlines from making the major investments it views as necessary to beat the competition such as Jetblue, Delta, and American Airlines.<br/>
Lufthansa Group will purchase four ex-LATAM Airlines Brazil A350-900s and add them its fleet this year. The aircraft are available after LATAM Airlines Group’s decision in 2021 to divest 13 A350-900s as part of a restructuring process. Lufthansa said on 23 May that the four aircraft will be acquired from lessor Deucalion Aviation. Delta Air Lines has already taken the other nine ex-LATAM widebodies: seven leased from Aercap and two from VMO Aircraft Leasing. That left four unassigned ex-LATAM A350-900s under the ownership of Deucalion, Cirium fleets data shows. Lufthansa had indicated in March that it was in advanced negotiations to acquire long-haul aircraft “which could be made available at shorter notice”. The four aircraft are on top of Lufthansa Group’s outstanding orders for 38 A350-family twinjets, of which 28 are for the A350-900 and 10 for the A350-1000. Lufthansa currently operates 21 A350-900s. Within the wider group, Swiss is due to begin operating A350-900s in 2025.<br/>